Here is the card for the event along with my predictions!
For the WWE United States Championship: (Pre-Show)
[champion] Antonio Cesaro defends against the Miz
Am I the only one who really dislikes the thought of the Miz being pushed as the “new” Ric Flair? The guy doesn’t seem to know how to lock in a figure four, which basically made Flair’s career. Cesaro has continued to get get some really good heel heat and has proven he could be a main event star for the WWE. He has the talent to produce top level matches, that’s for sure. Sadly, I think tomorrow night will be the show where Cesaro drops the championship. If they are going to promote Miz a top babyface and associate him with a guy like Flair, he has to get some kind of push. I’m thinking Miz win the WWE United States Championship.
For the WWE Divas Championship:
[champion] Kaitlin defends against Tamina
It looks like the WWE is slowly building towards a Kaitlin/Layla match with Layla turning heel to go for the gold. I enjoy Tamina and think she is a good dominate heel diva. I’d imagine Kaitlin gets the fluke win here.
For the WWE World Tag Team Championships:
[champion] Team Hell No defend against Team Rhodes Scholars
These two teams have fought each other a great deal on television, so any kind of “special” feeling that this match should have, just doesn’t exist for me. I’ve enjoyed both teams the past several months and think that all four should be back in singles role. WWE has a lot of depth now, it seems like. Anyway, the time to get the belts off of Kane and Bryan has come. They are entertaining still, but the Rhodes Scholars should take the belts and have a babyface team chase them into the biggest show of the year in April.
For the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Last Man Standing Match
[champion] Alberto Del Rio defends against the Big Show
Having a giant lose two last man standing matches in a month can only damage him. But, Del Rio seems to be getting over as a babyface, which is rather surprising to me. If I were booking things, I’d have Big Show regain the championship here and move along. Del Rio isn’t going to carry the Smackdown brand in the United States. Yeah, he will be popular in Mexico, but he can do that in a upper midcard role. Realistically, the WWE seems to be behind making Del Rio a credible babyface and thus I see him retaining the championship.
For the WWE Championship:
[champion] CM Punk defends against The Rock
Oh boy, has there been as much anticpation for a championship match in recent memory as there is for this one? Punk has had an incredible title reign that started off as with him as a babyface and has been even better since his heel turn over the summer. I’d hope that Punk would get the chance to main event WrestleMania, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for him this year. It’s a virtual certainity that the Rock will win here, and I think that’s the best option. Punk’s reign as champion comes to an end thanks to the Great One.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match:
Does John Cena really need to win this to set up a match with the Rock at WrestleMania? No, he doesn’t. This mathc should be used to promote the other championship match. Now, like I said previously, in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match I would have Big Show regain the title and that would allow Ryback to win the Rumble and then win the championship at Mania to finally give him the big wins he needs. But, since I believe Del Rio retains and Rock wins, that doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome. It would appear that Sheamus and Orton will be wrestling each other at Mania in a non-title bout. So, that really brings it down to Cena to win this. Ziggler will probably have a good run in it, and may be the last man eliminated, but since he has the briefcase, I’m not sure it would be wise to win it. He can gloat about having basically two chances to win the championship and hell, could eve lose at Mania and then cash it in after a post match beat down to win the title. That would be rather interesting. But, I’m going to go with the safe pick and just say Cena wins to get his rematch with Rock.
Those are my predictions for the Royal Rumble, feel free to share your own predictions below.
Thanks for reading.