The Road to WrestleMania Kicks Off with Royal Rumble 2024: Here's What You Need to Know
WWE’s unofficial “season finale” for its year is rapidly approaching with the 2024 Royal Rumble on Saturday.
Emanating from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, the 37th annual Royal Rumble event, as it often does, marks the beginning of what WWE likes to tout as the “Road to WrestleMania,” their biggest show of the year.
This year’s Rumble, in particular, features the early beginnings of a number of potentially juicy angles and storylines that could pay off handsomely for WWE fans at Wrestlemania XL this year (that’s the Roman numeral for 40, not “extra large.”)
If you find yourself at a party or gathering this weekend, and the Royal Rumble happens to be on, here’s everything you need to know:
World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins suffered a legitimate knee injury and is expected to miss the Royal Rumble
Rollins has been a workman champion for the company (a stark difference from the other top champion, but more on him later), but he became a victim of life imitating art when he legitimately hurt his knee during his last match.
The bittersweet irony of this real injury is that it plays off the storyline angle of Rollins slowly grinding himself to a nub due to his frequent title defenses.
Rollins appears dead set on defending his title at WrestleMania this year, but it’s unlikely he’ll play any prominent role in Saturday’s event.
Controversial social media star Logan Paul will defend his United States Championship against Kevin Owens
Owens won an eight-man, single-elimination tournament to be crowned Paul’s top contender and the two will square off on Saturday.
This simmering feud stems from a rather simple place: Paul is the svelte, handsome megastar and thinks the homelier Owens is beneath him.
This match has the chance to steal the show given that Paul has shown pro wrestling chops far beyond his years, and Owens is one of the best workers in any professional wrestling company, period.
Prediction: Given how early this feud is, Paul will likely retain the title after using some dastardly and underhanded tactics.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion (yes that’s the real title name) Roman Reigns will make a rare title defense
The other top champion in WWE, Roman Reigns (and arguably the top champion given the name of his belt and the fact that’s been champion for over 1,200 days) will defend his belt in a fatal four-way match that also involves legendary industry veteran Randy Orton, rising mega-star L.A. Knight and the always dependable A.J. Styles.
Reigns, whose title reign began when WWE super fan Donald Trump was still the president, has been the veritable “final boss” of the company for some time now. Almost every major storyline in the WWE currently has some sort of connection back to Reigns and his faction “The Bloodline.”
In fact, Rollins’ whole schtick as the fighting World Heavyweight Champion was meant to be a distinct dichotomy to Reigns, whose lucrative contract with WWE limits him to a very specific number of matches per year.
Sadly, it seems unlikely that Reigns will have his historic title run end at any other show than Wrestlemania, which does sap this match of some excitement.
Prediction: Reigns retains, and marches on to face the winner of the men’s Royal Rumble match OR faces his real-life cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at Wrestlemania XL.
Both the women and men get their own “Royal Rumble” match, and these will be the highlights of the show
The Royal Rumble is a take on the classic pro-wrestling “battle royale” matches. Battle royales would traditionally have every competitor start in the ring, but the Royal Rumble features wrestlers coming in at set intervals.
It’s a fantastic and unpredictable format that can lead to shocking returns, even more shocking injuries (Vince McMahon infamously tore both of his quads at the 2005 Royal Rumble) and surprise cameos, like comedy legend Drew Carey, participating in this free-for-all.
Eliminations in these matches occur when a wrestler is dumped over the top rope and both feet touch the ground outside the ring.
The last man or woman standing gets a title shot against the champion of his or her choosing at WrestleMania. Typically, this match will also be given the main event spot, so the stakes of the Rumble matches are generally pretty high — regardless of the scripted nature of the outcome.
This year’s iteration of the Rumble features a number of intriguing subplots and no clear winners — a stark departure from the worst Royal Rumbles where the winner appears all but pre-ordained — and adds an air of excitement to this year’s event.
Predictions: Becky Lynch wins the women’s Royal Rumble to set up a WrestleMania feud with Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley, and CM Punk wins the men’s Royal Rumble to set up his WrestleMania feud with Seth Rollins.
The Royal Rumble will air live on Peacock. The pre-show begins at 7 p.m. ET, with the main card beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
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