5 Favourites and the dark horse who could win the Royal Rumble 2018

There are only handful achievements in WWE which are at par with winning the WWE Championship. Winning the Royal Rumble match is one such feat.

With the Royal Rumble PPV just a month away, let’s analyse the favourites and dark horse who could win and kick off the road to WrestleMania.

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#5 Kevin Owens

Owens would quest for new heights at the Royal Rumble.

Kevin Owens is as good on the microphone as he is in the ring. Kevin Owens has been a promising heel in 2017, and the year ended with him registering a pinfall victory over the WWE Champion AJ Styles on the last episode of SmackDown Live.

Also, Owens has been a thorn in Shane McMahon’s eye, and Shane would explode internally if Owens would win the Royal Rumble match next month. It could open up a lot of possibilities for WrestleMania 34.

If Owens wins the Royal Rumble, it is safe to say fans should expect a lot of chaos on the blue brand.

#4 Cesaro

New promises for the new year.

Cesaro has shown his grit earlier this year when he competed with broken teeth at No Mercy. He has continuously amazed the fans around the world with his consistently good matches.

He, along with Sheamus, lost the Raw tag team Championship earlier this week. This has opened up a window of opportunity for the “Swiss Cyborg” to come out on top in the most vied match of the year.

We hope to see a lot of “Giant Swings” at the upcoming Royal Rumble match.

#3 Dolph Ziggler

Haven't we seen this before?

A couple of weeks ago, Dolph Ziggler has voluntarily relinquished the US Championship. Last week, the SmackDown Live’s General Manager mentioned he tried on contact Ziggler but wasn’t able to.

Notably, Ziggler is now 37 years old, and at that stage of his career where he needs to go for the most coveted prize in the business, the WWE Championship.

Interestingly, Ziggler is part of gimmick where he is re-packaged as Shawn Michaels. His speech two weeks ago was similar to Michaels’ famous “I lost my smile” promo, where the “Heart Break Kid” retired owing to his injury.

#2 Seth Rollins

Its time for Rollins to get the gold back

Royal Rumble win is the one achievement that has eluded Seth Rollins. The Architect would definitely be urged to add this particular feather in his cap. As a whole, Rollins spent 48 minutes in Royal Rumble 2014, second only to CM Punk in that year’s event. As far as the Shield is concerned, Dean Ambrose is injured and shelved for a couple of months. It is safe to say that near future for this faction is shelved along with Ambrose.

Currently, Rollins is one-half of the RAW tag team champions. However, the fans would love to see him return to singles competition

#1 Samoa Joe

The "look" says it all.

The Samoan Superstar has impressed wrestling fans worldwide with his sadistic smile and painful Coquina Clutch. He is one of the rare heels in WWE who has his name chanted as he makes his way to the ring every single time.

His feuds with all the three members of the Shield prove that he a major draw for main events.Having a heel winning the Royal Rumble match would be a nice flavour to add.

The Dark Horse – Finn Balor

"The Demon" will rise again.

The Irish wrestler is our top pick to win for the upcoming Royal Rumble match. WWE has not booked him in a singles match with an opponent of his calibre in the last couple of months. That might be a genuine way of “protecting” him before the Royal Rumble match.

Usually, a lot of Superstars are extremely vocal prior to the Rumble match about how they are going to win. But these Superstars seldom win. Notably, Balor has been quite “silent” both in the ring and at the backstage. We have rarely seen him in an interview.

Aftermath:

Owing to the low-quality booking that Finn Balor has got in the last couple of weeks, Balor can go to SmackDown Live, the land of opportunity, post his Royal Rumble win to face the phenomenal AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.