Royal Rumble Picks

With the Royal Rumble coming up in a weeks time, it's that time of year when all wrestling fans start dipping into their piggy banks and heading down to the bookies to put money on who they think will win the Royal Rumble.  Let us take a look at the favourites and I will make my final pick at the end.

Sheamus

A popular pick for many, Sheamus appears to be one of the frontrunners to win the Rumble this year.  Having largely floundered around Smackdown, squashing everything in his way, Sheamus has had no notable feud and barely challenged for the World Heavyweight Title since he has been drafted to Smackdown - something everybody expected from him this year. The former two-time WWE champion seems to be a main event star of the future for WWE, but I don't think they're going to give him a 'Mania title match just yet.

Wade Barrett

Like Sheamus, Barrett has been mostly directionless since he was drafted to Smackdown - that was until his rivalry with Randy Orton. Appearing regularly on both Raw and Smackdown every week as of late, Barrett seems like he is in the favour of the higher-ups in WWE at the moment and after coming off strong in his feud with Randy Orton, there is a case to be made that he will be the winner of the Royal Rumble this year.  However, like Sheamus, I don't think Barrett will be involved in the title match at WrestleMania this year - my prediction is that Sheamus will fight Wade Barrett in a grudge match at the biggest PPV of the year.

Randy Orton

The hometown hero is surely the odds on favourite to win, right? Don't expect it.  Randy Orton is already a Royal Rumble winner, having won the match in 2009, and though we have seen others win the Rumble two or even three times in the past, Orton doesn't need this win to elevate his career any further right now. Of course, if you think back to the draft, you could believe promises could have been made to Orton that he would be in one of the main events of WrestleMania the followng year. Despite being the company's second biggest draw, Orton was coming off the back of a second WrestleMania in a row in were he fought a mid-card match and then had the slap in the face of being drafted to the B-show, Smackdown.  I still think Orton will be in a World Title match at WrestleMania, but I believe he will be going in as champion - perhaps against..

Cody Rhodes

...the Intercontinental champion, Cody Rhodes. But is Cody Rhodes a serious pick to win the Royal Rumble? It seems as though a feud with Goldust is on the cards at the moment, and though his elder brother wanted to have that match at WrestleMania, it could easily be over and done with by Elimination Chamber. Royal Rumble winners tend to have filler matches at Elimination Chamber PPV between the Rumble and WrestleMania to give them heat going into their big match, such as Alberto Del Rio last year beating Kofi Kingston.  While Cody Rhodes is on the brink of becoming a bonafide main eventer in WWE, he is definitely a dark horse for the Royal Rumble.  Though the theme tune of the PPV is indeed "Dark Horses" - perhaps a subtle clue?

Undertaker

If the gong were to chime after a countdown during the Royal Rumble match, nobody would see it coming and the WWE fans would go crazy.  It is around this time every year that Undertaker makes his bombastic return to the WWE for his annual WrestleMania match and doing it at the Rumble would be a huge shocker. The Rumble is always full of surprises and this would be a big one - but Undertaker winning the Rumble? While there is a possibility he could return, I can't see him winning the thing as he doesn't need to be fighting for a title at WrestleMania..

Chris Jericho

..and neither does the recently returned Chris Jericho.  Nobody can truly predict what is going to happen with Y2J, but one popular theory is that he will win the Rumble and face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, putting over Punk in the process and elevating him to being a true main eventer. While that would make for a great feud, I think WWE has different plans for Jericho. Though the mystery videos haven't been mentioned since his return as of yet, the WWE wouldn't go to all the trouble of making those clips if they did not have any meaning. I think there is a stronger possibility that Jericho will go on to face Undertaker at WrestleMania, rather than CM Punk - the January 2nd videos seemed to imply a feud with 'Taker more than Punk, with many being fooled into believing it could even be videos promoting the return of Undertaker.

Alberto Del Rio

Amongst the WWE fans, all the above mentioned names are being thrown around as possibilities to win the Royal Rumble this year, but Alberto Del Rio, last year's winner, is one name that is hardly getting a mention. Though he has only been off TV for a couple of weeks, it's almost as if he has been away forever, with everybody seeming to have forgotten that he even exists. Though out with an injury, reports indicated he would be back around the time of the Royal Rumble and so it is likely he will be making his return as a surprise entrant. Will he go on to win it for the second year in a row, though? It is likely CM Punk will be headlining the WWE title match at WrestleMania this year, as Raw's top babyface behind John Cena and I can't imagine the Del Rio-Punk feud that ended a month or so ago reigniting already.

John Cena

John Cena would be a shocking and dramatic pick to win the Royal Rumble and one that would piss many fans off, as Cena is already booked to face The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania. Why would he win the Royal Rumble? Say he wins the Rumble and uses his shot as a means of facing CM Punk for the WWE title before WrestleMania, as to defend the gold against Rock in their super main event. Cena did allude to facing Rock for the WWE title just under a year ago, after WrestleMania, but rarely since then has it been mentioned as a possibility. The popular thinking is that the Cena-Rock match does not need the WWE title for it to be any bigger, but it is also a known fact that Vince McMahon prefers for the final match of the night to be a WWE title match - as nothing should be bigger than the WWE title. It is an outside chance, but not completely impossible.

Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, Big Show or CM Punk

It almost went unnoticed, but recently WWE announced that competitors involved in title matches this year will be eligible for participation in the Royal Rumble event. This leaves a whole host of big name main eventers that could be involved in the match. Daniel Bryan or CM Punk could even lose their titles and then go on to win the Rumble that very night, booking themselves into a main event at the Rumble. While this is a chance, I'd guess that WWE are only doing this to bring more star power to the Rumble, than to throw any spanners into the works.

My Pick - The Miz

Since Survivor Series I have believed that The Miz would face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, after headlining arguably the second biggest PPV of 2011 against The Rock, as well as headlining WrestleMania earlier in the year.  I just did not know exactly how they would get to that point, but now I'm pretty confident in my assumption that The Miz is going to win the Royal Rumble and go on to face (and beat) CM Punk for the WWE title at WrestleMania 28.

WWE would not invest so much time and effort into The Miz over the course of 2011 if they didn't have a big match planned for him at WrestleMania.  Of course, a match with R-Truth is a possibility at this point, but I believe that WWE has much grander plans than that for the Awesome One.  Like I said in my WrestleMania article, I think Miz and Punk could pull of a show-stealing match at 'Mania.  Both are good workers and great on the mic and we have yet to see any real feud between the two except for the light, inconsequential feud going into TLC.

One other reason is that The Miz has had barely any screen time as of late. Surely that means he won't be winning this year then? To me, it's a red herring from WWE - the Rumble is always full of surprises, and this year I think The Miz will be the surprise pick to win.