The 2023 Royal Rumble is just a few months away and marks the beginning of the road to WrestleMania.
This year’s Royal Rumble will air from the Alamodome, a familiar venue in San Antonio, Texas. The winner of the battle royal will earn a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in Hollywood.
Below are five predictions for the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble match that are unlikely to happen, but would be absurd if they did.
#5. Cody Rhodes is the first Superstar to be eliminated
The WWE Universe is eagerly waiting for the return of the American Nightmare. Cody Rhodes broke his pectoral muscle training earlier this year for his Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins. He showed the fans that he was a fighter and still fought in the match.
Rhodes defeated Seth at WWE Hell in a Cell 2022, but was taken off TV after Raw to recover from his injury. Many fans are not only expecting Cody to return to the Royal Rumble, but they are also expecting him to win the match.
It would be shocking to see the American Nightmare return this January with The Whisperer.
#4. Roman Rance won the Royal Rumble as the champion
To prove a point, Roman Reigns may decide to dominate the entire roster and enter the Royal Rumble match. The Tribal Chief will count on his clan members as allies and will be the favorite to win if he enters the Battle Royale.
He could then claim that there is no one on the roster at his level, which would be true. This could lead to heavyweights like The Rock or John Cena trying to end their dominance at WrestleMania 39.
#3. Bad Bunny eliminated Logan Paul to win the Royal Rumble
Logan Paul had already targeted Roman Rance and failed at Crown Jewel. The 27-year-old was impressive in his third match of his career but got injured at the premium live event.
Bad Bunny had a stellar run as a WWE Superstar, but was outdone by Logan, the best celebrity-turned-wrestler in the company. He and Logan Paul may be the last two stars left in the match, much to the sadness of wrestling fans around the world.
The rapper could then eliminate the YouTuber to earn a title shot at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
# 2. Kofi Kingston just gets thrown over the top rope
Kofi Kingston has consistently been one of the more entertaining stars of the Royal Rumble in recent years. However, things took a turn for the worse earlier this year and the former WWE Champion was ousted in an embarrassing fashion.
The 41-year-old attempted to create a moment for the fans and used his athleticism to get over the barricades. Unfortunately, his jump over the barricade fell short and both his feet touched the ground.
The cameras caught it, so he had to announce that Kofi was eliminated, and perhaps backstage embarrassment made him decide not to go for the viral spot of the match this time.
#1. Shane McMahon sets record for fastest elimination
Shane McMahon was essentially asked to leave the 2022 Royal Rumble following his antics. He wanted to eliminate himself in the match and turn people against him.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer noted that Shane took a lot of heat backstage after the Premium Live event in January.
“There was a lot of heat on Shane [McMahon] because Shane was one of the producers, in fact, he was the main producer of the Rumble. And that’s when he got his idea of what the Rumble was going to be and then it changed a lot I don’t know everything but I do know that there were a lot of people who made nasty comments about Shane to me [h/t: ITR Wrestling]
However, the regime has changed, and perhaps his sister and brother-in-law will give him another chance. Shane must set things right behind the scenes and set the record for the fastest elimination. Santino Marella currently takes the honors in the 2009 Royal Rumble match with 1.9 seconds remaining before elimination.