The Rock's massive hint, Roman Reigns saga - 4 signs Cody Rhodes will lose his World Championship to Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble

Cody Rhodes has dominated WWE over the past few months since winning the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania last year. Rhodes finally finished his story but the title reign hasn't perhaps been as much of a success as WWE would have liked.

With his title set to be on the line at the Royal Rumble next weekend, it will be interesting to see if WWE opts to take the title from him now that WrestleMania plans remain up in the air.

The following list looks at just four signs that Cody Rhodes will lose his Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.

4. Cody Rhodes's title reign has become stale

While Rhodes is seen as the quarterback in WWE and has been pushed forward on both RAW and SmackDown, he will almost always be in the shadow of Roman Reigns, even without a championship.

Rhodes even teamed with Reigns last year despite their intense personal rivalry earlier in the year, and everything stems back to Reigns. Rhodes' entire match with Owens is because he teamed with Roman Reigns and Owens took offense to it because of his own issues with the Tribal Chief.

3. The Rock seemingly won't be at WrestleMania

The Rock's appearance on WWE RAW earlier this month basically confirmed that he wouldn't be at WrestleMania when he broke character and praised Rhodes for his work in WWE over the past year.

Cody Rhodes and The Rock were locked in an intense rivalry for several months ahead of that. Now, it seems that his WrestleMania plans are wide open and he may not need a title for it.

2. Kevin Owens is doing the best work of his career

Kevin Owens has been one of WWE's stand-out stars in recent months and throughout this feud, he has shone both in the ring and on the mic. Taking the Winged Eagle Championship and allowing him to act as champion has prepared WWE for the reality that he could become World Champion and could be a major hint that he could win the match.

It has been years since Owens has won a World Championship and it could be time for WWE to reward him for his work.

1. Sami Zayn has now become a factor in the match

Kevin Owens' appearance on WWE RAW this week has brought forward an interesting concept about Sami Zayn and whether he will involve himself in the match.

RAW ended with a hint that Zayn could be open to a heel turn, and now he could become a factor in the match. Zayn could interfere and Cody Rhodes may lose differently if he is betrayed by someone who he doesn't expect.