5 early favourites to win the 2018 Royal Rumble

Clash of Champions wrapped up a rather interesting year for WWE pay-per-views and now we look to January and the start of Wrestlemania season: the Royal Rumble.

With AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar atop Smackdown Live and Raw respectively, who could overcome the odds and beat out 29 other competitors to headline Wrestlemania 34?

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#5 Shinsuke Nakamura

Could we see Nakamura main event Wrestlemania 34 for the WWE Championship?

Shinsuke Nakamura has had an up and down debut year on the main roster, primarily bouncing around from feuds with Dolph Ziggler, NXT's welcoming committee, Baron Corbin and a rather disappointing feud with Jinder Mahal.

Now that Mahal is no longer WWE Champion and AJ Styles is holding down the house that he built on Tuesday nights, many are hoping to potentially see a rematch from their IWGP Intercontinental Championship bout at Wrestle Kingdom 10.

Styles himself has also advocated for a match against Nakamura for the WWE Championship, avidly stating his excitement to get back into the ring. Earlier in the year at Money in the Bank, we saw a glimpse of what a potential Styles/Nakamura bout could hold inside a WWE ring.

Nakamura is sure to be one of the heavy favourites on SmackDown Live to win the Royal Rumble, and it would make a great bout for the blue brand's top prize as their main event.

#4 Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman has torn through the Raw roster in 2017. From his long and vicious feud with Roman Reigns to his battles against Kane, Strowman seems nearly unstoppable heading into the new year.

However, one man has Strowman's number: the Universal champion, Brock Lesnar. They're set to meet in a triple threat match with Kane at Royal Rumble, and they met earlier in the year at No Mercy. Yet, many felt like there was something missing once the match concluded. The best from both men is yet to come, and what a better way to showcase two beasts going at it head to head than the main event of Wrestlemania.

Strowman is set to have a monster future. He bulldozes through anyone and anything, including an ambulance door. He's sure to be the Ying to whoever holds the Universal championship's Yang, and he will be champion someday. A showdown between him and the beast at Wrestlemania 34 would make for a bloodbath main event for Raw's top title.

#3 Kevin Owens

Could Kevin Owens make his way to the main event of Wrestlemania?

Coming off the heels of a controversial victory with Sami Zayn against the team of Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, people can sometimes forget how vicious of a competitor Kevin Owens can be. He's the man who put Jericho out of contention earlier in the summer, stealing the United States title.

The former Universal champion hasn't tasted top-title gold in almost a year, and he certainly is eager to get back to the top of his game. The self-dubbed face of Smackdown Live has strength in numbers too with the help of his best frenemy Sami Zayn, and the duo could eliminate the chunk of the competition come January.

#2 Randy Orton

Could Randy Orton repeat greatness?

Randy Orton could join Stone Cold' Steve Austin in becoming the only other three-time Royal Rumble winner in WWE history. He's had an up and down year after winning the 2017 Royal Rumble and the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 33, but he has had a recent downward spiral after losing the title to Jinder Mahal in the summer.

Orton is a clear favourite due to sheer experience and the confidence advantage in winning two previous rumbles, but that's about it. The real top dog here is...

#1 Roman Reigns

Expect to see this picture again...

Alright let's cut to the chase, Roman Reigns is without a doubt the most likely to win the Royal Rumble this year. While he's still the Intercontinental champion at the time of writing this article, no man has been poised better to win this year's bout.

In 2017 alone, he's beaten the likes of The Undertaker, Triple H, Braun Strowman and came close to winning the Universal championship at Summerslam. He recently reunited with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to reform The Shield and captured the IC title from The Miz earlier in November.

With many a rumour being that Roman is set to clash with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 34 in the main event for the Universal championship, Roman Reigns is undeniably the big dog looking to claim his yard, starting at the Royal Rumble.