Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Dallas Allsopp, Robert DeFelice and Ben Williams will be giving their predictions for the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

The Royal Rumble is quite simply one of the best wrestling pay-per-views of the year, with the build up to each Royal Rumble match dominated by discussions over who will win. Each show also features a host of other matches to look forward to, with Becky Lynch vs Asuka a match which fans are eagerly anticipating. Who do we feel will win each Royal Rumble match this year? Will they main event WrestleMania 36?


ALLSOPP: My choice has been set in stone for a few months now, purely because I cannot see anyone other than Roman Reigns winning. Not only has he rehabilitated his career over the past 12 months in an effort to get over with the WWE Universe, but he has worked hard to get wrestlers such as King Corbin over as dastardly heels. Reigns deserves to win so he can feud over the WWE Universal Championship with The Fiend, which genuinely feels like the one match that deserves to main event WrestleMania 36. Yes, their match will indeed main event WrestleMania 36, because both men have worked hard to get their respective characters over, and the Big Dog seems to be the only wrestler capable of finally defeating The Fiend.

DeFELICE: I also feel that Roman Reigns will win the Royal Rumble this year. The fact is, they haven't done nearly enough with the fact that he overcame leukaemia to return to wrestling. His 2019 was very basic, and I think 2020 needs to rectify that. I see Roman Reigns taking on Bray Wyatt, not in the headliner, but in the SmackDown main event of the show, which could maybe occur at the top of the hour or in hour three or four at WrestleMania 36. However, I also see this really cool idea of Brock Lesnar actually eliminating all 29 other men by himself to win the Royal Rumble. I know it would be a bit overkill to some, but I think it's a really cool idea that hasn't taken place yet.

WILLIAMS: I don’t see any other superstar winning this match than Roman Reigns. The Big Dog has been out of the world championship picture for the better part of 2 years, and since his monumental return to wrestling in 2019, has been significantly less featured in main event storylines compared to his previous runs. Whilst I would absolutely love to see Kevin Owens or Drew McIntyre win this match, I believe a main event clash against The Fiend at WrestleMania 36 is the destiny for Reigns.


DeFELICE: My money is on Sasha Banks. While you can never bet against Charlotte Flair, and we don't know the status of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler for this matchup, I think Banks winning and having a WrestleMania 36 match with Bayley one year after both women supposedly threw a tantrum at WrestleMania 35 is a cool story to tell.

WILLIAMS: For the love of all that is good with WWE, give this win to Sasha Banks. I’ll go on record to say that Banks has been the most under-utilised female talent in WWE in recent years. Fun fact, Banks has never won a match at any WrestleMania, Survivor Series, Money In The Bank or Royal Rumble pay-per-view in the 5 years she has been on the main roster. That is criminal for a woman of her talent. All the pieces are in place for what could be an epic bout against long time rival and charisma vacuum Bayley, so by God, let the Banks losing streak come to an end at this year's Royal Rumble.

ALLSOPP: The women’s Royal Rumble, for myself at least, is a lot harder to call. My heart says Charlotte Flair, however my head says someone who needs to be elevated will win. This could easily be Carmella, Mandy Rose or even Dana Brooke, but realistically, Shayna Baszler will make an appearance and win the match. There is an established storyline with Becky Lynch that could make a WrestleMania 36 match between the pair unmissable, especially when they would be tussling over the Raw Women’s Championship. Will Baszler win the title? I’d say yes, purely because she is such a dominating and intimidating wrestler, and a victory would instantly give her credibility.


WILLIAMS: Who should win this match? Asuka. Who will win this match? Becky Lynch. Who is the more interesting winner? Asuka. Who will continue to underwhelm in big matches without ever losing her title? Lynch. This match would be a perfect opportunity for WWE to build up Asuka back to monster status, instead of giving Lynch a win that she really doesn’t need. The possibilities of an Asuka victory are endless, such as starting a Kairi Sane feud, Sasha Banks feud or just simply becoming #Asuka2Belts, because these are the things WWE fans crave from women’s wrestling. However, Lynch is 100% winning this match because WWE doesn’t like fans to have fun things.

ALLSOPP: Asuka has a chance, however the storyline is leaning towards giving Becky Lynch an element of retribution for her previous defeats to Asuka. In my eyes at least, Lynch is on a collision course with Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36, therefore I will put all of my eggs in the Lynch basket. It makes the most sense, although if Asuka was to win I’d be pleasantly surprised.

DeFELICE: I think in wrestling, there's always a chance of anything happening. That being said, this is WrestleMania season and Becky Lynch is one of the biggest stars they have, if not the biggest, so she should probably win here. Asuka can focus on doing something special with the Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 36.