WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Final Picks and Predictions for All Matches on the Card

The 2015 Royal Rumble match is just over 24 hours away, and excitement for the annual event is reaching fever pitch.

The 30-man over-the-top-rope match will, of course, headline the show, with Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose emerging as just a few of the favorites to win and cash their ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 31.

They will be joined by the WWE World Heavyweight champion, whomever that may be.

Current champion Brock Lesnar will face the biggest challenge to his complete and utter dominance as he defends against John Cena and The Authority's hand-picked Superstar of the future, Seth Rollins. With so many outside factors surrounding the match, and a Money in the Bank briefcase that looms heavily over the contest, the title bout could be the night's most interesting and buzzworthy match.

The Usos will defend the WWE Tag Team champions, the Bella Twins' reign over the Divas division will be tested by Paige and Natalya and The Ascension will look to rise up the ranks by defeating future Hall of Famers the New Age Outlaws.

The Royal Rumble is the start of the road to WrestleMania, and Sunday night, the course of WWE history may be altered forever by the events that unfold when the company rolls into Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center for one of the biggest shows of the year.

Who will leave victorious?

Take a look at the complete predictions for this weekend's pay-per-view extravaganza.

WWE Kickoff Match: The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose

Credit: WWE.com

The night's festivities will kick off with The New Day battling Cesaro, Adam Rose and Tyson Kidd in a Six-Man Tag Team match, exclusively on the WWE Network.

Why WWE opted to book this match instead of literally anything else is a mystery.

For weeks, fans have watched Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods defeat their rivals in tag bouts on Raw, leaving fans to wonder why anyone would be interested in watching the same match again, only this time moments before one of the biggest shows of the year.

The New Day faction has not worked quite the way management likely hoped, but that has not stopped Vince McMahon and WWE Creative from booking them in victories over the talented Kidd and Cesaro repeatedly to this point.

That should not change here.

The heels are dead in the water from a booking standpoint, with little to no momentum to speak of. The babyfaces are not much better but are at least benefiting from televised wins.

Expect them to add another 'W' to their win-loss record Sunday night.

Winners: The New Day

The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension

Credit: WWE.com

The result of The Ascension's brutal beatdown at the hands of the New World Order, the APA and the New Age Outlaws on the special Reunion episode of Monday Night Raw, Konnor and Viktor will look to gain a measure of revenge when they battle "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn and "Road Dogg" Jesse James in tag action Sunday at the Royal Rumble.

The segment from Raw was incredibly detrimental to The Ascension's attempts to get over. In fact, the way they have been handled from the moment the first video package hyping their debut aired has negatively affected them.

Rather than the dominant and destructive force they were in NXT, the team has become not-so-subtle ripoffs of the Legion of Doom and Demolition, two power-based teams that achieved tremendous success throughout the 1980s in both WWE and Jim Crockett Promotions.

If that was not bad enough, they could not have possibly drawn worse first pay-per-view opposition than the New Age Outlaws, whose last run with the company a year ago left a lot to be desired.

Expect a match that plays to the strengths of Konnor and Viktor but does little to help them in their quest to achieve greatness on the main roster.

The newcomers will win, but at what cost?

Winners: The Ascension

Natalya and Paige vs. The Bella Twins

Credit: WWE.com

Brie and Nikki Bella's stranglehold on the Divas division has been threatened in recent weeks by the unlikely alliance between Natalya and Paige.

Both babyfaces have defeated the twins in singles competition in recent weeks.

The story has brought Paige back to the forefront of women's wrestling in the "E," a spot she never should have relinquished as the future of the Divas roster. Now in her first pay-per-view match since the conclusion of her rivalry with AJ Lee last fall, the second-generation in-ring star should deliver a performance that ensures that WWE Creative does not force her to the background again.

Natalya, whose opportunities are few and far between, always delivered when given the chance.

The quality of the match will be based on the time given to the Divas. The audience has seen just what the women of WWE are capable of when not forced to rush through a bout.

Given WWE's tendency to book their shows in a manner that never truly allows one Superstar or Diva to get over at the expense of another, called 50/50 booking by some, it would appear as though the Bella Twins would win here.

But it appears as though WWE is setting up both Natalya and Paige as future challengers to Nikki's Divas Championship. To do that, they will have to win here and continue gaining momentum in the days and weeks that follow.

Winners: Paige and Natalya

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow

Credit: WWE.com

The Usos have wrestled Damien Mizdow and The Miz so many times in recent weeks that getting even remotely excited for their latest championship clash is virtually impossible.

Current champions, twin brothers Jimmy and Jey, have been riding a wave of momentum and success since defeating the former champions and embarking on their second reign atop the tag team division.

Meanwhile, dissension has threatened to tear the union between the Hollywood A-lister and his stunt double apart. The piling up of losses and the popularity that Mizdow has experienced has created a riff in the team that threatens to prevent them from regaining the titles Sunday night.

The Usos' getting in Mizdow's head this past Thursday on SmackDown and appealing to his ego, his desire to be a star brighter than The Miz ever was, only strengthens the possibility of a split between the former champions come this weekend's huge title bout.

Winners: The Usos

WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Credit: WWE.com

The most intriguing and interesting match on the entire Royal Rumble card is the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout in which Brock Lesnar will defend his title against John Cena and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat match.

Lesnar's title reign has been marred by inconsistent appearances but, at the same time, that lack of television time has prevented the Beast Incarnate from becoming overexposed and, thus, preserved some of his star power.

Cena is the franchise player who will always be in title contention or the champion, and rightfully so. He is unquestionably, undeniably the biggest star the sport has to offer at this point and the most consistent performer the company has.

He is a workhorse, a true company guy and one whose hard work and dedication is oftentimes taken for granted by fans.

Rollins is a young, brash, cocky villain in the same vein as Edge. An opportunist who seizes every one put in front of him, he is also the current Money in the Bank briefcase holder, something that could very well come into play Sunday night.

More so than any other match on the card, the WWE title bout will have the greatest impact on the WrestleMania main event. While there is plenty of time between the Rumble show and the Showcase of the Immortals for WWE to switch the title again, plans for the most important match of the year will become much more evident based on what happens when Cena, Lesnar and Rollins collide this weekend.

A Lesnar title win almost assuredly sets up a title defense against either Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. Those stories write themselves, as either one of those stars would become the favorite to slay the otherwise unconquerable beast.

Cena as champion may not be the most thrilling option, but beating him still means something and would instantly launch someone like Reigns into main event stardom.

Rollins is the dark horse. Does he use The Authority to help him win the match? Does he cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase after the match and escape with the gold anyway? Or does he lose his first championship main event outright, opting to wait for a better opportunity to cash in his title opportunity?

There is more money to be made in one of those options, but given Lesnar's contract status and a potential return to UFC hanging over WWE like a black cloud, it is the least likely.

Winner: Brock Lesnar retains, Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank and wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

2015 Royal Rumble Match

Credit: WWE.com

This year's Royal Rumble is essentially a two-man race.

Roman Reigns has been the favorite to win the Rumble since last summer, when The Shield split and the juggernaut embarked on a singles career. That he has instantly inserted into pay-per-view main events, battling the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton, only solidified his spot as the future face of the company.

A hernia surgery in September derailed his trek toward championship glory but his return in December proved that he would have no trouble picking up where he left off.

Heading into Sunday's show, he has found himself embroiled in a rivalry with The Big Show that will undoubtedly lead to the second-generation star eliminating the World's Largest Athlete from the match.

But the unexpected return of Daniel Bryan to in-ring competition has created the biggest road block for Reigns on his journey to the WrestleMania main event.

Bryan is undeniably the most popular star in WWE. The connection fans have with him is unparalleled and will lead to the former WWE World Heavyweight champion being the overwhelming favorite in Philadelphia, home of the Ring of Honor promotion in which the Aberdeen, Washington, native first gained national recognition.

Were he to be eliminated in favor of the more corporate-endorsed Reigns, WWE could be facing a repeat of last year's show, where Batista winning was met with a thunderous chorus of boos from a crowd desperate to see Bryan emerge victorious.

Other stars, such as Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose, are dark-horse candidates to emerge victorious, but the likelihood that happens is not nearly as strong as the more predictable Reigns or Bryan wins.

When weighing both options, it is time for WWE to have a plan and stick to it regardless of what happens. Reigns is immensely over, regardless of what criticisms he draws from an Internet fan base denouncing the idea of him becoming the face of pro wrestling in North America.

He will develop over time, just as John Cena and Batista did before him, and he will eventually prove that his push was warranted.

Sure, it will come at the expense of Superstars that fans like more, especially early, but Vince McMahon has a history of choosing the top star in his promotion correctly, even if he has failed in other areas. This should be no different.

Winner: Roman Reigns