WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Match Card, Potential Spoilers, Predictions and More

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 will thrill despite its ending being the expected kind. 

The pay-per-view's major stories won't feature the kind of curveballs or narratives veering in surprising directions some fans are pulling for. WWE has foreshadowed exactly how the road to WrestleMania will look, and plans won't change come Sunday.

Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns' collision course will remain on track.

That won't affect the entertainment value of 2015's first pay-per-view, though. The Rumble is always one of the most fun events on the calendar.

This year's show will lean on emerging stars, showcasing Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Rusev and others. Add the new energy those men bring to the stage to the always engaging format of the Rumble and the year is sure to start off well.

That is, if the audience goes into the night not set on seeing a dark horse come out on top.

The night's unforeseen elements will be of the smaller variety. Who enters the Rumble and what subplots emerge will surprise, not who wins the whole thing.

Last year, all signs pointed to Batista winning. That's exactly what happened, as much as the crowd hated it. Fans wanted Daniel Bryan to finally get his due, to charge toward WrestleMania.

WWE had other plans.

Credit: WWE.com

Bryan didn't even enter the 30-man bout. This year, he is almost certainly in it, but fans are setting themselves up for heartbreak if they are counting on him emerging as the victor.

That would be the dream scenario leading to a dream match pitting Bryan against Lesnar. WWE, though, has been shining the throne in preparation for someone else to sit on it.

News, Potential Spoilers

John Cena is one of three men with a chance at leaving the Rumble with the world title in hand. What was either an inadvertent peek at the future or some kind of mistake suggested that he would do just that.

As Mike Johnson of PWInsider pointed out, WWE had advertised Cena as the world champ for a house show in March in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In a later update, however, Johnson wrote, "The verbiage of John Cena being referred to as 'WWE World champion' was removed from the website of The PPL Center in Allentown."

Credit: WWE.com

Maybe someone forgot to type "former" before the part about Cena being champ. Maybe this was just a flub.

This house show comes after the Fast Lane pay-per-view, so Cena could possibly win the belt at the event if he doesn't at the Rumble.

As for the Royal Rumble's titular match, backstage reports point to a number of possible unannounced competitors showing up. 

Some of them may come by way of NXT. PWInsider's Johnson reported after Monday's Raw that there was backstage talk about giving one or two Rumble spots to talents from NXT.

That appears to be something that is developing into a tradition. Bo Dallas and Rusev (NXT prospects at the time) debuted on the main roster at Royal Rumble 2013 and 2014 respectively. 

This year, WWE could use that match as a way to welcome back Dallas.

According to PWInsider Elite (h/t Wrestling Inc) WWE plans to bring in Dallas as a surprise Rumble entrant. That's a possibility in terms of Dallas' recovery timetable at least. WWE announced in early November that he would be out six to eight weeks with a foot injury.

It's beyond that time frame now.

Randy Orton, whose injury is only part of the storyline to explain his absence while he shot a movie, could be joining Dallas in the fray that is the Rumble. As ProWrestling.net notes, "WWE is advertising Randy Orton for Sunday's Royal Rumble on their own website's live events page" and Orton has been mentioned in radio ads as well.

He wouldn't exactly be a surprise, however. The Viper is on the Rumble poster (h/t Wrestle View):

If Rey Mysterio, who hasn't appeared for WWE since last April, showed up, though, that would stun the crowd.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc) there is a small chance that Mysterio appears at the Rumble. This is the rumor to take with the biggest grain of salt. Mysterio's tenuous relationship with WWE has to improve before he makes an appearance like this.

Match Card

• The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose (Elimination)
• The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension
• The Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. The Usos (Tag Team Championship)
• Paige and Natalya vs. Brie Bella and Nikki Bella 
• John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
• 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

The following video highlights how Richard Gray of Wrestling News World believes the top matches will go down:

As for my own thoughts, read on.

Quick Predictions

• The New Day over Cesaro, Kidd and Rose.
• The Ascension over The New Age Outlaws.
• The Usos over The Miz and Mizdow.
• The Bellas over Paige and Natalya.
• Lesnar over Cena and Rollins.
• Roman Reigns wins the Royal Rumble.

Pre-Show Match

WWE want to highlight The New Day and get them some momentum. We have seen that with how much the announcers have focused on Kofi Kingston and company during their matches.

And on Monday's Raw, The New Day put away Cesaro and Kidd in just over three minutes, per ProFightDB.com.

Rose hasn't received much attention as of late. He feels like an add-on here and an excuse to make this a six-man tag. 

For now, WWE want to push the babyfaces. That means Cesaro, Kidd and Rose have to lie down for them.

The Ascension Rise

If The Ascension don't win here, you have to question why WWE brought them up from NXT in the first place.

Viktor and Konnor have spent the bulk of their time on the main roster dissing teams of the past. That led to The New Age Outlaws teaming up with some other classic duos to strike back against The Ascension on Monday's Raw.

The logical move is for the newcomers to then steamroll over the veterans. That would give them their biggest win to date, a measure of revenge for Monday and have them embark on a version of Orton's old "legend killer" gimmick.

The New Age Outlaws' last two outings were to put over younger teams. They lost to The Shield at WrestleMania and lost their titles to The Usos. Looks like The Ascension are next.

The Usos Retain

The chances of a split between The Miz and Damien Mizdow are higher than those two winning back their titles. Why crown them again when it's clear that they are headed for a feud against each other soon?

The Miz has been increasingly annoyed by Mizdow recently, including when the stunt double revealed that he had been secretly filming The Miz.

The Usos haven't yet held the belts for a full month. Ending their reign this early would be an odd move, as they haven't had a chance to do much as champs yet.

Dissension Hurts Paige and Natalya

The only narrative WWE has inserted into this match is Paige and Natalya's strange relationship. Paige is coming off as unstable, angry and a difficult person to partner with. 

That's likely to get in their way as they look to take down the Bella sisters.

Having the babyfaces go at each other opens the door for a future Triple Threat title match against Nikki. That's a likely direction as Nikki has no immediate challengers and WWE could showcase the newest member of the Total Divas cast without going with a straight Nikki vs. Paige bout, which we have seen before.

Lesnar Holds On

Lesnar ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania and then dominating Cena at SummerSlam like no man has before makes his eventual defeat a hugely powerful moment. It would be a stunner for WWE to use that up before WrestleMania.

Conquering the beast on the biggest stage in wrestling makes far more sense than to have him lose here.

If Cena was going to win, WWE would have played up that he would tie Ric Flair as the man with the most world title reigns in wrestling history. Rollins is a fun wild card, but is WWE really going to have him enter the main event at WrestleMania as world champ?

That's a bold move far out of WWE's comfort zone.

Lesnar's win sets up a showdown with Reigns: powerhouse versus powerhouse, rising star against established one.

The Rumble

In addition to Dallas and Orton coming back, look for WWE to celebrate Philadelphia's ties to ECW for its stock of surprise entrants.

Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer are two likely candidates for that role. Van Dam has worked with WWE in the recent past and would get a good pop. Dreamer would be a fun nod to the past, as well as a nostalgia act who can still work.

Bet on Bryan being the match's Iron Man. WWE can show off his gutsiness by having him survive for a long stretch. That would also elevate the suspense surrounding the ending.

Teasing a Bryan win is smart as it would mean nuclear heat for the heel who tosses him over the top rope.

It will be Reigns who is last standing. Reigns has been on a tear since coming back from injury. Per CageMatch.net, Reigns has won nine straight in that span.

WWE can give Reigns the kind of moment Batista had back in 2005, announcing him as the new top star. With folks tiring of seeing Cena wear that crown and Bryan's health going forward a question mark, bet on WWE giving it to its strapping, larger-than-life athlete.

The company has continually presented him as an unstoppable force, the ultimate good guy. He will follow up his runner-up finish last year with a career-changing victory.

Fans may debate whether Reigns is ready for that kind of push, but WWE appears to have already decided that he is.