Right now, who are you thinking as the Royal Rumble Winner?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Just out of curiosity. See where everyone's minds are on this. Put forward who you think will win, and who you'd like to see win.

I'm going to think about who I want to win, but I'm thinking Cena is taking his second Rumble here, and then going to face Batista at WrestleMania and win his first World Heavyweight Championship. Yay, certainly looking forward to 2009.

[GD]

I remember once we were discussing about how Carlito could possibly win the Rumble.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If this team goes well for him, and he smooths over some of the (alleged) negative views on him backstage, I don't see why he couldn't win the Royal Rumble in a few years time. I'm thinking a big few, not a little few.

[FourFifty]

Braden Walker.

[GD]

His 3 disc DVD set is at #1 on the billboard listings right above The Rock's DVD.

[Dorkchop]

MVP is a slight possibility. I don't know if WWE views him as main event material. It's hard to tell right now. I think he'd make a great champ in 2009.

If Jeff Hardy doesn't win at No Mercy and proves Vince can invest in him more I can possibly see him winning.

Cena could win it again if he returns in time. I'd rather he wouldn't.

Batista is the man with 1000 title shots. He had his Rumble win and his Wrestlemania title victory. He doesn't need another Rumble win.

CM Punk winning the Rumble would be great if Jericho still has the belt. It depends on how long his feud with Randy Orton and his possible new stable lasts.

Edge has been one of the most consistently entertaining wrestlers in WWE for the past couple of years. He's great as a heel, but if he returns as a face and is a hot as he was in 2002 he'd be great to get behind.

[thedamndest]

Seems like we're due for a heel win. Edge would be the safe bet for that I guess, possibly Orton if he is back by then.

[Juan]

My money is on CM Punk, but since I'm not a betting man, I'll say that Edge is a good possibility also.

[Xerzes]

Punk should, but it'll probably be Cena/Batista, which will be met with annoyance and despair.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Edge winning is an interesting possibility. If I were Edge, and I won the Royal Rumble, I'd so use it to chase the ECW Championship. That way, when I won that match, I'd have held every title available to me (WWE, World Heavyweight, ECW, IC, US, World Tag Team, WWE Tag Team) as well as every special achievement available (Royal Rumble, King of the Ring, Money in the Bank). If it led to an Edge vs. Matt Hardy feud for WrestleMania, it could be pretty cool.

Of course, if Edge did win the Rumble, it wouldn't happen like that.

[Loose Cannon]

That would be Cena's 3rd win. He had a co win with Batista, remember?

Anyway, I'm thinking Orton

[BigDaddyCool]

Before knowing the results to sunday's ppv, I'm going to to say either Orton or Batista is going to win. I would like to see Jeff Hardy win. That is going off gut feeling on what will happen Sunday. Depending on what does happen Sunday, I may change my mind.

[thedamndest]

LC, they just restarted the Rumble for that situation. It resulted in Vince's hilarious "walk to the ring" bump.

[Dave Youell]

If Jeff Hardy can:

a) Put in a good showing on Sunday
b) Perform well in a filler feud until December
c) Not get busted for doing stupid shit

Then he will win the Rumble IMO, the build has been there all this year, he’s always been on the verge, he just needs to prove that he’s not a liability

[BigDaddyCool]

That is what I'm thinking. Even still, Orton, Cena, or Bats might win, though none of them need to. They all can get title shots whenever they want without a Rumble win.

[D Mac]

Hornswaggle

[Fox]

CM Punk

[Loose Cannon]

my fault, you guys are right. I know they both had Title matches at Mania, so I got confused. Yea, so Cena still only has 1 win. very possible he would take it I guess.

[Halbowsky]

I was thinking Kennedy before he got injured. Jeff Hardy would be good, but HHH will probably still be champion and I don't know if they would wanna do that match again 6 months later in a WrestleMania main event.

I'd have to go with Punk on this one

[Rob]

Jeff Hardy for sure.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

If they pull the trigger on this 2nd/3rd generation stable Vs. indy stable, I'll go with CM Punk and CM Punk Vs. Orton at WM playing 2nd fiddle to HHH Vs. Edge.

[#1-norm-fan]

I really want to see HBK win it.

More likely choice would be Edge though. It's been a while since a heel has won anyway.

[Dave Youell]

A long Punk/Orton feud to mania would be great, they would have enough stable members behind them to keep it going, but I can see them settling that at the Rumble

[Hanso Amore]

Orton I think has to be the favorite.

Edge is the next in line.

Hardy and Punk are the darkhorses.

[Afterlife]

Hurricane Helms.

[Indifferent Clox]

Edge, CM Punk, Jericho, Michaels, Orton, and really I guess JBL could do it...

[D Mac]

Scotty Goldman

[MCEazy]

i'm really thinking MVP here

[Mr. Nerfect]

MVP seems to be in a state of complete flux at the moment. I'd love to see him win it and all, but I think he'll more likely be invovled in something lower on the card. Truth be told, I could see him and Ron Killings wrestling over the United States Title.

CM Punk won't win, I don't think. The WWE seem to be reloading him, and going back to building him up. My guess is that Punk wins the World Tag Team Titles with Kofi Kingston, and then moves into a more singles oriented feud with Orton in time for WrestleMania, where Punk goes over and then repositions himself for another crack at being World Heavyweight Champion.

Batista winning just seems...unneccessary. I mean, if he is going to be involved in another WrestleMania main event (which I do think is likely), I can see him being the champion. He's my pick to take the belt off Jericho (unless they do a quick switch between Jericho and Michaels before Batista takes it). My guess is Dave is the World Heavyweight Champion defending against a Royal Rumble Winner, rather than challenging himself.

Mr. Kennedy is someone that I could actually see doing it, especially if the WWE wants to get serious about him again, and they have plans to go somewhere with him. To my knowledge, there is no real heat on Kennedy, and it's just the IWC that is getting sick of him. The general audiences eat the guy up, and if Triple H had no problem working with him in the second-to-last match of the WrestleMania card, I could see that going down. Not the most likely scenario, though. It'd all come down to how his return went, I think.

Randy Orton winning seems more and more likely, given how they seem to be making him a bad-ass. But he's eventually going to end up full-blown heel again, so I don't think they'll give it to him (heels don't win these things anymore, it seems). I wouldn't be too surprised, however. I think Punk will take him out of the Rumble, though, and we'll see their feud carry over to WrestleMania.

JBL won't win. I just can't see it. The man is too broken down for another WrestleMania main event, and he's just not high priority enough.

Shawn Michaels is someone that I could actually see doing it, especially if his Ladder Match against Chris Jericho isn't the end of their program. I'd love to see a Jericho/Michaels World Title Match at WrestleMania. Fuck, I could even see HBK winning, going over to SmackDown!, and wrestling Triple H in the main event. It's not like SmackDown! has anything too much more pressing, and with both guys being faces, and their old feud seemingly being forgotten, Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels could actually capture some interest again, I think. Not that it would be my first choice.

Jeff Hardy is someone you can't discount. He's got one warning left, but once this alcohol incident wears off, Jeff's popularity might just be enough. If Triple H turns full-blown heel for the WWE Title match between them, things could get really interesting. Besides, the Royal Rumble isn't as big a deal as it once was, due to there now being three World Titles within the company. So Jeff wins and fucks up again? Rey Mysterio has fucking won a Rumble before. Besides, you better believe the WWE has sat down with Jeff, let them know about their concerns and the trust they want to put in him, and I think Jeffrey could hold it together. He's making smaller and smaller fuck-ups.

So, shortening the list down, I'd have to go with John Cena, Mr. Kennedy and Jeff Hardy as three men I could see winning it from this point in time. Mr. Kennedy is the weakest of the three options, John Cena is the strongest, I think. Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton are big maybes, but I think it'd become clearer what they are doing closer to the actual date.

[Y2Ant]

Noid post:

The Brian Kendrick

[LoDownM]

Cena as the surprise 30th entry.

[Afterlife]

Cena as the surprise 30th entry.

Now that would be fresh and exciting and not a disappointment by any standard. :yes:

[What Would Kevin Do?]

I wouldn't be surprised if sooner of later (Maybe not this year, but within the next few) HBK wins, and goes onto fight HHH for the belt... Depending who the champs are though, probably either Kozlov, Orton, CM Punk, Jericho, or Jeff Hardy.

[Dorkchop]

Kennedy won't win the Rumble. WWE won't put that much "stock" in him until he spends more time in the ring than he does injured.

[D Mac]

Yeah, you know it's Sad But True.

[Sebastian]

I think what would be good to see is a resurgent Batista winning the rumble.

Why?

Okay, sure it's not "new" or elevating a new star, but it makes for good TV and thats whats important. If anything, we all know Cena should be coming back around the time and Cena/Batista is still a feud that could work to spice up the top of Raw, even without the title between them.

So what I want to see is Batista being sick of being nowhere and going on a heelish streak, winning the rumble, only to have Cena come back and remind him that they still have unfinished business. This would be great and could even lead to a Mania triple threat of Batista/Cena/Jericho with the gold on the line as Jericho mocks them for being losers and only winning some titles because Jericho wasn't around.

[Afterlife]

You sure? Palin could just run in and tear everyone apart.

[GD]

Faces who have won The Royal Rumble in the past few years...

1. HHH (2002)- went on to win the WWF Championship and the World Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania XVIII.

2. Brock Lesnar (2003)- went on to miss a shooting star press and won the WWE Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania XIX.

3. 2004
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3671/21911397ld4.jpg

4. Batista (2005)- considering the fact that he gained immense popularity during that time period although he was not a full fledged face. Went on to win the World Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania XXI.

5. Rey Mysterio (2006)- went on to lose his Wrestlemania title match at No Way Out to Randy Orton. Although he won the World Championship in the 3rd last match at Wrestlemania XXII.

6. The Undertaker (2007)- went on to win the World Championship in the 4th match at Wrestlemania XXIII.

7. John Cena (2008)- went on to lose at No Way Out and Wrestlemania XXIV.

I would go for Big Dave owing to the push he is recieving.

[LoDownM]

Who's the guy in the red that looks like he's about to kill everyone else?

[Dorkchop]

Gunner Scott?

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>If they really want to stretch out the feud, HBK winning his 3rd Rumble and then winning the belt in Texas is pretty likely/would rule.

If not, then it'll probably be Cena, chasing a heel Batista.

Orton is another guy who springs up as a possibility, he could win the match with help from the stable (which he is obviously going to wind up being the leader of). But I have my doubts that there will ever be another heel Rumble winner again.</font>

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Yeah WWE puts way too much stock in 'Face Rumble winner chasing the title into Mania'

Its kinda annoying and old, considering when you look past the list of recent face wins.

2001 - Austin

2000 - The Rock

1999 - Vince McMahon


Thats right guys, the last heel winner of the rumble will be 10 years ago this Rumble.

[NeanderCarl]

Technically, Batista was a heel when he won it.

[NeanderCarl]

If they're going to have Austin wrestle at WrestleMania, they could bump buyrates for the Rumble by putting him in the match, without really giving away his comeback match as he'd be protected by the Rumble format, give him a chance to shake off some rust without really having to take any bumps. If Austin was somehow forced into the Rumble, with the story that he didn't really want in but when he's out there, his competitive instinct takes over and he gets the urge to win in his blood, and somehow wins it... they'd then have the Rocky story of the retired wrestler having one last title shot at the biggest show of all time.

I'm not saying Austin deserves main event at Mania over the guys who work all year round, but it's the perfect kind of story that WWE likes to build Mania around... can the knackered old Legend defeat the odds and win the title in his first match in 6 years?

[DaVe]

I'd buy it.

But then, I'm just a big Austin mark.

I'd say Edge or Jeff have the biggest chance of winning the Rumble. I can't see Cena being very likely, though unfortunately Batista might be.

[El Fangel]

Edge

[St. Jimmy]

Kennedy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If they're going to have Austin wrestle at WrestleMania, they could bump buyrates for the Rumble by putting him in the match, without really giving away his comeback match as he'd be protected by the Rumble format, give him a chance to shake off some rust without really having to take any bumps. If Austin was somehow forced into the Rumble, with the story that he didn't really want in but when he's out there, his competitive instinct takes over and he gets the urge to win in his blood, and somehow wins it... they'd then have the Rocky story of the retired wrestler having one last title shot at the biggest show of all time.

I'm not saying Austin deserves main event at Mania over the guys who work all year round, but it's the perfect kind of story that WWE likes to build Mania around... can the knackered old Legend defeat the odds and win the title in his first match in 6 years?

This would be a great way to bring Austin back. Chris Jericho or John Cena vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the World Heavyweight Championship would be pretty intense stuff. Many say that Austin's in good shape now, and could probably work a few matches, so putting him in the Rumble and then working WrestleMania isn't entirely out of the question.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Noid post:

The Brian Kendrick

Nope. But I would have The Brian Kendrick enter the match very early on, and have a good run in the match (like have him be in there for the longest).

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Technically, Batista was a heel when he won it.

Technically, yes. But he was blatently on the turn, so he was a tweener at that point at least.

[MLW]

Nope. But I would have The Brian Kendrick enter the match very early on, and have a good run in the match (like have him be in there for the longest).

Then I shall take your spot! THE BRIAN KENDRICK will win after being caught in the air by Ezekiel and thrown back in the ring!!! Wait...they already did that didn't they? Damn!

[Evolution]

Jeff Hardy winning the Rumble, Edge win the WWE title at No Way Out, Jeff Hardy vs Edge at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship.

Batista wins the World title at No Way Out after John Cena won the Number 1 contender spot earlier in the night, giving us Cena vs Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship.

As far as ECW goes, anything could have happened by then, so I'll say Matt Hardy vs MVP (with Matt defending) for the ECW Championship.

License to print money.

[Afterlife]

But I want to LIKE WrestleMania.

[Evolution]

MVP getting a title shot?

Hardy vs Edge?

Cena/Batista so you can take a piss/go for a smoke/get more beer without missing good things?

[thedamndest]

I would be quite surprised if HHH is not in the main event at Wrestlemania 25. Then again, HHH/Taker at Wrestlemania 25 would be pretty good, and if booked right (sort of like HBK/Taker in 97) could be pretty good. As in, to HHH, ending Taker's streak means more than winning a belt that he has held 12 times.

[Afterlife]

Every year, I pray for a mid-carder to win the Rumble.

[Ninti the Mad]

RANDY ORTON

[Mr. Nerfect]

Every year, I pray for a mid-carder to win the Rumble.

A-fucking-men.

I'd love to see an angle where someone like Brian Kendrick wins it, and then the next night on RAW, the main eventers are all out talking about how they intend to be the one who challenges for the World Title at WrestleMania, which brings out the mid-carder in a swank suit (possibly with a woman in tow), and they show no fear and proceed to make the point that they won the fucking Rumble, and they're not going to lose their shot.

But anyway, after No Mercy, I am definitely thinking that the World Title matches at WrestleMania will be Batista vs. John Cena, Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy and maybe something like Matt Hardy vs. Edge.

[Lux]

Edge, Jeff Hardy or Orton.


Edge is returning heel? Sure hes well over due for a face turn isn't he.

[Pardeep 619]

Jeff Hardy will win it

[Fox]

I still believe that by the time RR rolls around Orton will be the WWE Champion and CM Punk will win the Royal Rumble.