Predicting the results of the Universal and WWE Championship matches at Royal Rumble

The road to WrestleMania 35 is officially set to begin with the culmination of the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV emanating from Phoenix, Arizona. Usually, the matches and results at Royal Rumble have serious implications for Wrestlemania. The winner of the annual Rumble match will get an opportunity to face the champion of his choice at Wrestlemania 35.

Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan are the current world champions on Raw and Smackdown Live, respectively. They are set to face their familiar foes - Braun Strowman and AJ Styles at the upcoming event. The results of both these matches are set to have huge ramifications for the match card of Wrestlemania 35 as it will give us a clear view about the booking direction of the main event at the show of immortals.

Here are the predictions for both the men's World championship matches at theRoyal Rumble PPV:

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#2 Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles - WWE Championship

Will the two in-ring generals put on an instant classic at the upcoming PPV?

Daniel Bryan's career has been rejuvenated ever since he turned heel against AJ Styles just before the WWE Survivor Series PPV. Since then he has left behind his previous ultimate underdog persona and proclaimed himself as the new Daniel Bryan. After turning heel, Bryan had phenomenal matches with the likes of Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles at Survivor Series and TLC PPV's.

Currently, Daniel Bryan is scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against the Phenomenal One AJ Styles at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV. AJ Styles earned his opportunity to face the champ at the upcoming event by emerging victorious in the fatal 5-way number one contender's match which took place on new year's episode of Smackdown live.

Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles faced each other multiple times in the last few months with the WWE championship on the line and have delivered solid matches consistently but failed to have a classic bout. It was widely predicted that Daniel Bryan would face a new opponent at the upcoming PPV as AJ Styles has been involved in a rather intriguing storyline with Vince McMahon on the last few weeks. The one among the rising superstars like Mustafa Ali, Andrade 'Cian' Almas, and veteran Rey Mysterio was expected to be the new challenger for WWE Champion but the company went ahead and booked Styles as the number one contender.

The veteran duo is expected to have the match of the night as they are amongst the best wrestlers on the planet right now. Coming to the result of the match, Daniel Bryan retaining his championship seems the likeliest result after analyzing the current booking direction of both the superstars.

Result - Daniel Bryan defeats AJ Styles and retains the WWE championship

#1 Brock Lesnar (c) vs Braun Strowman - Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman

Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman have faced each other on numerous occasions in the last two years with the Universal Championship on the line almost every single time. Braun Stowman to the astonishment of WWE Universe has failed to defeat The Beast Incarnate on all the above-mentioned occasions. He even challenged for the Universal title at the last years Royal Rumble event, albeit in a triple threat match involving veteran Kane.

Braun Strowman's chances of defeating Brock Lesnar this time around are still the same as last year (slim) as the beast seems to be heading onto main eventing yet another Wrestlemania, but this time against a crowd favourite.

But Brock Lesnar's UFC aspirations and company's new start notion these days might result in a much-deserved victory for Braun Strowman as yet another clean loss in the big match will hamper his credibility as the main eventer.

This one of the most unpredictable match at the Royal Rumble PPV as WWE on several occasions in the recent past made us believe that Brock Lesnar will be departing from the company but that did not happen and he shockingly emerged victorious on each and every occasion which reiterates that we cannot accurately predict Brock's future in WWE.

So considering the past and current booking trends it seems likely that Brock Lesnar might find a way to get past Braun Strowman and then move onto have a marquee Universal championship match at Wrestlemania 35 against a former WWE champion.

Result - Brock Lesnar defeats Braun Strowman and retains the Universal championship