Official 2026 Royal Rumble Preview & Predictions

<v Speaker 1>It's time for the Royal Rumble. The twenty twenty six
<v Speaker 1>World Rumble is tomorrow night. Nobody told WWE, but it
<v Speaker 1>is because we have had and gone through the single
<v Speaker 1>worst build for the Royal Rubble in history. I don't
<v Speaker 1>think I say that with any kind of hyperbole behind it.
<v Speaker 1>It's true. It's just this has been incredibly just embarrassingly promoted.
<v Speaker 1>So I'll do that for WWE at my own expense,
<v Speaker 1>and I'll do it for free because they don't know how,
<v Speaker 1>or more likely they just didn't make it a priority
<v Speaker 1>for the Royal Rumble tomorrow night, their second biggest pl
<v Speaker 1>of the year. Let's just hope it's not a trend
<v Speaker 1>moving forward. I mean, they can't do this to WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 1>can they. We'll see. So we'll go through the matches
<v Speaker 1>and go through what I think could happen. And really,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's not a lot of matches as is
<v Speaker 1>the case normally with the Rumble, and there are I
<v Speaker 1>think what four matches we have. Don't forget since it's
<v Speaker 1>in riod if you're on the East coast, it starts
<v Speaker 1>at two o'clock tomorrow. If you're on the West coast,
<v Speaker 1>it's eleven am, so quite a weird time. This strangeness
<v Speaker 1>for us in North America continues of these pl times.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, if you're overseas, you're loving it, but it's
<v Speaker 1>very very odd here where it starts in the afternoon.
<v Speaker 1>You're like, wait, what, it's always seven o'clock Eastern time,
<v Speaker 1>you know. So nonetheless, if you want to have a
<v Speaker 1>fun afternoon here on the East Coast, if you're in
<v Speaker 1>that time zone, you got a fun time tomorrow because
<v Speaker 1>the Royal Rumble should provide I think a very entertaining show.
<v Speaker 1>I do. And my concern is though that Triple H
<v Speaker 1>has said it's going to be epic. We've heard that before.
<v Speaker 1>I don't. Triple H's definition of epic varies greatly from mine.
<v Speaker 1>When I hear epic, I'm you know, epic is as
<v Speaker 1>big of a word as you can really use. And
<v Speaker 1>his definition of epic that I've seen before has been
<v Speaker 1>just very very mediocre. So I I know he's there
<v Speaker 1>to try to hype things up. And what else is
<v Speaker 1>he gonna say? You know, he can't be like, well,
<v Speaker 1>you know, this year's rubble it doesn't have as many surprises,
<v Speaker 1>probably as fans would want or you know, as in
<v Speaker 1>years past. But we're gonna do our best. You know,
<v Speaker 1>he can't give you the truth. He has to sell
<v Speaker 1>it like every wrestle Mania is the biggest WrestleMania. You
<v Speaker 1>hear that every year, every year, every WrestleMania is the
<v Speaker 1>biggest WRESTLEMANI even though that's not true, maybe from a
<v Speaker 1>gate perspective, because I love to tell us how much
<v Speaker 1>money they've made off of us. But hey, all right,
<v Speaker 1>so we're gonna go through the Royal Rubble. We'll get
<v Speaker 1>to the Royal Rubble matches at in a minute and
<v Speaker 1>go through. That's piece by piece. But we have an
<v Speaker 1>invitation for you because if you want to go to
<v Speaker 1>an ad free experience and you don't like what you've
<v Speaker 1>heard with the ads in the show, you can get
<v Speaker 1>rid of them at Patreon at patreon dot com slash
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<v Speaker 1>I promise you I'd like to welcome though some new people.
<v Speaker 1>Ashish I think is maybe I got that wrong, but
<v Speaker 1>thank you for joining us on Patreon alrighty, so let's
<v Speaker 1>get into it and let's go to the first match,
<v Speaker 1>which let's see here. I had it up. It is
<v Speaker 1>the career versus title, AJ Styles versus Gunther and if
<v Speaker 1>Styles lose, he must retire. I should have said a title.
<v Speaker 1>It's career. It's the career match. AI is just stupid.
<v Speaker 1>They have it as career versus title. No, it's it's
<v Speaker 1>it's not. But really, what's on the line here is
<v Speaker 1>aj styles career and is there a chance he loses, Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>there's a chance. It's it's a weird dynamic because they
<v Speaker 1>are clearly trying to build Gunther's legacy around career killing.
<v Speaker 1>That's his thing. And if this wasn't at the beginning
<v Speaker 1>of WrestleMania season, this seems like a lock that AJ
<v Speaker 1>Styles would lose to Gunther here and Gunther I don't
<v Speaker 1>think can lose here Kenny, because they just had him
<v Speaker 1>beat John Cena in his retirement match. They just had
<v Speaker 1>him win. He's been on a roll and then AJ Styles,
<v Speaker 1>as we all know, is on his way out of wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>We just don't know when that final day will be.
<v Speaker 1>So you know, you can't have AJ Styles who's on
<v Speaker 1>his way out beat the guy that just beat John Cena,
<v Speaker 1>one of the biggest names in wrestling history. So that
<v Speaker 1>would really, I think, stifle the momentum of Gunther. Even
<v Speaker 1>though as great as AJ Styles is, he's on his
<v Speaker 1>way out and you're also trying to continue the momentum
<v Speaker 1>with Gunther. It would make no sense to have AJ
<v Speaker 1>just beat Gunther. It wouldn't. So I really do believe
<v Speaker 1>Gunther wins here. And why AJ Styles is deciding to
<v Speaker 1>if this happens, to have his career end before WrestleMania
<v Speaker 1>is a bit of a weird time. I mean, everyone's
<v Speaker 1>got their own personal decisions, but perhaps WWE said to Aj, hey, listen,
<v Speaker 1>you know, we don't have a whole lot of plans
<v Speaker 1>for you it WrestleMania, and they decided okay, and he
<v Speaker 1>decided okay, so let's end it here. That's possible. So
<v Speaker 1>while most people are predicting that AJ is going to
<v Speaker 1>win to retain his career, I think it would do
<v Speaker 1>much more for gun Through if he were able to
<v Speaker 1>retire AJ Styles here and what is going to be
<v Speaker 1>an I think an excellent, excellent matchup. The styles work,
<v Speaker 1>no pun intended work very well together. They have great chemistry,
<v Speaker 1>as these guys have with pretty much everybody. I think
<v Speaker 1>it's going to be eighteen nineteen twenty minutes. It should
<v Speaker 1>be anyway, with a lot of a lot of close
<v Speaker 1>near falls as you'd expect. And I mean, but can
<v Speaker 1>you see styles the styles clash being applied to gun
<v Speaker 1>through There's there's just no way right that the physics
<v Speaker 1>aren't there. We'll see, but it does create an inherently
<v Speaker 1>higher risk with a guy like Gunther trying to take
<v Speaker 1>a styles clash. So I think this is gonna be
<v Speaker 1>a good match, really really good match. I'd be very
<v Speaker 1>very shocked if it's nothing less than a four out
<v Speaker 1>of five stars if it's If it's anything less, I'd
<v Speaker 1>be very very surprised. So I do expect Gunther to
<v Speaker 1>win here. I know the timing's weird that it's right
<v Speaker 1>before WrestleMania, not at WrestleMania. I get it. The only
<v Speaker 1>other way that this does end, you know, in a
<v Speaker 1>weird finish, is if somebody somebody interferes, right Gunther has
<v Speaker 1>them on the ropes or aj Styles is about to
<v Speaker 1>win and somebody attacks aj Styles, right like, that's the
<v Speaker 1>only way that that he that that AJ Styles and
<v Speaker 1>and it doesn't doesn't, you know, end his career and
<v Speaker 1>also doesn't have Gunther lose. So you have some interference.
<v Speaker 1>I think you know that seems a little bit more likely.
<v Speaker 1>But you can't have what you can't have as guntherer
<v Speaker 1>lose here clean you can't have that happen. Now you
<v Speaker 1>may say, well, what if they interfere, somebody attacks Gunther
<v Speaker 1>or to attacks AJ, and AJ Styles wins I guess
<v Speaker 1>by DQ. Then yeah, I mean, if we're going to
<v Speaker 1>go that road, then AJ Styles wins by protecting Gunther
<v Speaker 1>not having him lose to AJ, and AJ keeps his career.
<v Speaker 1>So there you go. I was gonna pretict gun through
<v Speaker 1>outright winning, which I would do. But if you're gonna
<v Speaker 1>have AJ continue, here's my official prediction. AJ Styles wins
<v Speaker 1>by disqualification, either by interference or Gunther doing something to
<v Speaker 1>Aj Styles that causes a DQ. He gets caught, or
<v Speaker 1>he purposefully does it just to inflict pain. Maybe that's
<v Speaker 1>the road they go. So there you go. That's my finish.
<v Speaker 1>I think that makes much more sense. It kind of
<v Speaker 1>you know, two birds, right, I think that's the the idea.
<v Speaker 1>Here AJ continues his career. Gunther is protected and he
<v Speaker 1>doesn't lose, and I think all everybody wins, So gunther
<v Speaker 1>Is loses by disqualification. So let's go to the undisputed championship,
<v Speaker 1>Drew McIntyre versus Sammy's Ain. Drew wins or or retains however,
<v Speaker 1>you know, you could say he still loses and retains.
<v Speaker 1>That's possible with disqualification or no, you know, no contest whatever.
<v Speaker 1>But Drew mcatyre is and has to retain the championship
<v Speaker 1>here has to. There's just no other way. I was
<v Speaker 1>on the Sammy z Ain vote for a while, and
<v Speaker 1>obviously the peak of it was that the elimination chamber
<v Speaker 1>several years ago when he should have Beaten Roman Reigns
<v Speaker 1>for the championship and didn't do it. So Drew McIntyre retains.
<v Speaker 1>I think he retains, and Sammy z Ain comes within
<v Speaker 1>an eyelash as he always does, but doesn't doesn't win.
<v Speaker 1>And it could be because of outside interference and the
<v Speaker 1>way that WWE books heels is they very rarely, if
<v Speaker 1>almost almost never, outside of brock Lesner, have the heels
<v Speaker 1>straight up beat the baby faces because they're just simply
<v Speaker 1>a bigger badass or they're smarter that that's not the
<v Speaker 1>logic that they go with. There's very fundamental beliefs and
<v Speaker 1>attributes that heels have to have in WWE's version of wrestling,
<v Speaker 1>and that is they can't outright beat the baby faces.
<v Speaker 1>The baby faces are always smarter, but sometimes the heels
<v Speaker 1>will look stupid and the baby faces will outsmart them.
<v Speaker 1>So the heel can't be smarter, but they can do
<v Speaker 1>things to try to cheat to win, and that could
<v Speaker 1>be the case here where Drew has I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>brass knocks or some foreign object to beat Sammy's in.
<v Speaker 1>A low blow behind the ref's back and then a
<v Speaker 1>claymore I think is the most likely scenario. Even though
<v Speaker 1>Drew should outright beat Sammy's ain, he shouldn't need any
<v Speaker 1>extra help to beat Sammy's ain. But the way w
<v Speaker 1>w E books heels, that's probably going to be the
<v Speaker 1>finish is Drew doing something behind the refs back, you know,
<v Speaker 1>very very deep into the match, and a low blow,
<v Speaker 1>rake of the eyes, a foreign object, and then a
<v Speaker 1>clay more than one two three Drew retains. That's how
<v Speaker 1>I think this goes, and he should and what I
<v Speaker 1>think will be a good match I don't think it's
<v Speaker 1>going to be one that we're talking about for years.
<v Speaker 1>If I was a guest, I think AJ Styles and
<v Speaker 1>Gunther is going to be a better quote quality match
<v Speaker 1>or one that makes you on the edge of your
<v Speaker 1>seat more than Drew and Sammy does, because you know,
<v Speaker 1>you can make a case for really AJ or Gunther winning,
<v Speaker 1>as I kind of did, and I gave you my
<v Speaker 1>prediction that AJ does win via disqualification, But I think
<v Speaker 1>Drew McIntyre here has to retain. There's just there's no
<v Speaker 1>scenario in which Samy's Ain is going to go into wrestlemaniaschampion.
<v Speaker 1>You can't do that, especially with Drew McIntyre, who just
<v Speaker 1>won the championship finally, long overdue, finally wins it, and
<v Speaker 1>then you're gonna give it to Sammy's Ain. You just can't.
<v Speaker 1>I understand there's a lot of Sammy's Ain apologists out
<v Speaker 1>there and those that feel for Sammy and feel that
<v Speaker 1>he's he's also long overdue, and there's a case to
<v Speaker 1>be made, but the timing is horrible. The timing for
<v Speaker 1>Sammy's horrible. Now I said the timing for drud to
<v Speaker 1>win the championship from Cody on SmackDown several weeks ago.
<v Speaker 1>Was bad timing, but they were doing that to deviate
<v Speaker 1>from Cody Roman three, and I think they felt that
<v Speaker 1>the fans were coming back and giving backlash to the
<v Speaker 1>company before the match was even announced, because the fans
<v Speaker 1>got a heads up that that's what they're doing, and
<v Speaker 1>pretty much everybody's like, really again, and they can't go
<v Speaker 1>back to Roman Cody. I have no problem with that,
<v Speaker 1>but it's it can't be in the next Like I
<v Speaker 1>would say, you know, year, if they wanted to actually,
<v Speaker 1>if they want to do it in an extra WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 1>I mean that's cool too, that's certainly a possibility and
<v Speaker 1>it would feel a little more fresh. But to do
<v Speaker 1>it this year would have been I mean, that was
<v Speaker 1>the right call to, as they would say, pivot. And
<v Speaker 1>that's the reason. So the timing for Drew winning the title,
<v Speaker 1>while I said was not going to happen, it seems
<v Speaker 1>to always hurt him. It's very very impossible. It just
<v Speaker 1>you can't have Sammy win here. I think fans would
<v Speaker 1>be furious. It would also feel like they have no
<v Speaker 1>confidence and Drew off the get go. It would hurt
<v Speaker 1>Drew immensely, and it wouldn't do much for Sammy, who
<v Speaker 1>would I think really turn heel from that. I think
<v Speaker 1>fans would resent Sammy Zain for taking a championship away
<v Speaker 1>from Drew and pulling the rugout so quickly and not
<v Speaker 1>giving Drew's championship run a chance to even begin to
<v Speaker 1>live and see what it's about. So Drew wins here
<v Speaker 1>if you didn't catch my my my prediction, Drew wins
<v Speaker 1>or at least he retains even if it's a disqualification.
<v Speaker 1>Much like aj and Gunther, you would hope they don't
<v Speaker 1>go with two dekey finishes here. So Drew wins by
<v Speaker 1>some kind of underhanded low blow and then a claymore.
<v Speaker 1>All right, the Women's World Rumble match, so we have
<v Speaker 1>at least confirmed, is EO Rhea live, Roxanne, Raquel Bailey,
<v Speaker 1>oscar lyra Kyrie saying, I do expect aj Lee, not
<v Speaker 1>aj Styles, but aj Lee to be a part of this.
<v Speaker 1>Do I expect Tristratus? Yes? Do I expect Leda fifty
<v Speaker 1>to fifty You know some of the you know, the
<v Speaker 1>good old timers that can still go. You might even
<v Speaker 1>throw Molly Holly in there, just for good measure. She's
<v Speaker 1>been a part of it in the past. It's fun
<v Speaker 1>to see Molly Holly if she can take a quick
<v Speaker 1>bump and you know, that kind of thing and then leave.
<v Speaker 1>So she's very possible. Obviously, Charlotte, I think, and Alexa
<v Speaker 1>and Nya, Jackson, Lash Legend, they all should be a
<v Speaker 1>part of this. I mean they just have to be.
<v Speaker 1>So pretty much everybody everyone you can think of on
<v Speaker 1>SmackDown and Raw that's been on television in the last
<v Speaker 1>month is in the royal rubble. I don't need to
<v Speaker 1>go through the list here, but who wins is interesting
<v Speaker 1>and who returns I think. I mean, I've let the
<v Speaker 1>cat out of the bag a little early a few
<v Speaker 1>weeks ago. I think Beyonca bell Air, Bianca bell Air
<v Speaker 1>comes back, huge reaction. She's gonna win, and we're gonna
<v Speaker 1>set up Bianca Bellair versus Jade. Despite the fact that
<v Speaker 1>Jade is has been to say she's been underwhelming as
<v Speaker 1>champion would do a disservice, and I shouldn't say it's
<v Speaker 1>been horrible. Okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating. It's been under
<v Speaker 1>Underwhelm is probably the accurate statement. Underwhelming, not a disaster,
<v Speaker 1>but just cold, not a lot of progress. She doesn't
<v Speaker 1>yet and hasn't yet connected on the mic. I've gone
<v Speaker 1>through that chapter and verse. Until she can do that,
<v Speaker 1>she's not going to progress in ring. She has made
<v Speaker 1>some progress in ring. She has yes improved since she
<v Speaker 1>came to w W E. I don't care about her
<v Speaker 1>physique anymore. I don't care what hair extensions she wants
<v Speaker 1>to wear or bodysuit she wants to wear to show
<v Speaker 1>off her curves. What it doesn't. That's over. I don't
<v Speaker 1>not impressed by that anymore. You know, it's still impressive
<v Speaker 1>in and of itself, just objectively. Her physique is sculptible.
<v Speaker 1>I get it, but that's kind of gone by the wayside,
<v Speaker 1>Like you can't lean on that anymore. You have to
<v Speaker 1>have substance. Now. There has to be something that fans
<v Speaker 1>can actually feel. Four beyond wow, her physique is crazy.
<v Speaker 1>Oh do you know it's? Her physique is crazy? Do
<v Speaker 1>you see your muscles? Wow? Look at it? Like, okay,
<v Speaker 1>got it great? You know you're very marketable. I understand that,
<v Speaker 1>But now go and make the fans feel something. And
<v Speaker 1>she hasn't done that yet. But that all said, maybe
<v Speaker 1>Bianca bel Air and Jade will finally it could finally
<v Speaker 1>ignite Jade. Bianca is an A plus plus worker. You
<v Speaker 1>know that she can help Jade along the way. She's
<v Speaker 1>got a few months to prepare for WrestleMania. It would
<v Speaker 1>be a very, I think, WrestleMania worthy match. It's a
<v Speaker 1>match that right off the bat when Jade joined, you're thinking, wow,
<v Speaker 1>wait till they get to that. Yeah, that'll be fun
<v Speaker 1>just from a visual perspective. I mean if the match quality,
<v Speaker 1>of course could vary greatly, but Jade and Bianca could
<v Speaker 1>go twelve thirteen minutes at WrestleMania. I mean, I'm just
<v Speaker 1>pulling number out of my my ass, but that's kind
<v Speaker 1>of where I think i'd land. Anything beyond that I
<v Speaker 1>think would really expose Jade because you can only learn
<v Speaker 1>so much and polish yourself so much in a few months,
<v Speaker 1>and Jade's been here for a couple of years now
<v Speaker 1>and she's been very, very slow to progress. So Bianca wins,
<v Speaker 1>big reaction, and I think it'll be a lot of fun.
<v Speaker 1>Do I expect Jordan Grace, Yes, though, you know that
<v Speaker 1>kind of those kind of participants. Any big surprises outside
<v Speaker 1>of like Yesteryear's talent probably not other than again Bianca
<v Speaker 1>bell Air winning all Right, the Men's World Rumble, So
<v Speaker 1>who's confirmed? Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Gunther, Raymisterio, Penta, Dragon, Lee,
<v Speaker 1>Jay Uso, Solo, Sokoa, Bron Breaker, Logan, Paul All the Vision,
<v Speaker 1>Right the Whole Vision, Javon Evans, Obafemi, and Brock Lesner
<v Speaker 1>who called in to what was it Pat McAfee show.
<v Speaker 1>And Pat McAfee is on his way back to we
<v Speaker 1>two now that football's over, so that'll be good to
<v Speaker 1>hear him back if you like Pat. So brock Lesner
<v Speaker 1>is going to be a part of it. It'll be
<v Speaker 1>interesting to see if even though Aj and Gunther are
<v Speaker 1>having their match, if they still are participants in the
<v Speaker 1>Men's were a rumble. Something to think about. Maybe if
<v Speaker 1>Gunther loses that match by DQ, he's still in the
<v Speaker 1>rumble and him and Brock have a moment. We've been
<v Speaker 1>waiting for that to really, I mean, at least I
<v Speaker 1>think they did have a moment a couple of years ago,
<v Speaker 1>but to truly have that bill to WrestleMania Gunther versus
<v Speaker 1>Brock and there's no title on the line, which also
<v Speaker 1>is much better that the title. If Gunther was champion,
<v Speaker 1>it would make less sense because then it would be
<v Speaker 1>very clear who's going to win. And also Brock is
<v Speaker 1>rumored to be wrapping up his career for good this
<v Speaker 1>year as well. So Gunther Brock, if you're gonna do it,
<v Speaker 1>WRESTLEMANI is a great time. Nobody's champion, which is what
<v Speaker 1>you want. They're both in a position where they don't
<v Speaker 1>have a path right out of WrestleMania. Yet the only
<v Speaker 1>fine the ointment is they're both heels. So what do
<v Speaker 1>you do? I guess you kind of let the crowd decide.
<v Speaker 1>That's what I would do. Just put them together, let
<v Speaker 1>the crowd figure it out. Honestly, they want to cheer
<v Speaker 1>for Gunther, let's do it. If they want to cheer
<v Speaker 1>for Brock, do that cool, go with that too. No,
<v Speaker 1>I don't think you really need to do one way
<v Speaker 1>or the other, because forcing it one way the other
<v Speaker 1>may not work. You just let let it happen. Just
<v Speaker 1>put them out there and see what happens with no agenda,
<v Speaker 1>and let the fans organically decide that way. You don't
<v Speaker 1>choose wrong, you know, and try to position somebody in
<v Speaker 1>a position in a role that doesn't fit and the
<v Speaker 1>crowd rejects it and you got to change course and
<v Speaker 1>it looks weird. Just let the crowd decide. I remember
<v Speaker 1>they did that about twentyn This is going back twenty
<v Speaker 1>five years with a Kurd Angle and Triple H when
<v Speaker 1>both were heels and Stephanie McMahon was involved with the
<v Speaker 1>Love Try angle and Kurt kissed Stephanie. Remember maybe maybe
<v Speaker 1>many of you don't remember that, but if you do,
<v Speaker 1>there was that time where Kurt and Triple H were
<v Speaker 1>both heels chasing after Steph and they kind of let
<v Speaker 1>the crowd decide who they were going to cheer for
<v Speaker 1>and who they weren't. That's I think what you do here,
<v Speaker 1>let them decide. So now what happens are a big surprises? Well,
<v Speaker 1>l A. Knight returns, I think that goes without saying.
<v Speaker 1>He'll have a spot where the Vision is dominating the rumble. Right,
<v Speaker 1>they come out and one person, will you know, a
<v Speaker 1>baby face comes out and gets beat down, maybe like
<v Speaker 1>a ray mysterio gets gets in there, tries to level
<v Speaker 1>with the Vision and gets beat down, and they just
<v Speaker 1>keep getting thrown out and thrown out and overwhelmed because
<v Speaker 1>the vision is dominating and then l A. Knight comes
<v Speaker 1>out or brock Lesner. That'd be a fun spot too,
<v Speaker 1>But the vision with l A. Knight because he has
<v Speaker 1>he has vengeance on his mind, specific with Bronson Reid,
<v Speaker 1>so La Knight will be put in that spot I
<v Speaker 1>think in a kind of a big moment where the
<v Speaker 1>vision can't just toss him because he's a big you know,
<v Speaker 1>he's a big star and he'll even the odds. So
<v Speaker 1>Ella and Night will have a fun spot. Do I
<v Speaker 1>expect Chris Jerocho Absolutely, It's it's like the worst kept secret.
<v Speaker 1>Now he may be number thirty, but he's not. He's
<v Speaker 1>not gonna win, let's be clear about that. But he's
<v Speaker 1>gonna come back. They've already trademarked Judas by the way,
<v Speaker 1>so it's it's confirmed. I mean, I if Chris Jericho
<v Speaker 1>is not a part of the Royal Rumble, he'd be
<v Speaker 1>really disappointing and shocking. So that'll be cool to hear
<v Speaker 1>him his music again and see him back and what
<v Speaker 1>he can offer w W and maybe you know what
<v Speaker 1>kind of story they're going to tell moving into WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 1>For him, he's not gonna win the rumble. Okay, So
<v Speaker 1>anybody that thinks he's gonna win that just take a breath,
<v Speaker 1>all right, No, he's not, even if he's number thirty,
<v Speaker 1>So that'll be fun. You don't want Chris Jericho also
<v Speaker 1>out there too early in the matchup, you know, you
<v Speaker 1>want him as kind of a surprise thirty. He's a
<v Speaker 1>perfect thirty entrant. So who else beyond brock Lesner, beyond
<v Speaker 1>La Knight, beyond beyond uh you know, Chris Jericho. Well,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess if you want to go you
<v Speaker 1>want to go wild and say the Rock, I guess.
<v Speaker 1>I mean there's like a less than one percent chance.
<v Speaker 1>I don't think there's any chance of the Rock, No
<v Speaker 1>Stone Cold, none of that, No Undertaker. I've heard people actually,
<v Speaker 1>you know, proposing that. No, So what other surprises? Again?
<v Speaker 1>Obafemi is not a surprise, but he's gonna have a
<v Speaker 1>big impact in the in the rumble, him and rock
<v Speaker 1>Lessler would be a fun face to face. Brock Lesler
<v Speaker 1>should have a fun a front rumble. A few big
<v Speaker 1>moments again, maybe with the Vision, maybe with Obafemi, maybe
<v Speaker 1>with Gunther Cody Roads, Roman Reigns. They're gonna have some
<v Speaker 1>some moments as well. I don't know who's gonna eliminate who.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not even gonna get into that level of detail.
<v Speaker 1>It's impossible to predict who's going to eliminate who. But
<v Speaker 1>I will say that the person who does eliminate Roman
<v Speaker 1>Reigns is probably going to be Roman Reigns as opponent.
<v Speaker 1>Same for brock Lesner. Right, this is for a lot
<v Speaker 1>of the big guys, this is their path through WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 1>Who eliminates them and it should be like this is
<v Speaker 1>where a lot of rivalries start going into WrestleMania. So
<v Speaker 1>to me, I think that brock Lesner finds his opponent here,
<v Speaker 1>Roman Rains finds his opponent here, Cody Rhodes finds his
<v Speaker 1>opponent here, then for now I'd leave it there. Maybe
<v Speaker 1>even l A. Knight. You know, those guys find their
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania opponents in this match, and we're going to get
<v Speaker 1>the usual nonsense of, oh, somebody who's eliminated from the
<v Speaker 1>Rumble comes back in and eliminates somebody else, which is
<v Speaker 1>just impossible, because if you're eliminated from the Rumble, even
<v Speaker 1>if you throw somebody over the top rope, it should
<v Speaker 1>just be it should just not count because you're not
<v Speaker 1>a qualified contender you have you're just you don't count anymore.
<v Speaker 1>You're out right like it should not matter, but it does.
<v Speaker 1>It's just ridiculous. And we'll have somebody who's not in
<v Speaker 1>there and a sore loser gets eliminated, some heel that's
<v Speaker 1>angry come in and eliminate a babyface and it just
<v Speaker 1>makes no sense. But that's the rumble, and they'll have
<v Speaker 1>that happen. So jay Uso also hilariously put something out
<v Speaker 1>on it might have an ex saying that you know
<v Speaker 1>he's gonna win, don't be mad or whatever. Could you
<v Speaker 1>imagine jay Uso winning just just I mean, think about that.
<v Speaker 1>There's a real opportunity here. There's a real opportunity to
<v Speaker 1>have a a heal moment that no one saw coming
<v Speaker 1>with jay Uso winning. They're not gonna do it. I'm
<v Speaker 1>not even coming close to believing he could win. But
<v Speaker 1>imagine if they had jay Uso win again. One of
<v Speaker 1>the biggest heel turns of the last couple of years
<v Speaker 1>I think would be with jay who's so winning. I
<v Speaker 1>think there'd be some people cheering, but could you the
<v Speaker 1>outrage online would be something that I would. I'd pay
<v Speaker 1>a large chunk of change to see. So just a
<v Speaker 1>funny moment and fun to really think about, but not
<v Speaker 1>gonna happen. So who are the favorites? Who are the
<v Speaker 1>favorites to win? I asked AI because AI has been
<v Speaker 1>just so great lately. But it does have some reasonable,
<v Speaker 1>reasonable predictions here. If you're asking AI for the women,
<v Speaker 1>the favorite is actually Live Morgan, followed by Bianca bell Air,
<v Speaker 1>Riar Ripley, and Tippety Stratton. And that's possible. With Live Morgan,
<v Speaker 1>she doesn't seem to be in the right position yet,
<v Speaker 1>even though she had to give up her championship she
<v Speaker 1>got injured. Remember, I still don't feel she's in the
<v Speaker 1>right spot with a lot of you know, the machines,
<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem to be behind her at the moment. Bianca Bellair,
<v Speaker 1>to me, is a heavy favorite, so but not according
<v Speaker 1>to AI. Rea Ripley could come out of the tag
<v Speaker 1>team division and make a splash here, but it would
<v Speaker 1>feel very formulaic, kind of just very to me, very underwhelming.
<v Speaker 1>If Ria Ripley wins, it's just like, oh okay, here
<v Speaker 1>we go. Rea Ripley's back, and there's nothing wrong with that,
<v Speaker 1>but it does feel like somebody else needs the spotlight
<v Speaker 1>this year in a championship match, and Tiffany Stratton kind
<v Speaker 1>of same thing. I know, you know, her and Charlotte
<v Speaker 1>have had their issues in the past. I just Timmoty
<v Speaker 1>Stratton doesn't seem to be a realistic option at this
<v Speaker 1>point either, So I think it's Bianca and it's not
<v Speaker 1>even close. So the men who are they predicting the
<v Speaker 1>odds on favorite is Roman Reigns, followed closely by bron Breaker,
<v Speaker 1>Sammy's Ain, Loal l A Knight, and Jacob Fatu. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>Sammy's Ain is not going to win the Rumble. Let's
<v Speaker 1>just be clear about that, please, Yeah, I just I can't.
<v Speaker 1>I think Roman Reigns right now is a solid favorite.
<v Speaker 1>I said he could find his WRESTLEMANI opponent here. Well,
<v Speaker 1>he really he will obviously if he wins the Rumble,
<v Speaker 1>because he could choose to face Drew McIntyre, you know,
<v Speaker 1>which I think he probably would. They could go with
<v Speaker 1>Drew Roman, they very well could do that. But he
<v Speaker 1>may choose the World Championship against Sampunk. What Roman reign Sampunk?
<v Speaker 1>That seems fun too. There's a program that there's a
<v Speaker 1>lot of history there, so Roman reigns and Sampunk. Hey,
<v Speaker 1>that's very very plausible bron Breaker winning. Do I think
<v Speaker 1>he's ready in some respects, Yes, in others I feel
<v Speaker 1>like he has you know, he looks a little green.
<v Speaker 1>Not really with his promos. His promos have been one
<v Speaker 1>of his strong points because I mean, to me, he
<v Speaker 1>is ahead of himself in where he should be promo wise.
<v Speaker 1>I have really no issue there. There's always improvement, of course,
<v Speaker 1>but to me, it's in the ring where he gets
<v Speaker 1>a little too hyped up in big moments, and we
<v Speaker 1>saw that with Cee him Punk. He gets a little
<v Speaker 1>too hyped up, does some bad botches that are just
<v Speaker 1>dangerous and he needs to calm down. Easier said than done.
<v Speaker 1>But you talk about athleticism, that's on another world of course. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>And is he ready though for the main event? I
<v Speaker 1>don't think so. Like main event of WrestleMania, you might
<v Speaker 1>be putting the cart before the horse here if you
<v Speaker 1>have brown Breaker win, just because he's still relatively new
<v Speaker 1>on the scene here, I wouldn't lose it in my mind,
<v Speaker 1>and I'd be rooting for him, you know, obviously if
<v Speaker 1>he won, I think it would be a sign that
<v Speaker 1>they're really going for youth right away here and not
<v Speaker 1>going to the tried and true formula of Okay, Roman
<v Speaker 1>Reigns wins, It's okay, fine, you know. That would be
<v Speaker 1>a that would be a sign that they have way
<v Speaker 1>more confidence in Brown Breaker than we ever even thought.
<v Speaker 1>But Samy's ain winning. No Elle Knight winning, Nah, sorry, guys,
<v Speaker 1>Ellie Knight. He might be in the final eight, especially
<v Speaker 1>in the final eight, final six, even maybe even final four,
<v Speaker 1>but l A Knight winning doesn't feel like it's happening here.
<v Speaker 1>Jacob Fatu, you gotta be kidding me. How is this
<v Speaker 1>even Jacoba two winning the Royal Rumble. It's it's akin
<v Speaker 1>to like the Brooklyn Brawler winning. And I don't mean
<v Speaker 1>Jacob fat two is on the level of the Brooklyn Brawler,
<v Speaker 1>but I think that Jacoba two is just look at
<v Speaker 1>his story the last couple of years. I mean, this
<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem to make sense. The fans aren't ready for that.
<v Speaker 1>Jacoba two is not a developed character enough to make
<v Speaker 1>it to the main event of WrestleMania this year. It
<v Speaker 1>just makes no sense. So I think Roman Reigns is
<v Speaker 1>a good favorite here. Definitely. Cody Rhoades No, I just
<v Speaker 1>you can't go there again. So Cody Rhoades, uh no, no.
<v Speaker 2>No, no no.
<v Speaker 1>I think he needs a break. Roman Reigns is will
<v Speaker 1>this be Roman's third win? Maybe? So that's your that's
<v Speaker 1>my predictions here. When I gonna go with Roman Reigns,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess that's sorry, guys, it's a boring choice.
<v Speaker 1>I think Roman Reigns does win and he faces see
<v Speaker 1>On Punk at WrestleMania, and then we've got Biancabella winning
<v Speaker 1>the Women's World Rumble, and then we have aj Styles
<v Speaker 1>winning by disqualification against Gunther and as I mentioned earlier,
<v Speaker 1>for the fourth match, JUW McIntyre beat Sammy's Ain by
<v Speaker 1>low blow and a Claymore or two Claymores. That's what
<v Speaker 1>I think. So there you go. There's my predictions. And
<v Speaker 1>if you'd like to join us on Patreon again, guys,
<v Speaker 1>good time, Patreon dot com, slash WV podcast if you
<v Speaker 1>want to go add free. So that's my story. I'm
<v Speaker 1>sticking to it. If you guys want to reach out
<v Speaker 1>to me, I'll be live during the Rumble on x SO.
<v Speaker 1>Follow me. It's the ww podcast on x SO. Check
<v Speaker 1>me out. I'm the verified one. There might be other
<v Speaker 1>ww podcasts, but I'm the one that has the blue
<v Speaker 1>check mark, so that means I'm the more important one,
<v Speaker 1>right all right, So thanks everybody. I'll be back as
<v Speaker 1>quick as I can with a Royal Rumbover review. If
<v Speaker 1>I'm watching it live, I will definitely try to do
<v Speaker 1>a Royal rumboverview for Saturday night rather than waiting for
<v Speaker 1>Sunday night, because you want that instant reaction. I may
<v Speaker 1>even go live for those of you on Patreon. I
<v Speaker 1>think it's deserving of a live a live review, and
<v Speaker 1>check me out on Patreon. Again. That's the only place
<v Speaker 1>I'll go live is on Patreon, So there you go. Everybody,
<v Speaker 1>enjoy the rumble. I know you're not particularly excited this
<v Speaker 1>year because of the lack of hype, and I understand why,
<v Speaker 1>but it should overall be I think a very good
<v Speaker 1>resting event, right Like, if you're looking at this from
<v Speaker 1>pure wrestling, especially AJ Gunther and even Drew and Sammy,
<v Speaker 1>and there'll be some performative stuff and mini storylines going on,
<v Speaker 1>and the men's and women's ROL rubble matches which happens
<v Speaker 1>every year. Some nostalgic throwbacks. Maybe even Booker t comes
<v Speaker 1>out of retirement, right, some of those silly moments that
<v Speaker 1>are just fun, nostalgic takeaways. And you'll get that from
<v Speaker 1>both the women's and the men's from you know, maybe
<v Speaker 1>an Attitude era star. And oh, speaking of the Attitude Era,
<v Speaker 1>can't mention this or can't mention the Brumble without this.
<v Speaker 1>Two K twenty six does I think officially get revealed,
<v Speaker 1>especially whoever the cover star is. I know Triple H
<v Speaker 1>the King of Kings, which I think is just horrific.
<v Speaker 1>There's a specialist and King of Kings. I don't want
<v Speaker 1>to get into it. But the game itself is going
<v Speaker 1>to be revealed and much more footage and you know,
<v Speaker 1>like a real promo for it. And again I think
<v Speaker 1>the cover superstar is going to be revealed at the
<v Speaker 1>World Rubble. So with a I think it's a early
<v Speaker 1>to mid March release, as it is every year, and
<v Speaker 1>from what I've seen the screenshots I've seen, it looks incredible, incredible.
<v Speaker 1>So if you're a gamer, especially a wrestling gamer, well
<v Speaker 1>this this could be a hell of a game. And
<v Speaker 1>those of you that are millennials like myself, this could
<v Speaker 1>be a nostalgic. This could be a nostalgic, best looking
<v Speaker 1>nostalgic game you've ever seen from a wrestling perspective, So yeah,
<v Speaker 1>if you're interested in that. All right anyway, everybody, thanks
<v Speaker 1>so much. I'll be back as soon as I can
<v Speaker 1>after the Royal Rumble. Follow me an X if you
<v Speaker 1>want some live feedback, and we'll talk soon.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks for listening to the WWE podcast. Don't forget to
<v Speaker 2>subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss
<v Speaker 2>a show, or head to wwepodcast dot com and for
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<v Speaker 1>Until then, we'll see you next time.