By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
WWE presents the 38th annual Royal Rumble, emanating from Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium. From a personal standpoint, this is my favorite match of the year and I feel like this year’s men’s match in particular has been built to where the outcome hasn’t been foreshadowed, which is the best position to be in. The women’s match doesn’t have the same intrigue, but I think it should still be good with several surprises. In addition, two title matches round out the card – one that has the potential to be a classic and one that has had an excellent build. With that out of the way, let’s run down the card!
Men’s Royal Rumble match (Entrants: John Cena, CM Punk, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Logan Paul, Penta, Chad Gable, Bron Breakker, Damian Priest, Jacob Fatu, Santos Escobar, 13 TBA). This is the crown jewel of the event and, as I mentioned, WWE has set this up with several stories that put the winner in question. As such, it’s a hard match to predict, but if I’m ranking all of the possible stories they could tell, I think CM Punk’s is the most compelling. Finally achieving his dream of main eventing WrestleMania is something they could really rally behind in the weeks leading to the big event. The other strong possibility could be John Cena, who is on his year-long retirement tour, but I feel like they have plenty of time to get him into the title picture. I could also make arguments for Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre – which is the exciting part of this match.
Don Predicts: CM Punk wins the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble.
Women’s Royal Rumble match (Entrants: Nia Jax, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Lyra Valkyria, Ivy Nile, Iyo Sky, Chelsea Green, Piper Niven, Candice LeRae, Zelina Vega, 16 TBA). This match is less about the stories and more about the potential surprises. I think it’s a good bet we see Becky Lynch, Jordynne Grace and Asuka as surprises tonight. In terms of the outcome, it’s tough to really envision what the two women’s title matches at WrestleMania will be, but I think the returning Charlotte Flair winning and going on to challenge Tiffany Stratton is a pretty safe bet.
Don Predicts: Charlotte Flair wins the 2025 Women’s Royal Rumble.
Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens in a ladder match for the WWE Championship. I’ve loved the build to this match – from the promos, to the pull-apart brawls to Kevin Owen’s t-shirts. This should be good and I’m sure these two will find several creative uses for the ladder. I could make a case for Owens taking the title here, but I think the plan is to have Cody defend at WrestleMania. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Randy Orton were to return here to cost Owens the match to reignite their feud.
Don Predicts: Cody Rhodes retains the WWE Championship.
“DIY” Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. “Motor City Machine Guns” Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin in a best of three falls match for the WWE Tag Team Titles. This is the potential classic I spoke of as long as they give these teams some time and don’t do a quick fall off the bat. These teams mesh well together and I’m interested to see how the Machine Guns fare in their first high-profile premium live event match. I know they’ve been telling a side story with Pretty Deadly and DIY, so there may be some more advancement there, but I’m pretty confident that the champions retain here.
Don Predicts: DIY retains the WWE Tag Team Titles.
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