WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Full Card Predictions After TLC

After the wreckage that TLC left behind, WrestleMania season begins as WWE Royal Rumble 2015 kicks off the new pay-per-view calendar year.

Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt were among the many Superstars who took stunning risks and left themselves in need of all the Icy Hot that Cleveland has in stock. New challenges await them when 2015 arrives.

Rollins has to face an old foe, a predator who has been absent as of late. Wyatt will be in the mix to earn himself a spot in the WrestleMania main event.

The world title bout for the upcoming pay-per-view is already set. WWE announced on the TLC pre-show that Brock Lesnar would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Rumble. John Cena would go on to slam Rollins through a table to keep his spot as No. 1 contender.

What bouts will WWE add to Cena vs. Lesnar III? TLC and in-progress storylines hint at what to expect at the next Royal Rumble.

The Bunny vs. Adam Rose (Pre-Show)

Credit: WWE.com

An unexpectedly slow burn of a story has to increase in temperature at some point.

WWE has been teasing a split between Adam Rose and The Bunny for months. Becoming more aggressive and abusing his rabbit friend, Rose has slid toward heel status. Expect that transformation to continue.

That's going to lead to the man/animal he has been shoving around to finally shove back.

This is the kind of humor-centric bout that often gets a spot on pay-per-view pre-shows. Neither wrestler is expected to make an impact in the Royal Rumble, so placing them here doesn't take away from that 30-man match. 

Royal Rumble Match

Credit: WWE.com

Roman Reigns

Key entrants: Roman Reigns, Rusev, Big Show, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback

Reigns returned to action in the midst of the chaos that was Seth Rollins vs. John Cena. After taking shots at both Big Show and Rollins, he announced backstage that he was going to do more damage in the Rumble match than he did last year.

He enters as the favorite, seemingly poised to enter a WrestleMania showdown with Brock Lesnar. 

Big Show will be there to welcome him, looking for payback for Reigns attacking him at TLC.

As for Rusev, WWE doesn't seem to know what to do with him other than to have The Bulgarian Brute retrace his steps in battling Jack Swagger. Rather than him defend the U.S. title at the next pay-per-view, the company can have him look good by eliminating a large number of WWE Superstars in the Rumble.

Wyatt and Ambrose's feud has to continue with the fluky ending their second go-round had.

Sparks shot out of a TV and blinded The Lunatic Fringe. Wyatt pounced, getting a pinfall victory. While that clearly hints at more matches to come, Ambrose is too big of a star right now to leave out of the Rumble field. 

He can strike back against the monster on a crowded battlefield for now.

The New Day vs. the Miz and Damien Mizdow (Tag Team Championship)

Credit: WWE.com

The tag champs escaped via cowardice. That points toward The Miz and Damien Mizdow continuing their feud with The Usos, but another group is charging into contention.

The Miz got himself intentionally disqualified by cracking Jimmy Uso over the head with a Slammy. That will surely lead to a rematch, but WWE has a good while to get to that before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Big E and Kofi Kingston defeated Goldust and Stardust in the pre-show match in impressive fashion. That follows those two knocking off the Rhodes boys in singles competition over the past week. It looks as if WWE crafted this feud solely to build up the repackaged faction.

After The Usos get another shot at the titles on an edition of Raw, it will be Kingston and Big E who will server as fresh challengers for The Miz and Mizdow.

Paige vs. Nikki Bella (Divas Championship)

Nikki Bella went the old-school route and sprayed AJ Lee in the eyes with a mystery substance to get the win. That hints at the feud possibly continuing, but having them battle at Royal Rumble would mark the third straight pay-per-view match between them.

There hasn't been enough electricity in this feud to justify it continuing. 

Enter Paige. WWE hasn't done much with her since she lost the title, but she remains one of the most viable options as a contender. She's a bright young star who the company knows it can depend on in the ring.

The fact that she's set to join the Total Divas cast helps her case as well.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

Randy Orton didn't pop into Cleveland as many expected, but look for him to reconvene his pursuit of Seth Rollins soon.

WWE put that feud on hold so that Orton could film The Condemned 2. Restarting it gives Royal Rumble a high-profile match to go along with the world title bout.

It's a clash that seemed destined to be on TLC, but the company opted to hold it off. It's unlikely WWE keeps fans waiting past Royal Rumble for that story to get wrapped up. 

In addition, Rollins' Money in the Bank contract negates the need to win the Rumble. He's better suited in this more personal collision, getting a big win to counterbalance falling to John Cena at TLC.