Tags
AJ Styles, Akira Tozawa, Auska, Becky Lynch, Brock Lesnar, Buddy Murphy, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor, Hideo Itami, Kalisto, Kenny Omega, Mandy Rose, NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Raw, Road To Wrestlemania, Ronda Rousey, Royal Rumble 2019, Rusev, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Shane McMahon, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, Smackdown, Sonya Deville, The Bar, The Miz, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania 35, WWE, WWE Championship, WWE Cruiserweight Championship, WWE Network, WWE Raw, WWE Raw Women's Championship, WWE Royal Rumble, WWE Royal Rumble 2019, WWE Smackdown, WWE Smackdown Live Women's Championship, WWE United States Championship, WWE Universal Championship
As I stated in my article yesterday, “This weekend is one of the coolest weekends in professional wrestling besides WrestleMania weekend because not only is it Royal Rumble weekend, it also marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania.” NXT TakeOver: Phoenix was last night and it did not disappoint, but tonight is where it all begins. The Royal Rumble is the platform that a wrestler can elevate his/herself to have the greatest opportunity afforded to them if they can out last 29 other men/women in the Royal Rumble match. This is one of two PPV’s that the WWE does that you hope that they don’t screw up and that they deliver on a product that is worthy of being presented to us as the main product. When the Royal Rumble invades Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, it will be the 32ND edition of the Rumble and I am excited because this is the start of the playoffs that will lead to the SuperBowl of the WWE in WrestleMania 35. Who will walk out WWE Champion? Who walks out Universal Champion and who wins the rumble match? Who will have the right to step on the stage that us wrestling fans like to call the “Showcase of the Immortals.” Hopefully, all of those answers will be answered and you as the wrestling fan get what you have hoped for.
I am going to talk about the Rumble matches first because it’ll paint a picture of who will win the championship matches tonight. Out of all the participants in the men’s Royal Rumble match, there are only two men that come to mind as a legitimate threat to win it all if Kenny Omega does not show up. Those two men are the architect Seth Rollins and the Scottish psychopath Drew McIntyre. Those two men have the best chances of winning the match, but only one can survive and I think that man is Seth Rollins. Seth has been quite the push as has Finn Balor and it just seems like destiny that he wins and claims his place at the top of the food chain. My iron man for the match which means the person who lasts a long time in the rumble is going to be Baron Corbin. I just feel like that snake will somehow find a way to stay in the match for a long time as he has done it before. The women’s Royal Rumble match is pretty cut and dry for me as I believe Becky Lynch will lose her match to Auska, but she’ll enter the rumble and she’ll win as she decides to challenge Ronda Rousey for her title as she’ll defeat Sasha Banks tonight. My Iron Woman for the rumble is going to be Sonya Deville who I believe in my heart deserves the push more than Mandy Rose and you can believe that.
Now, you probably guessed from the paragraph above that I believe that Brock Lesnar is walking out of the Rumble with the title. It’s not easy for me to say that because I would love to see Finn slay the beast or Goliath as Vince McMahon has referred to Brock as, but I just don’t see it happening. I just feel that the WWE is teasing you by giving you what you want, but I think Finn gets his real shot at the belt after Mania. The other championship match that is intriguing to me is the match for the WWE Championship between champion Daniel Bryan and challenger AJ Styles. I would love to see AJ walk out of the Rumble as champion, but I am starting to really get into Daniel’s heel run so I feel it’s too soon for him to lose it now. I don’t know what it is about the tag team match, but it’s one that I do not care about because I don’t believe in Shane and The Miz as a legitimate team to beat The Bar. I feel the same exact way about the United States Championship match between Rusev (Champion) and Shinsuke Nakamura. That has been a non-existent storyline on my radar so I have no vested interest. The only other match that seems interesting is on the pre-show and it’s the Fatal Four Way for the Cruiserweight title as Buddy Murphy defends his belt against Hideo Itami, Kalisto, and Akira Tozawa. I believe Buddy Murphy will retain, but it has the potential to be one heck of a match. Check out my predictions below and enjoy one of the coolest nights in Wrestling.
Buddy Murphy Retains
Rusev Retains
The Bar retains
Daniel Bryan over AJ
Brock Lesnar over Finn Balor
Auska over Becky Lynch
Ronda Rousey over Sasha Banks
Becky Lynch wins the Women’s Royal Rumble
Seth Rollins wins The Men’s Royal Rumble
This weekend is one of the coolest weekends in professional wrestling besides WrestleMania weekend because not only is it Royal Rumble weekend, it also marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania. This is the most important time of the year because all of the storylines throughout the year have been building up to this point (or so we hope it does). Tonight at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, the WWE presents NXT TakeOver: Phoenix which features some of the most power packed matches which are a true testament to what they have been building all year long. NXT is the superior brand right now and that is a testament to all the amazing indy talent they pick up all the time as well. Usually with a PPV, there are a couple of matches that I am looking forward to, but that is not the same with NXT which is all killer and no filler. Every match on the card has the potential to be a show stealer and as a wrestling fan that is all I can really ask for. One match that I am interested to see where they will go with it is the NXT Women’s Championship match that sees Shayna Baszler put her title on the line against the undefeated Bianca Belair. Is Shayna going to end her run or is Bianca going to be challenging Auska’s record run in NXT? The other question is what kind of a factor are the rest of the Horsewoman going to play and if Shayna loses, do we see her in the Royal Rumble?
Tommaso Ciampa is the best heel in the business as we speak and I am so thankful that he went in this direction because he has mastered the arts of the dark side. The only problem is his way is Aleister Black, a man that many feel Tommaso cannot beat because of the interference that occurred thanks to Gargano. However, one cannot contest that Tommaso is not a serious threat as he has been NXT champion for 190+ days. That is no easy feet as the man has run through competition like Gargano and the Velveteen Dream to name a few. Will Tommaso pay for his sins or will he succeed in defeating Aleister Black and ending that notion once and for all? Another match that I am looking forward to it the NXT Tag Team Championship match that pins NXT Tag Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) against the behemoths known as the War Raiders (Hanson And Rowe). The WWE really needs to build their tag team division and what they don’t realize is that it’s thriving in NXT. This is going to be one unbelievable match due to the contrast of styles and I can’t wait to watch.
I definitely saved the best for last because NXT North American Champion Ricochet is going to be putting his belt on the line against the underachiever Johnny Gargano. Gargano is going to be under a lot of pressure in this match because he has to prove that he can win under pressure and when it counts in a championship match. I truly believe for his legacy in NXT, Gargano really needs this win more than you think he does because if he loses then what’s next? This match in my opinion is going to be the match of the night as we witness some magic that is going to be on display as Johnny Wrestling clashes with a man that defies the laws of gravity in Ricochet. The other match on the card features indy wrestling darling Kassius Ohno who is looking for some revenge over the embarrassing loss to the “King of Bros” Matt Riddle who defeated Ohno in six seconds at NXT TakeOver: War Games II. Something tells me that we are actually going to get more of a wrestling match out of this one, but I expect the same outcome when it is all said and done. I hope all of you wrestling fans are going to check this one out because it’s going to be phenomenal. Check out my predictions below:
After watching Ring Of Honor’s biggest show of the year in Final Battle on Friday, there is only one thing that I am hoping for out of tonight’s WWE TLC 2018 and that is some solid performances with a shot of the right decisions made. We are steadily approaching the Road to WrestleMania so the proper story lines need to be planted now. When the clock strikes 7PM ET at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, the tenth annual TLC will kickoff and there is quite the list of matches on the card and I am not even sure if there is a pre-show match. Out of all the matches on the card tonight, let’s be 100% honest with each other because you know just as well as I do that there is only one match that we are all chomping at the bit to see and that is Becky Lynch vs Auska vs Charlotte in the first ever women’s TLC match. This has been the most exciting television for the WWE in a very long time whether they like to admit it or not, but Becky Lynch is the man of the company now. She is not only making women’s wrestling exciting, but she is make the WWE exciting again. I am also predicting that this will headline TLC and it will be match of the night.
Now that I was able to get that off of my chest we should take a look at the rest of the card that has matches ranging everywhere from interesting to who cares. The first match I am saying who cares to is the Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax match because you know damn well that Nia is not winning the title tonight. Ronda will be walking into WrestleMania with the belt and she’ll be taking on one of the losers of tonights WWE TLC match in the main event. A match that has definitely peaked my interest is the triple threat match for the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships. ow that we’ve seen these competitors in plenty of tag team matches, but have The USOS, New Day, or Cesaro & Sheamus ever really disappointed you? These are three of the best tag teams on Smackdown right now and they’ll prove it once again tonight. Another match that I say who cares about is the Mixed Match Challenge match. The only thing that sucks about a series that no one has followed are the implications that winning it provides which is the number 30 spot in the Royal Rumble respectively.
You know Braun Strowman will not be showing up to TLC to take on Baron Corbin due to elbow surgery so I think that Bray Wyatt makes the return tonight in his place. It has been a while since we’ve seen the eater of worlds and he needs the proper push plus Vince is making an appearance which either means he is firing Corbin or making him the permanent general manager. Corbin’s cronies all have matches tonight as well and those should be decent matches as Drew McIntyre takes on Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley takes on Elias. 205 Live will make another appearance on a WWE PPV as Buddy Murphy defends his belt against Cedric Alexander in what should be a good match as well. One match that you know will be good, but I am just not impressed with his heel turn is the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. You know these two are going to deliver tonight, but will anyone still care about Daniel being a heel? Well, the answer is maybe because it is growing on me a little bit. I just thinking making it happen the same week that Dean turned on Seth was a bad idea.
Speaking of Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins, this is just there rivalry from a few years back renewed, but with the roles reversed as Seth is now the face who was betrayed by his partner who is now the heel. Way to go WWE on being so creative with your storytelling skills, but I will still watch the match because these two are money in my opinion. I am a huge fan of the Riott Squad which means that the veteran Natalya should be there to put Ruby over tonight in their tables match especially after the segment on this past week’s Raw. I’m just saying that there is no better person than Natalya to put Ruby over at a PPV. I am not sure if I throw this next one in the I don’t care lot, but I am not sure I am even excited to see Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio to be perfectly honest. I’m definitely glad to see Rey back in the company, but that is only because I want my dream match of Kalisto vs Rey Mysterio. I am also definitely happy that Randy got his killer instinct back, but I could pass on this one. I think this should be a decent PPV with a lot of good spots, but the question is where is the WWE going with the company moving forward. Check out my predictions below and be sure to follow the Twitter account for a new Podcast project that I will be apart of in 2019 called 
I had a pretty good night with my predictions as far as NXT Takeover: The End was concerned. The event which aired live in the WWE Network last night went off with a bang in a night filled with some amazing matches. I had no idea who Tye Dillinger or Andrade “Cien” Almas was, but I definitely do now after seeing their match. The American Alpha/The Revival match was everything you would want from a tag team title match, but it was what happened after the match that stole that matches thunder. A mysterious tag team of some pretty jacked guys came in after the match and attacked American Alpha. Then out of nowhere when it seemed the beating was done, legendary manager and Hall Of Famer Paul Ellering (The Road Warriors) shows up. What could this possibly mean for NXT and the WWE, I have no idea, but I certainly am excited to find out. I am going to come and just give you my match of the night which once again belongs to Shinsuke Nakamura who took on Austin Aries in an unbelievable match. Shinsuke stole the show in Dallas and he did it again last night. The only match I didn’t enjoy that much was the NXT women’s championship match that saw champion Auska defend against Nia Jax in what was a Big Show style match where the bigger fighter dominates for most of the match then loses it in one unbelievable spurt of energy. Anyways, the other thing I was disappointed about was that Bobby Roode didn’t come out to the ring after the Samoa Joe match after it was teased that he was there. Other than that, it was a really good night. I finished 4-1 on my predictions on the night and I am going to give this show an A- for a final grade.
I don’t know about you, but I am super excited for tonight’s NXT Takeover: The End which comes to us live from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The big match of the night of course is between NXT Champ Samoa Joe and former champion Finn Balor. Now in a move I didn’t agree with, Finn lost his title at an NXT house show in Lowell, Ma. While I understand why they did it, it should have been a televised match. Nevertheless, while the result doesn’t really matter in my opinion because I have a feeling Finn won’t be there for long, the match itself will be exciting and worth watching. The other match of the night that I am really looking forward to is the match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Austin Aries. Austin Aries was one of my favorite things about TNA when he was there and he’s going against the King Of Strong Style in Nakamura which should tear the roof off of the place. I’m also looking forward to the NXT tag title match although I don’t see American Alpha dropping the titles yet. There are only five matches listed on the card right now so I bet that there will be matches added to that. I don’t follow NXT a 100% of the way, so I am going to try my best with the predictions.