WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Matches: Full Card Breakdown, Bold Predictions and More
On Sunday, WWE will present its 29th annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, live from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, at 8 p.m. ET.
The Royal Rumble is always one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, and rightfully so. It is the one night of the year that almost anything is possible; in addition, it signals the start of the Road to WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns will have the odds stacked against him when he defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against 29 other men in the Royal Rumble match. Entering at No. 1, will he make history by leaving Orlando with his title intact?
The long-running rivalry between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens will culminate in a classic Last Man Standing match. Which competitor will answer the 10-count and walk out as intercontinental champion?
In what could be her final shot at the Divas Championship, Becky Lynch will contend for the gold against Charlotte. How will The Lass Kicker beat her former friend for the belt with Ric Flair still a factor at ringside?
Let's preview and make predictions for the event, as well as uncover the potential for every match on the advertised card.
Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Royal Rumble Qualifying Match (Kickoff Match)
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Only days ahead of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, a Fatal 4-Way tag team match was announced for the Kickoff show. It will see Darren Young and Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger, and The Ascension clash to determine which two competitors will enter the Royal Rumble match later in the evening.
Ultimately, the outcome of the matchup is irrelevant as the victors will likely last no more than five minutes in the marathon bout, but it's encouraging WWE is actually advertising something for the Kickoff show this time around. It hasn't done so in several months, and it helps that there will be something at stake in this match.
The Dudley Boyz are of course the most notable names competing in the contest, though that isn't saying much considering they haven't won a meaningful match in ages. In fact, Bubba Ray Dudley made his WWE return at last year's installment, so there isn't a need for them to take part in the 2016 Rumble.
The Ascension have been in a wasteland of their own for the last year, while Young and Sandow are nothing more than a makeshift tag team. The same can be said for Swagger and Henry, but at least they've been featured on programming more prominently as of late.
Henry in particular noted recently that he has accomplished everything in his career with the exception of winning the Rumble. The Dudley Boyz are my picks for this match, but having Henry and Swagger come out on top would make for the better story.
The New Day vs. the Usos (WWE Tag Team Championship)
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The New Day have taken WWE's tag team division by storm since capturing their first set of WWE Tag Team Championships in April 2015. From The Prime Time Players to The Dudley Boy to The Lucha Dragons, they have knocked off every tandem that has stepped up to challenge them.
Following a seven-month layoff, The Usos returned to action in early November and have had their sights set on the twin titles ever since. They unsuccessfully challenged for the gold in a Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder match at TLC but have beaten New Day on two separate occasions in the past month.
Fans may be tired of seeing the same two tandems square off every week on Raw, but until fresh faces are called up from NXT, it's the best we have at the moment. The Usos and New Day have been the standard bearers of tag team wrestling in WWE for the last year, so at the very least, their match at the Royal Rumble should be nothing short of stellar.
New Day have been champions for five months, and while there is no end in sight for their current reign, it's possible WWE switches the belts back and forth between them and The Usos before WrestleMania. It could set up The Usos vs. The Dudley Boyz for the straps on the grand stage, but New Day would benefit from holding the titles long term.
That said, although nothing is for certain, the trio of Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston will reign supreme Sunday night, still WWE tag team champions.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto (United States Championship)
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At this time one month ago, Kalisto was in contention for the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside partner Sin Cara. An injury to Cara put a temporary end to The Lucha Dragons, but it gave Kalisto the prime opportunity to break out as a singles star.
And that's exactly what he did.
On the Jan. 11 edition of Raw, Kalisto pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent Raw history by beating Alberto Del Rio for the United States Championship. Sadly, his reign was short-lived, as he dropped the belt back to The Mexican Aristocrat on the subsequent SmackDown days later.
Nevertheless, he has remained hungry in his pursuit to regain the gold. He has plenty of upside as a singles competitor, but a second loss to Del Rio could do damage to his current push.
Besides, Del Rio has done to next to nothing of note during his stint as U.S. champion. Switching up the midcard scene by giving the star-spangled prize to an up-and-comer such as Kalisto would be beneficial for both him and the title picture.
Granted, doing rapid-fire title changes is rarely a smart idea, but in this case, it would be the best possible outcome. There are other ways of making League of Nations look strong, so it isn't imperative that one of the members holds gold.
As for this match, there isn't much doubt they will deliver another entertaining outing. Their last few matches have been a treat, and their next in-ring encounter should be no exception.
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch (Divas Championship)
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Only two months into her main roster run, Charlotte captured her first WWE Divas Championship by defeating Nikki Bella at September's Night of Champions pay-per-view. She has dominated the division over the past several months, though the recent rift in her friendship with Becky Lynch has caused the former friends to become bitter enemies.
Charlotte and Lynch were the remaining members of Team PCB after Paige turned her back on them in the fall, but Lynch has been forced to fend for herself lately. Charlotte showed signs of jealousy and animosity toward The Lass Kicker following her loss to her on the Jan. 4 edition of Raw, before resorting to underhanded tactics to beat her that week on SmackDown.
The NXT upstarts have created quite the chemistry since the start of their feud, giving fans a real rivalry in the Divas division that they can invest in. Her mediocre mic skills aside, Charlotte has improved in her role and has found her stride as a heel.
Meanwhile, fans have rallied behind Lynch as the plucky, underdog babyface of the women. She has been building momentum as of late, and it would be wise of WWE to capitalize on her surge in popularity by giving her the Divas Championship at the Royal Rumble.
The plan may be to have Charlotte carry the title going into WrestleMania 32, but Lynch would no doubt be a breath of fresh air as champion. A rematch would be virtually pointless if Lynch lost again since she has already come up short twice before, so this should be her time to shine.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing for Intercontinental Title)
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Is it a stretch to say Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens have had the greatest feud over the WWE Intercontinental Championship in several years?
Both competitors have been perfectly cast in their roles in recent months and have complemented each other well throughout their program. What started out as simply a Superstar challenging a champion has turned into a ruthless rivalry that will come to a head in a Last Man Standing match.
Every week, they have found innovative ways to inflict pain on each other and bring their feud to new heights. Their one-on-one championship clash that took place on the Jan. 7 edition of SmackDown ended in a double count-out, calling for a rematch that will feature the longtime adversaries engaging a brutal brawl until one of them can't answer the referee's count of 10.
In what is probably the most difficult match on the Royal Rumble card to predict a winner, this contest could well go either way. Ambrose and Owens have an equal chance of going into WrestleMania 32 as intercontinental champion but for different reasons.
An Ambrose feud with Chris Jericho essentially writes itself, and adding the prestigious prize to the mix would make sense given Y2J's history with it. Owens, on the other hand, could rekindle his rivalry with Sami Zayn over the title since they have unfinished business from last year.
Either way, if I had to choose a winner, I'd side with Owens. WWE may want to protect Ambrose in defeat (it probably doesn't feel the same way about Owens at this point), and the Last Man Standing match accomplishes that.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
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WWE traditionally touts that anyone can win the Royal Rumble match. The stakes are higher than they have ever been with the 2016 Royal Rumble, as 30 men will vie not only for the chance to headline WrestleMania 32 but to also win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Unpredictability often equates to excitement, so this year's installment could prove to be among the best in a long while. Roman Reigns and Triple H are the two strongest candidates to emerge victorious as champion, but several other Superstars have a realistic shot of taking home the title as well.
Brock Lesnar, who has been removed from the title picture for close to a year now, is surely the fan favorite to win. He makes the most sense out of anyone considering the heavily rumored Reigns vs. HHH match at 'Mania doesn't need the title attached to it.
Of course, there are always the wild-card choices such as AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho, but it's hard to see where any of them factor into the top WrestleMania plans. Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose are also dark horses in the annual Battle Royal, but it remains to be seen whether they'll be a part of the match at all.
I would say WWE learned from its mistake of going with the most predictable path possible (i.e. Reigns) last year, but then again, it didn't learn from the 2014 debacle, either. Thus, it's anyone's guess who walks out as WWE world heavyweight champion, but Lesnar is a safe pick that fans wouldn't be sad to see win, unlike in past years.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
