WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Preview

Folks, we are just one week away from the second biggest wrestling event of the year; The Royal Rumble. This year, the Rumble takes place in Phoenix, Arizona and features a ridiculously stacked card including Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor for the WWE Universal Title and Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Title. For this preview, we're going to mix things up and try a new format - instead of just getting everyone's quick predictions I hosted a conversation between two of our top contributors (Dave Burston and James Biddles) and the pair of them offered their thoughts on every match on the card. Caution, there is some strong language used here - especially when Dave has to talk about Brock Lesnar. So, without further ado, here we go:

WWE Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar (Champion) with Paul Heyman vs. Finn Balor

James Biddles: My head says there’s no way Brock will lose here and I don’t think he will, but it would be amazing to see Finn win. Brock to win, but Finn look strong.

Dave "Bane" Burston: Fuck Brock Lesnar, Biddles; This is where the Demon King rises. Finn Balor is someone that will wrestle cleanly and without steroids so the cheating steroid induced meat head will hopefully lose and we'll never see him on WWE TV again.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Daniel Bryan (Champion) vs. AJ Styles

James Biddles: I’ve been completely underwhelmed by their rivalry so far considering the talent they both have. Styles is yet to have a big WrestleMania match since his arrival so I think he’ll get the win here and head to Mania as Champ.

Dave "Bane" Burston: I dunno man, Styles and Bryan on paper could potentially be a show stealer. With this being the Rumble these guys should put all on the line to kick of the Road to WrestleMania. I'm going for a Bryan win here.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Buddy Murphy (Champion) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami

James Biddles: Buddy Murphy hasn’t been Champion for that long so I can’t see a switch yet. Murphy to retain.

Dave "Bane" Burston: No, Murphy's had this since the SuperShowDown which is a long enough run. I think this is Hideo Itami's time to shine. The only way I can see this ending is with the Go to Sleep

WWE Raw Women's Championship

Ronda Rousey (Champion) vs. Sasha Banks

James Biddles: Rousey to retain seems obvious but the intrigue will be surrounding who gets involved. Bayley and Natalya seem obvious but with the ongoing issues with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, you never know. My prediction is Ronda retains and is beaten down post-match by The Man.

Dave "Bane" Burston: I can see Biddles being right on this one. I can see Ronda retaining and a bit more of a build toward the potential 8 woman tag match between the two sets of Horsewomen at Mania.

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Bar - Cesaro and Sheamus (Champions) vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon

James Biddles: Hopefully The Bar retain and we can have The Miz back, who has been one of the standout stars since the brand split. This whole angle is doing him no favours what so ever. Unfortunately, I think The Bar will retain and we’ll get a Miz v Shane angle leading to Mania.

Dave "Bane" Burston: I agree. Can't see the Bar losing this one. Shane's clearly the weak link. I can see him eating the pin. Hopefully this will lead to something decent for The Bar going into Mania.

WWE United States Championship

Rusev (Champion) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

James Biddles: I can’t see Rusev losing this. Nakamura had one of the most underwhelming runs as any Champion in memory and I don’t see the need to give him another one any time soon.

Dave "Bane" Burston: Biddles. How can you say that? Especially after MVP, 5 years ago shone a light on Nakamura to us. His run may have been underwhelming but that doesn't mean he shouldn't get another one. Rusev day is over.

WWE SmackDown Women's Championship

Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

James Biddles: As with the Rousey match earlier, it all depends who gets involved in this. I think Asuka will retain leading to Becky v Ronda v Charlotte at WrestleMania

David "Bam Bam" Burston: Bang on the money. Although I think we'll be getting the NXT call ups and the 8-woman tag (as mentioned earlier). UFC's 4 horsewomen vs. WWE's Horsewoman.

Women's Royal Rumble Match

Winner gets a shot at the title at WrestleMania (Carmella at #30)

James Biddles: To make my above prediction have any possibility, I’m going for either Charlotte or Becky Lynch to win this and switch brands. Potentially even a double final elimination angle to allow both to make the jump. I’m expecting a lot of NXT talent to fill out the Rumble and a legend or two but with everything she’s been put through and the public support for her, it would be great to see Toni Storm make an appearance.

Dave "Bane" Burston: Yeah. It'd be nice to see Toni Storm get some recognition in this Rumble. For me, I'd really like to see Nikki Cross win it and challenge Asuka. Personally, I'd like to see them keep the legends down to a minimum as I think it harmed the first one.

Men's Royal Rumble Match

Winner gets a shot at the title at WrestleMania (R-Truth at #30)

James Biddles: It’s time for Seth Rollins to be back on top and he’s the only winner I can see here. In my opinion he has been head and shoulders above anybody else in the company in the past 12 months and believe he’s on the path to toppling Lesnar at Mania. As for surprise entrants, I think Hulk Hogan is a real possibility but potentially the biggest one would be the debut of Kenny Omega. Whilst it seems he’s destined for AEW, the lure of WWE might prove too much in the end.

Dave "Bane" Burston: I like the idea of Omega but can't see it happening. I think AEW has it wrapped up. I can't see many big surprises but I think Kevin Owens (with the shape he got into) will be an early favourite as well as Bray Wyatt who has already shown how dominant he can be in the match. I'd like Bray to win as a surprise pick.

Match of the Night?

James Biddles: Match of the night, I’ll go for Balor v Lesnar. Think that’s the first time I’ve ever put Brock for match of the night prediction!

Dave "Bane" Burston: The Men's Royal Rumble. This is always the match of the night for me. I deliberately stop watching WWE at the end of December so I don't get any spoilers for the Rumble as this is the time of the year in wrestling that I most look forward to