WWE.com and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly makes his predictions for the Royal Rumble PLE set for Saturday (2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT), streaming live on ESPN in the United States and Netflix internationally.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Only a little more than half of the 30 participants have declared for the Royal Rumble, but the ones that we know are the heavy hitters. Former World Champions Roman Reigns, Gunther, Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio have a combined eight Rumble wins. They are the ones that we know will participate in the free-for-all. We are talking about Rhodes winning two of the last three, including back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Reigns won only once and was a runner-up four other times. Reigns is the favorite, but not if Bronson Reed has something to say about it. Reed showed up at the Raw before the Royal Rumble in his Tribal Thief t-shirt, reminding everybody about his rivalry with Reigns. Then you have Bron Breakker and the rest of The Vision participating in the Rumble and have come together to ensure Breakker wins. And then there is the defending champ, Uso and Lesnar. All could easily win the Rumble for the third time. But the one who sticks out is Gunther, who has a high-stakes match against AJ Styles on the card. Two matches for Gunther? Interesting. If Styles loses his match with Gunther (likely earlier on the card), then his career is over. Styles continues his career earlier in the night, and Gunther wins the Rumble that leads to, in essence, a rematch at WrestleMania 42.
PREDICTION
FINAL SIX: Sami Zayn, Bron Breakker, Roman Reigns, Gunther, Bronson Reed, Oba Femi
FINAL TWO: Gunther, Roman Reigns
WINNER: Gunther
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Will Bianca Belair return? What about Tiffany Stratton? Or could we see Brie Bella return to WWE? That is what makes the Royal Rumble a can’t-miss event because everything is on the table. It seems like the Women’s Rumble Match has the chance for several surprise entrants that could win and insert themselves into a WrestleMania 42 main event. The return of Belair from injury to win the Rumble and challenge WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill sure would make sense, but maybe too much sense. Just last year, an injured former champ returned and won the Rumble in Charlotte Flair. Plus, there is already a built-in story with Belair (if she returns from injury) and Cargill, not to get the Rumble involved to make it happen. That makes me want to pivot to the stars who haven’t had a run for some time – Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan. Both have competed in the tag team division, and that could soon end. You can say the same thing about Alexa Bliss and Charlotte, and that could happen instead. But a nice callback of Ripley and Morgan as the last two left, with Ripley reclaiming her rightful spot as the top woman in the WWE is possible.
FINAL SIX: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Bianca Belair, Lash Legend, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez
FINAL TWO: Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan
WINNER: Liv Morgan
UNDISPUTED WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn
You have to admit that every time the odds are stacked against Sami Zayn, he keeps finding ways to get it done. Zayn was somewhat of a surprise winner of the No. 1 Contender’s Tournament, considering he had to defeat Ilja Dragunov in the qualifiers and then Randy Orton, Trick Williams and Damian Priest in the Fatal 4-Way. Nothing suggests that Zayn should be able to earn his first World Title against The Scottish Warrior. McIntyre has been on a warpath and has never lost a singles match to Zayn over his career. It sure seems like now or never for Zayn to get that title, but can you see Drew losing the title less than three weeks after winning it? Me neither. It’s more likely that Zayn loses, then slides his way into the Royal Rumble and is one of the last five to set up a WrestleMania match.
PREDICTION: Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn
CAREER THREATENING MATCH
Gunther vs. A.J. Styles
Gunther has already retired Goldberg and John Cena, so why can’t The Ring General do it one more time? Gunther has already defeated Styles once, but that was controversial after the referee didn’t see Gunther tap out. A callback to that, but reversed, seems like a potential way to keep everything in motion of Styles not having his career end a month into his supposed farewell tour and allow the aforementioned prediction of Gunther winning the Rumble later in the card to set up a WrestleMania 42 rematch. Yeah, Styles would have to win the World Heavyweight Title from CM Punk at WWE Elimination Chamber, and it’s not like those two haven’t had beef recently. It sounds like a long shot, but it also sounds reasonable.
PREDICTION: AJ Styles def. Gunther
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