I have some bad news for you WWE wrestling fans. I am pretty sure Braun Strowman is the favourite to win the Royal Rumble. I am not necessarily saying I want this to happen but it almost certainly will.
There are few wrestlers who have been this protected and have received such a strong push in the WWE since the brand split. It always seems to take massive interference to take this “monster” down.
It is pretty clear by his interactions with Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho that the WWE is planting the seeds of who is truly the favourite for the Rumble.
The promotion wants us to see Braun as a major threat and tease many potential matches for the WrestleMania 33 season. Am I excited by a potential WWE Universal Title match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman in Orlando? Not really but the WWE seems to think this will be a potentially big draw for the grandest stage of them all.
So who can stop the seemingly inevitable march to WrestleMania 33 greatness? I present my list of top five men who could eliminate Braun Strowman from the 2017 Royal Rumble:
#5 James Ellsworth
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Who would have thought when we saw the very first Raw after the brand split that we would see the birth of a star. It was the birth of the legend of James Ellsworth. It was surprising to see a squash match on that episode of Raw and even rarer to see the chinless man get interviewed before his destruction at the hands of Strowman.
The legend of Ellsworth begun and will always be tied into the Braun Strowman story. There certainly have been previous interactions between the two men. At Survivor Series 2016, it was Ellsworth who cost Strowman the match. He sure paid for it that night as well.
Would the WWE repeat that same joke at the Rumble? It certainly would reinforce the narrative that anything can happen at the Rumble. Besides this is a company that had Maven eliminate the Undertaker. Do you think it would be impossible for them to repeat the Ellsworth joke?
#4 Sami Zayn
I am sure that many of us are frustrated by the use of Sami Zayn so far on the main roster. The man who put on two of the best matches of 2016 is constantly on the losing end of most of his WWE feuds. For a talented wrestler who is so over with the fans, it seems like an incredible waste of his considerable talent.
The one time he has really shined since the brand split was against Braun Strowman. Braun has been booked so well and Sami played the role of the underdog to perfection. The fact that he had to fight against Mick Foley’s interference and outlast Braun for ten minutes at Roadblock, places him as a potential babyface star to build in the coming months.
One of the best ways to do that would be to have him interact with Strowman again. It is easy to see the wonders it would do Zayn to overcome the monster yet again but this time in a bigger setting. It would set Sami up nicely for a marquee match at WrestleMania 33 that he so richly deserves.
#3 Samoa Joe
The rumours of Samoa Joe finally coming to the main roster are strong. If this well-overdue debut is finally coming true, he must make a major impact upon his debut. He is too talented to waste that moment.
A Royal Rumble debut will always get a good crowd reaction and has helped build many stars in the past. Joe fits the role of the monster quite nicely and would not look out of place against someone of Strowman’s size.
Since Braun has quickly become an established star, Joe eliminating him would seem like a big deal and Samoa Joe would be well on his way to a successful main roster debut.
#2 The Undertaker
I have heard rumours that Braun and The Undertaker were considered for a match at WrestleMania 32. That would have been a very bad idea as Braun was very inexperienced at the time. Braun has improved considerably since then and is finally due for his encounter with the Dead Man.
It would be one of those classic state downs in the Rumble we all seem to enjoy. Braun wouldn’t look too bad in the equation either. No one really looks bad being eliminated by the ‘Taker. They just get very nice rub against the major WWE Legend.
#1 Goldberg
They have certainly teased this potential interaction at the Rumble in the last few weeks. Goldberg usually looks best against the bigger wrestlers and this would certainly fit the bill. It would be quite smart to put over younger talent on Goldberg’s end.
And if you want to build Strowman for the future, the more interactions that occur with the high-level talent the better. Braun Strowman, like it or not, is in for a major push in 2017. It would seem like a big deal to eliminate him from the Rumble and I believe the popular WCW legend would do the trick nicely.
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