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The Royal Rumble has long been the kick off to the Road To WrestleMania. The Royal Rumble match is still used as the means to determine who will get to main event WWE’s biggest wrestling event of the year.
Even with two more major events between now and WrestleMania, The Elimination Chamber and Fastlane, thanks to some of what transpired at the Royal Rumble we are already getting a picture of what this year’s WrestleMania could look like, what matches we might see and even what the result may be.
This year’s Royal Rumble was no exception, not only did it determine who will be challenging for one of the men’s and women’s respective titles, but other things happened that will help get the WWE Universe’s imagination flowing, attempting to predict who will face who at WrestleMania and what we might see over the coming months.
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Here are my 5 predictions...
#1 Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey
Becky Lynch was the surprise winner of the women's Royal Rumble match. She wasn't scheduled to be in the match but having lost to earlier that evening to current Smackdown Women's Champion, Asuka, Lynch decided to take advantage of the injured Lana not being able to compete and injected herself into the Royal Rumble match.
Because Lynch is on Smackdown Live, the assumption would be that she would pick a rematch with Asuka at Wrestlemania, but being "The Man" and doing what she wants to do, Becky Lynch is likely to challenge Ronda Rousey for the RAW's Women's Title.
This is a match the WWE Universe was eager to see at Survivor Series but did not get due to an injury. Many have speculated who would've won had the two met at Survivor Series, leading to the WWE Universe wanting to see this match even more.
Some speculated that we would see the Four Horsewomen of the WWE face off against the Four Horsewomen of MMA at Wrestlemania, but with the 3 other MMA Horsewomen still in NXT and other possible matches set for the WWE Horsewomen, Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey is the likely match at the show of champions.
#2 Asuka vs Charlotte Flair
If Becky Lynch is going to square off against Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania, then Charlotte Flair is the most likely candidate to face Asuka for the Smackdown Women's Title.
When you think about it, this seems obvious. Asuka lost to Charlotte at last year's Wrestlemania. Charlotte was the champion then and Charlotte was the one responsible for ending Asuka's undefeated streak.
Leading up to the Royal Rumble, Charlotte ending Asuka's streak was brought up quite a bit and the general theme of Asuka's match with Becky Lynch was that Asuka was no more than a shadow of her former self since losing to Charlotte at WrestleMania.
Beating Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble proved what both Becky and Charlotte were saying wrong and now that she's beat Lynch, it only makes sense that she take another shot at Charlotte to prove she is everything everyone originally believed her to be and what better way to that than in a WrestleMania Re-Match?
Besides...if not Charlotte, is there anyone else ready for Asuka on the Smackdown women's roster?
#3 Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar
Most would probably say that Seth Rollins winning the men's Royal Rumble was a foregone conclusion. Since the departure of Roman Reigns, many have believed that Rollins would be the obvious choice to be 'the guy' on the RAW brand and being 'the guy' would lead to Seth taking on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.
So if this prediction seems a little too obvious, let's take it a step further and predict the outcome. Seth Rollins will win the Universal Title with the help of Roman Reigns.
Prior to the Royal Rumble, there were rumours that Reigns might be making an appearance. He's not yet cleared to wrestle but thoughts were that he might just show up in a non-wrestling role.
If he is currently well enough to make an appearance, what condition will he be in, come WrestleMania? Even if he isn't cleared to wrestle, Reigns' music hitting and him walking out to the ring may be a big enough distraction to allow Rollins to get the upper hand and pin Brock Lesnar.
#4 Shane McMahon vs The Miz
Shane McMahon and The Miz officially became "The Best Tag-Team In The World" after beating The Bar for Smackdown's Tag-Team Championship at The Royal Rumble and this has many fans wondering "How long will this last"
History has shown that the odd time a McMahon has won a title, they have not held onto the said title for a long time. In the coming weeks, we are likely to see "The Best Tag-Team In The World" fall apart.
Ego vs. ego likely being the cause of the downfall and with two other major events between now and WrestleMania, the likelihood of this tag-team retaining the titles until WrestleMania is fairly slim.
One way or another, McMahon and Miz will lose the titles and one, most likely The Miz will not be happy with his partner when this happens and that will lead to the two meeting in the ring at Wrestlemania.
The Miz has been around long enough that they are starting to run out of things for him to do, but he's still valuable enough to keep in the WrestleMania picture...so why not have him face Shane?
I think this one the WWE Universe saw coming after McMahon stepped in and one The Best In The World title at Crown Jewel.
#5 The Wyatt Family vs The Bullet Club
Okay, bear with me on this one. It wouldn't exactly be The Wyatt Family or The Bullet Club, but it would be something very close.
At the Royal Rumble, the New Daniel Bryan beat AJ Styles with the help of Eric Rowan and everyone has been asking, "Why was Eric Rowan there"?
The answer I think is obvious if you remember that at one time Daniel Bryan was part of The Wyatt Family. With Bray Wyatt currently MIA and the Bludgeon Brothers seemly done, why not have all three return and join the New Daniel Bryan in a new faction?
And if said, new faction continues to interfere with AJ Styles trying to get his title back from Bryan, then what else is Styles to do but recruit some help from his friends?
New Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Eric Rowan and Luke Harper vs AJ Styles and former Bullet Club brothers Luke Gallows, Carl Anderson and Finn Balor.
The WWE universe has been itching to see the former Bullet Club together in the WWE and with other former Bullet Club members starting up some competition for the WWE, WrestleMania would be the ideal stage to introduce a WWE version of The Bullet Club.
