5 eliminations that have to happen in the Royal Rumble

The 2018 Royal Rumble is set to take place this SundayRoyal Rumble is only a few short days away, and speculation is running rampant. Who will win? Is it going to be Nakamura, en route to a dream match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania? Will Randy Orton go back-to-back, winning his third Royal Rumble match? Maybe Roman Reigns will infuriate Philadelphia again just like he did in 2015 and win the Rumble to a gigantic chorus of boos.

#4 Randy Orton eliminating Finn Balor

I’m thinking that the Final Four in this year’s Royal Rumble match is going to be Randy Orton, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman Reigns. Nakamura is likely to be the eventual winner and I expect it to happen after eliminating both Orton and Reigns, but Balor could be the first of the last four men to be eliminated. Why Orton? To further the heel turn, of course. "The Viper" may draw a later number and spend his time in the Rumble match acting a little different than the usual aggressive Randy Orton than we’re used to.

A heel turn is coming, and after hitting the RKO on Nakamura this week on SmackDown Live, I think a great set-up would be for Nakamura and Orton to be together picking their numbers from the tumbler backstage (I hope they bring that gimmick back this year), with Orton promising Nakamura that what happened on SmackDown wasn’t just a statement, but a warning. Orton’s done playing nice, and that was only the beginning.

When the last four men are left in the ring, Reigns and Balor would pair off, as would Orton and Nakamura. To add drama and even more tension between the men, Orton coud toss Nakamura over the ropes only for Nakamura to hang on without Randy realizing. Just at that same moment, Finn Balor will be on the verge of eliminating Roman Reigns, allowing Orton to sneak up from behind and dump Balor out of the ring and taunt the crowd, instantly garnering big heat, because not only will the crowd surely be behind Finn, but Orton will have also saved Roman from being taken out of the match.

Nakamura didn’t get eliminated, as established above, and Orton could turn around after eliminating Balor only to see Nakamura taunting him with his classic “Come On!” gesture. The perfect comeback for Shinsuke would see Orton charge at him, only for Nakamura to sidestep and toss Orton over the top. Nakamura could go on to also eventually eliminate Reigns to win the match. After being eliminated it would make sense for Orton to challenge Nakamura for his #1 contender spot at Fastlane.

Edited by Shruti Sadbhav