WWE Royal Rumble 2017-An Early Look At The Candidates

The Royal Rumble is still a long way off – it doesn’t actually take place until January 22. Even so, it’s not too early to start talking it up, as next year’s event is set to be even more spectacular than ever. It could, in fact, be the best Rumble to grace WWE fans’ screens, because it will be the 30th anniversary of the event.

This huge pay-per-view slam to kick off the wrestling calendar is always full of surprises, twists, turns, and it seizes the opportunity to introduce new faces. Here’s an early look at which candidates are most likely to win, and a few of the mystery guests who could show up.

 

“2014-04-06_20-21-39_NEX-6_9878_DxO” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by miguel.discart 
Brock Lesnar
 
Lesnar looks like a serious contender to win the next Royal Rumble and, as of early August, he is well favoured by bookies 32Red Australia and Unibet at odds of 4/1. The four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion has not held the belt for over one year now, and would love to get a shot at the current champion, Dean Ambrose. Lesnar is still an epic force in WWE and is also much loved by the fans. He has a good chance of going all the way if he ends up receiving a kind draw for his entrance place.  
 
 

“Roman Reigns” (CC BY 2.0) by Snerkie

Roman Reigns
 
Reigns was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion going into the last Royal Rumble, and had the toughest challenge of anyone as a rigged draw saw him placed in the ring as the first contender. This was only the second time the Heavyweight title had been contested in a Royal Rumble and the first time a champion had defended the title in these circumstances in wrestling history.

Reigns frankly didn’t stand a chance. He managed to eliminate five opponents early on, but an attack by The League of Nations that caused him to be side-lined for most of the event meant that he was significantly weakened on his return to the ring. Triple H managed to eliminate the three-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion fairly easily. Reigns is currently 6/1 with 32Red and 888 Sport to win next year.

 

“Murphy” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by faceturnphotography 
 
NXT recruits
 
The Royal Rumble is always a good opportunity to introduce some fresh blood to the WWE roster. Last year saw the surprise entrance of former NXT champion Sami Zayn, who joined the brawl at number twenty. He managed to eliminate his former best friend, Kevin Owens, before being removed by Braun Strowman.

Buddy Murphy is a potential star who could make the step up from NXT to WWE in the near future as well. The Royal Rumble would be a great opportunity for the Australian fan favourite to make his mark, and it would surely draw an awesome response from the crowd. Murphy became the first ever Australian to hold a championship title within the WWE when he and Wesley Blake won the NXT Tag Team Championship.

Having the Australian wrestler show up could also help to diversify the sport, and boost its appeal in Australia where the WWE isn’t as popular. Murphy surely has many more records to break in the future – it’s just a matter of time as to when this crowd-pleaser makes an appearance.
 

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Shock returns?
 
If there’s one thing that WWE fans can rely on in a Royal Rumble it’s that there will be plenty of twists, surprises, and at least one shock return. Last year, Triple H was somewhat of a surprise, and he went on to claim the title.

One of the biggest shocks was when Goldust appeared in 2013. This was totally unexpected and made the crowd go crazy. He only lasted ten minutes, though, before he was eliminated by his half-brother, Cody. Chris Jericho showed up in that rumble too after lying on social media saying he wouldn’t be there. This only served to make his re-emergence more special, and the much-loved wrestler lasted 47 minutes in the competition.

With the next rumble being such a significant event, one would imagine that there could be some epic returning figures, possibly for one night only, or perhaps returning to the WWE fold. Fans would love to see the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock appear for this special event.

There are still around five months left to wait, and it may be hard for fans to contain their anticipation for this huge anniversary of the epic pay-per-view event. But rest assured Royal Rumble 2017 stands to be the greatest the wrestling world has ever seen.