Who gets a guaranteed title match at WrestleMania 34? This question will be answered on Sunday night at the Royal Rumble at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. In addition, Brock Lesnar must defend his Universal Championship in a triple-threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, while WWE Champ AJ Styles will face Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a handicap match.
Schlauchy: How annoying Jordan was after his debut with Raw. Even if it wasn’t the plan, the WWE managed to turn necessity (ambrose injury) into virtue. Jordan is now really entertaining with his style and the role Seth plays is just as great. These stunned, irritated and embarrassed facial expressions are worth their weight in gold. On the other side are The Bar, who continue to play a great role, but lose momentum, even though the “You suck”-chants at Raw were really funny. I am firmly convinced that Rollins & Jordan will retain the titles and their inevitable feud will not begin until later.
Kneisel: Angle recently stated in an interview that the plan was to build Jason as an annoying pseudo-face from the beginning. The man will surely know what his employer has plans for his own son! Joking aside, I’m all yours: Jason has sucked royal at first, but meanwhile he has found his role and is very entertaining in it. Alone his “Seth, I’ve got this!” at the peep show and Rollins’ reaction to it was funny to throw away. Correspondingly, I also assume that Rollins & Jordan will leave the titles for at least another month, and then, if necessary, I will continue to publish them. a WrestleMania match. Unfortunately, The Bar must continue to maintain their status as Miz-Light counterparts of the Tag Division.
Kneisel: Showstealer alert! I am firmly convinced that this will be the match of the evening, because these four are simply great in the ring. The chemistry is also right, and last seen on Tuesday at Jey vs. to convince Chad again. The only thing that could ruin this match would be missing time due to the two rumbles. But I remain positive and even expect the title change, because it has to come now, if you want to keep Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin relevant. It’s gonna be a fireworks display, right?
Schlauchy: The match definitely has the potential to become big. Unfortunately, I am not as optimistic as you and I expect it to be much too short. Nevertheless, fireworks will be fired as best as possible. Chad & Shelton fit together very well. But nothing beats The Usos and I can’t imagine them losing their titles on the Road to WrestleMania.
Schlauchy: There’s no need to brag about it: AJ Styles will defend his title. The question that arises is only the how. It is rumored that the alliance between KO and Sami will break up again and become a kind of Jericho vs. KO number two is coming. However, this is a little too unimaginative for me. I tend to think that Shane and Bryan will interfere extensively, escalating the situation and influencing the match to Kemi’s disadvantage. Since it’s quite clear that AJ will keep the title, the line-up is a disaster for Sami and Kevin. The two of them can only lose and will end up looking like the two biggest fools. Do you see any way to avoid this scenario?
Kneisel: Unfortunately, no, as much as I would wish for them. After SmackDown I had the quiet hope that KO “hurt” and we styles vs. Zayn at the rumble, which I personally would much prefer. Thanks to the ring of hobbling Owens, I could have even imagined a title change in theory. But Owens has already ruled that out and as you say, they can only lose in this handicap match, because the WWE won’t be co-WWE champions. This would still be much better than Jinder’s reign, but it would still be a further degradation of the most important title, whose standing needs to be rediscovered as a matter of urgency. A separation from Kemi after such a short time would make no sense to me, especially since Sami as Heel is blooming unbelievably. Would Kevin seriously do gymnastics then? I don’t want to rule it out, but I hope that the alliance will continue to exist after AJ Styles defends its title.
Kneisel: 2018 goes on as it did in 2017:”Everything that makes Braun entertains me unlikely! Admittedly, the commercials against Brock were anything but new at the Jubilee Raw, but there was the grappling hook out of nowhere two weeks earlier. Not to mention his rampage last week after the “dismissal” – great! Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the fact that the match for Strowman will end like his 1 vs. 1 with the Beast in No Mercy 2017: untitled. As much as I wish you could give the monster among Men the gold, but the WWE has other plans (Roman) and at least they keep Braun constantly relevant. The match will of course be won by Brock Lesnar per Pin to Kane, who redefines the word “Filler” in this feud.
Schlauchy: Your brewing and adulation is getting creepy. You can also just get a room. Of course, the segment at Raw two weeks ago was mostly very entertaining, but otherwise his whole sequences are nothing new, but typical Big-Man behaviour. I’m sure that Braun has developed greatly and is rightly where he is now, but your love affair with him takes me a little too far. The match itself will not be a treat and will certainly not exceed the 10-minute mark. Finally, Brock Lesnar will be allowed to perform the pin on Kane and defend the title. That’s a good thing. There is absolutely no anticipation for this match.
Schlauchy: With the announcement that this year’s women will also be allowed to hold their rumble match, a certain amount of hype came along. If you think more deeply about the match, you shouldn’t expect anything from it in terms of storyline. While it is possible to speculate about future developments and World Cup matches among the men, we know that there will be a maximum of two women’s matches at the World Cup. Therefore, this stress factor is eliminated. Sure, there will be “some” legend and NXT gigs. I am thinking in particular of Michelle McCool, Kaitlyn or Kelly Kelly Kelly. From NXT we might see Peyton Royce, Ember Moon or Shayna Baszler. We will probably have to wait in vain for AJ Lee/Brooks. Enormously sad, even dramatic is the loss of Paige. With the winning tip there are not many left. Finally, I see four potential winners. Sasha Banks and Bayley are in, but they’re just outsiders. Rather, I hope that their feud will finally be heralded. Asuka seems like a good choice. Rather, I assume that the “surprising” Ronda Rousey will win the thing, Asuka will win the title later on and the two of them will play the RAW title match at the World Championships. Is there something against that?
Kneisel: Unfortunately not. As much as I was pleased with this approach per se and as much as I can understand why WWE will do it, it also takes away my joy. Of course Ronda Rousey, who has just denied participation in an interview with TMZ, will take part “surprisingly” and of course she will win. After weeks of listening to all the workers being very happy about the appointment and the great honor they feel for it, they get all the participation trophies, Miz-Style. Of course Ronda will bring tons of attention and money to the WWE and she is a real fan, but in the end her run will only last a few months, she will kill Charlotte at WrestleMania and unfortunately I am not convinced that she will bring over anyone (Asuka) in the end. The whole thing is somehow reminiscent of Goldberg’s run, which I keep trying to suppress. I’d rather ignore your AJ mention, or I’ll just get more annoyed about the WWE.
Page 1: Rollins/Jordns vs. Cesaro/Sheamus, Lesnar/Strowman & Women’s Royal Rumble
Page 2:30-Man OverThe-Top Match and the Result