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The annual Royal Rumble, one of the most anticipated annual events on the WWE calendar and a company staple in January, takes center stage on Sunday as the road to WrestleMania 37 opens. The winners of the Royal Rumble men’s and women’s matches will, as usual, win world championship opportunities at WrestleMania 37 in April.
In addition to the two Royal Rumble matches, there are two currently confirmed world title matches for the event. Roman Reigns will defend the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match, and the legendary Goldberg will return to the ring for the first time since WrestleMania 36 to challenge WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
The Royal Rumble will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 31, and the show is expected to last 3-4 hours, not including the kick-off, which begins an hour before the main card at 6 p.m. CBS Sports be with you throughout Sunday with live scores, highlights and analysis.
For now, let’s see how our experts think the Royal Rumble will play out this Sunday.
WWE Royal Rumble 2021 predictions
Women’s team championship: Asuka and Charlotte Flair (c) against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax
It was ridiculous putting the titles on Asuka & Flair in the first place, and given that each is involved in separate storylines for singles, it makes even less sense to keep the straps on them. Baszler & Jax worked perfectly well as champions and had a nice storyline setup with Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke. With the Muscular Friends now healthy and back in action, it would be hysterical – albeit depressing – for WWE to return the titles to heels, but I think that’s exactly what they’ll end up doing, eliminating completely any value. of the current championship race. Pick: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler win titles – Adam Silverstein (also Brent Brookhouse)
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella
Carmella has done a good job in her current heel run, and there’s no denying that she’s improved as a performer. That said, Banks is finally enjoying a title reign where she managed to defend the title. It’s hard to see his run end against Carmella in what was his first real storyline after winning the belt from Bayley. Banks is an attractive champion heading to WrestleMania, and a match featuring her as the champion seems to be more important than a match with Carmella. There isn’t a lot of mystery in this one. Pick: Sasha Banks retains title – Brookhouse (also Silverstein)
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens (last man standing match)
As fun as an Owens win can be fun, it seems quite unrealistic to expect WWE to cut Reings’ run ahead of WrestleMania. Reigns has been the company’s best draw since returning to SummerSlam and Owens has provided a good film in recent months, but he never really looked like a threat to beat Reigns for the title. A Last Man Standing match provides some outs to keep Owens strong (interference from Jey Uso), but he doesn’t go out as a universal champion. Pick: Roman Reigns retains title – Brookhouse (also Silverstein)
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg
Fans were rightly enraged when Goldberg appeared on Legends Night to challenge McIntyre, especially considering the storyline to create the match didn’t make any sense. With McIntyre out for two weeks due to COVID-19, the temperature of fan resentment has cooled, as has any real interest in this game. Although Goldberg has beaten the heel of Kevin Owens and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt for the Universal Title twice – and WWE is building this championship as the only world title Goldberg has ever won – he would have absolutely no meaning to put him on top of the top male babyface business he spent the last year building. It should be a short game with McIntyre overcoming an early attack barrage from Goldberg to retain the title and keep it at least until WrestleMania. Pick: Drew McIntyre retains title – Silverstein (also Brookhouse)
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
There are plenty of viable options for winning the game, but none accomplish what a Belair victory would do. She’s a great talent who just needs the right script to fully break through and become a lead actor in the event. Belair once again showing her strength and athleticism in the Rumble while outliving all other women immediately establishes her in the title picture much better than her current awkward rivalry with Bayley. Pick: Bianca Belair wins – Brookhouse (also Silverstein)
Match Royal Rumble Men
If there’s one thing WWE loves to do, it’s give Legends the top spots at the biggest PPV events of the year. This is why Goldberg faces McIntyre, this is why Goldberg held a world title before last year’s WrestleMania, this is why The Rock’s name was linked to Reigns for WrestleMania before the lack of live crowd doesn’t seem to do it. Edge wasn’t coming back to be a full-time talent, but it looked like he was set to take on big places throughout the year. If WWE wants to make a big swing on an underdog to take on Reigns at WrestleMania, Edge would tick a lot of the boxes they’re looking for. Daniel Bryan would do the trick as well, but there’s an itch in my mind that Edge is getting Wellness Moment and Mania Slot. Pick: Edge wins – Brookhouse
Edge announcing his return to WWE and entering the Royal Rumble on Raw felt like a moment of wasted surprise even though that’s what we had last year at this very event, but it added a level of intrigue to the match because Edge (as expected above) would make a lot of sense as the winner of the Royal Rumble and future challenger to McIntyre. However, before Edge’s announcement, I thought WWE would move in its best booking direction possible, which puts Bryan in the game as Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania challenger. There is a ready-made storyline between Bryan and Reigns dating back to 2014 when Bryan made his long-awaited return to the Royal Rumble to be unceremoniously eliminated as Reigns won the whole thing. Fans revolted, and that moment was the catalyst for continued dissatisfaction with Reigns as the face.
Seven years later, with Reigns now a heel, WWE can easily go back and play that scenario out. We saw interactions between Bryan, Reigns, and Jey Uso a few months ago, and I believe these were planting the seeds of Road to WrestleMania. There are other legitimate possibilities to win this game, but Bryan makes the most sense by far. He could still win Reigns a chance through the Elimination Chamber, but why waste the Perfect Scenario? Pick: Daniel Bryan wins – Silverstein
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