Detroit Sports Yap with Knapp: 2023 Royal Rumble Predictions
Who will come out on top the Men's and Women's Royal Rumble match?
It’s that time of year once again: Royal Rumble time! My favorite pay-per-view is set to be another good one. This year, the women’s Royal Rumble match seems to have a heavy but not clear favorite to win, while the men’s has two possible favorites that could win it all. The matches outside of the Royal Rumble matches seem clear on who will win, but as long as they are entertaining, it doesn’t matter.
The Royal Rumble PPV is the start of Wrestlemania season, and Wrestlemania 39 is shaping up to be impressive, but part of that depends on what happens at the Royal Rumble. I am always down for a surprise in these things, whether it’s a returning superstar from injury, a legend or fan favorite returning just for the match, or someone who nobody expected to win it. We will have to see what happens, but I am excited!
Here are my predictions for the 2023 Royal Rumble.
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match
Since returning to WWE back in October, he has yet to wrestle on live TV, only doing so at live events. That gave Wyatt time to get back into the swing of things, but this rivalry with LA Knight has gone on long enough without a match, so seeing this finally end will be great. While I wouldn’t be shocked if Uncle Howdy or someone else that Bray Wyatt thinks he can trust betrayed him, as we saw, Uncle Howdy gave Wyatt a Sister Abigail on Smackdown a few weeks ago. I don’t see that happening again.
I am not sure what kind of match this will be; will it be pitch black and both of them have to try and fight in it? Will there be a mountain dew pitch black drink usable as a weapon? The possibilities are endless when it comes to Bray Wyatt. In any case, Wyatt will take the win and move on to someone else, and we might find out who Uncle Howdy is or meet someone new.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Raw Women's Championship -- Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
This match has some ties to Bray Wyatt, which may or may not lead to Bliss fully conforming to Bray, but that appears to be the main storyline rather than her vs. Bianca. Belair losing the title to Bliss here makes no sense because she was the main event for Wrestlemania for consecutive years, and the WWE sees Belair as one of their future staples in the division.
Bliss seems to be going in a different direction soon, possibly joining Wyatt on some adventure, and maybe they will have a common enemy soon. She doesn't need the title to do things like that, and Wyatt doesn't need a title for it to be interesting either. This just seems like a slam-dunk pick for Bianca to win and move on to the next opponent.
Winner: Bianca Belair
WWE Championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
The other slam dunk of the night pick for the night is this match. Roman Reigns has taken on Kevin Owens before, and while Owens was the closest of them all to defeating Reigns, he isn’t going to receive that much of a push. There are only three people who could beat Roman for it to make sense, and Owens isn’t one of them.
The match will be good for storytelling because I'm sure The Bloodline will get involved, antics will ensue, and it almost costs Reigns the belt but doesn't in the end. It just pushes that storyline further between The Bloodline and what could be happening at Wrestlemania with them.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Women's Royal Rumble match
Last year, I picked Rhea Ripley to win the Royal Rumble, as it was unpredictable as ever who was going to win. This year, Ripley seems like the heavy favorite coming in. Ripley, like Belair, is loved by WWE, as she has been a big staple in the women’s division since moving up to the main roster in 2020. Her winning makes sense to get some titles for her faction, Judgment Day, and I could see them picking up the tag team titles by Wrestlemania.
Ripley hasn’t won the Rumble yet in her career, and while the current champions wouldn’t be a new matchup for her, it could still be a good match overall, which is all anyone wants. I think Ripley wins, chooses Belair, and wins the title at Wrestlemania 39.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Men's Royal Rumble match
This year's men’s Royal Rumble match has three options for who could win, and while I have a feeling it is leaning one way, it could go in the other direction. The clear favorite to win is Cody Rhodes, as since he has returned to the WWE, he has said his number one goal is to win the WWE Championship, something his father was never able to do. The WWE seemed to be building toward that until he got hurt. That injury only made everyone know and believe that he would be healed and return in time for the Royal Rumble.
So instead of not mentioning Rhodes and making it a surprise everyone saw coming, WWE has put him front and center, and he has announced he will be in the match as his first match back from his injury. The thing is, WWE doesn’t usually put a person front and center for this match, and that person ends up winning it. I'm still going with Rhodes because I believe WWE wants him to have the story of overcoming injury to win the championship at Wrestlemania and accomplishing something his father never did.
What else could happen? The Rock has been rumored to be appearing and competing in the event, and even though he has commented that he won’t be at the Rumble due to scheduling conflicts, that could simply be a lie to downplay the return. The Rock winning to defeat Roman also makes sense to the fans, and that wouldn’t be a shocker either.
The thing is, if The Rock and Cody Rhodes aren’t the winners, then we have a true surprise. Brock Lesnar was that surprise last year that nobody liked, so WWE will have to make up for that if they go that route. Sami Zayn is the only other person that makes sense if it isn’t the other two, but I don’t think Zayn will go after Reigns at Wrestlemania; he and Kevin Owens will go after The Usos and win those tag titles.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
What are your thoughts on the 2023 Royal Rumble? Who do you have winning each match? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter and follow me @BKnappBlogs and subscribe to my substack to get my FREE articles!