Royal Rumble toil and trouble ...

WWE presents the Royal Rumble! (Sunday; January 30th, PPV)

Felt like taking a stab at making some predictions for this year's event!


Title Match 1:

Champion: Edge vs. Challenger: Dolph Ziggler - for the World Heavyweight Title

Winner : Dolph Ziggler, with title changing hands. Edge has gone as far as he can go as Champ, for the time being, and it's Dolph's time to shine. He's been on a giant roll lately, and with Vickie Guerrero at the helm of Smackdown, the 2 are poised to be the new power couple literally running the show. Of course, he won't do it clean. Vickie will offer TONS of help to secure the win. Edge will go nuts and the real feud between him & Dolph will begin.

Title Match 2:

Champion: The Miz vs. Challenger: Randy Orton - for the WWE Championship

Winner: The Miz, retaining the title. I predict Miz to shock the WWE Universe in the first great upset of 2011. The kid has worked hard and, albeit a heel, is the new and growing face of the WWE. He's been dogged by peers and commentators as "scared to fight", but his pride has been boiling to prove everyone wrong. A-Ry will offer a ton of help and probably wind up being the deciding factor in the match, but I believe Miz will put in a hell of a fight, and ultimately get the pin, legitimizing his current reign as WWE Champ.

The 40-man Over-the-top-rope Battle Royal:

This is always a complicated contest to call. You have certain factors to take into account. The winner of the Rumble gets to select either the Raw or the Smackdown title holder to compete against at Wrestlemania. So 1 factor that has to be taken into account is "Which winner would bring an instant and and highly anticipated feud for Wrestlemania?" I've already predicted Ziggler to win Smackdown's Heavyweight title, but it still remains to be seen how much of a show he can CARRY as Champ. He may very well end up turning over the title before Wrestlemania comes around, nullifying any anticipation to be had for someone choosing HIM as their opponent from winning the Rumble. Therefore, although Kane, The Big Show, and Alberto Del Rio will make it interesting, the winner will most likely come from Raw.

Cena is EASILY the over-dog on the Raw roster. Also, they've already started to build his feud with a now more capable Miz. The 2 could actually carry a very strong rivalry that the WWE Universe could get behind, and cheer for Cena as he ultimately wrests the title from The Miz at Wrestlemania. The only people from Raw who could give Cena a run would be Sheamus or C.M. Punk. Unfortunately, Sheamus has been spiraling lately, and I don't see him coming out of it in time to win the Rumble, and Punk & The New Nexus will be nullified by Wade Barrett & The Corre.

So, yeah. Cena should win it, right? ... Well, not so fast! There is 1 last factor to account for with the Royal Rumble ... the ever looming - "Dynamic Return"! Look for someone who's been off both Raw & Smackdown rosters for a significant amount of time to run in around the #40 spot in the Rumble as a "big surprise" to everyone. So the question begs - "WHO would fit that bill?" Only 2 names come to mind. The 1st? The Undertaker. However, the problem with that is he's on Smackdown. 'Taker winning to then challenge Ziggler at Wrestlemania?  *yawn*. Besides, I'm sure he'll back to defend his undefeated streak against Kane. So ... who else?? ...

I'm swinging for the fences on this one, but for the Raw roster Dynamic Returnee, who will blow the roof off the Arena when he rushes in at the #40 spot to eliminate Cena, win the Rumble, and challenge The Miz to an AWESOMELY constructed title match for Wrestlemania?

Winner: Triple H. Told ya. Swinging for the fences. I don't know what his official status is right now. "Super injured reserved"? "Unofficially retired"? No clue. But if there is even ONE wrestling bone left in his body, he's due for a supreme comeback and the WWE Universe could use him. Someone to temper the "Superman complex" of John Cena. And I'm sure it's no coincidence that Shawn Michaels has been reintroduced, having already been announced as an inductee to the Hall of Fame. So he'll be Triple H's wing-man for the next couple months to counter the A-Ry effect. If H can stay healthy, he'll win the title at Wrestlemania.

My predictions. Let's see how smart I am :)