WrestleSlam

The biggest match of the year is only a few hours away, so Nick and myself are busy covering the event and posting our respective prediction blogs.

I posted an article on Bleacher Repot yesterday reporting that Booker T and Kevin Nash are both booker for the Rumble and I posted a special feature on WrestleSlam called "Who To Look For At The Royal Rumble".  Before I get to the big 40-Man Match, though, there is a 3 Match undercard.

The first match of the undercard is for the Divas Championship and is Natalya vs. LayCool.  That's right, WWE is still having this team fight for a singles championship.  I say it every time LayCool is in a match for the (single) Divas Championship, I always say this is ridiculous.  It takes away from the value of the title, and there wasn't a whole lot if value to begin with, and it just makes a complete prop out of the belt.  None-the-less the match is happening, and I am going with Natalya retaining here.  

Next up is Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship.  I'm looking forward to this.  While I have little doubt that Edge will win, I think the match has potential.  Edge is obviously very good in the ring, and I'm a fan of Dolph's in-ring work.  Like I said, though, my pick for this one is Edge.  It's just to close to WrestleMania to put the title on Dolph, because, I think I can safely say, it would be a mistake to have Dolph be World Heavyweight Champion going into WrestleMania.  So, Edge is my pick for this one, but I am looking forward to seeing this match.

The last match of the undercard is The Miz vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.  This is another match I am looking forward to and I think has potential to be very good.  I have to go with The Miz retaining his WWE Championship, though.  I just don't see them taking the title off of him so soon, let alone to the guy who he won it from.  Plus you have Alex Reilly, who is always a factor.

The last match of the night is, of course, the big 40-Man Over-the-Top Rope Royal Rumble Match.  I am breaking this down into a few parts I want to write about what I think of making it a 40-Man match, as opposed to a 30-Man match, some surprise entrants, and then my predictions.

When WWE announced it would be a 40-Man match, quite a number of people were pretty angry with the news.  I understand that 30 is a "tradition", but adding 10 more guys really isn't changing all that much.  The core concept of the match stays the same and all this does is opens the door for more participants and a longer match.

Now to move onto some surprise entrants.  You can check out my special feature at this link listing some possible surprise entrants, but I'll also go over them here.  First we have Triple H, who has been out of action since April.  I would say the likelihood of a Triple H return is pretty high, so definitely look for a Triple H return.  Next we have Booker T and Kevin Nash, both who are in Boston, and according to PWInsider, will definitely be in the Rumble.  Again, I think it's a safe bet to say Booker and Nash will be surprise entrants.  Wade Barrett posted on his twitter page that Papa Shango will be a surprise entrant, so look for that to happen.  Christian and Evan Bourne are two other guys I would say have a high probability of returning.  There is Awesome Kong who posted a teaser on her twitter account, but if she is there, I would imagine it's to interfere in the Divas Match.  Lastly I want to mention Chris Jericho's name, while he isn't a definite, he's someone you may want to watch for.

Moving onto my actual prediction for the, now.  WWE can go one of two ways.  They can have an already established main eventer win, or they can have a not established superstar win and really push them.  I would rather see someone who is already a main eventer win, and I do think that's what will happen.  I just thin the Royal Rumble is too large of a platform to launch a push off of.  What if the push fails and the superstar doesn't get over with the crowd?  Then WWE just wasted a Royal Rumble, and that's not a risk I think WWE is willing to take (and they shouldn't).  So, I'll leave it at someone who is already a main event will win.  That may be Sheamus, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Kane, Triple H (if he returns), or any other main eventer.  While WWE will let the younger guys like Alberto Del Rio and John Morrison shine in this match, in the end, I think someone who is already a main eventer will win.