WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Matches: Updated Card, Best Finish for Each Contest
For the first time in WWE history, Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view will feature two of the event's namesake matches, as 30 men and 30 women will battle for the right to challenge their respective champions at WrestleMania 34.
With so much excitement and energy surrounding those two bouts, it is easy to forget that tag team championships from both Raw and SmackDown Live will be up for grabs in contests featuring some of the best in-ring workers in the company, not to mention the top two prizes the brands have to offer.
From Raw, Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane in a Triple Threat match. SmackDown's AJ Styles, meanwhile, will put up his WWE title against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a 2-on-1 Handicap match.
The card, a strong one with a special four-hour run time, kicks off The Road to WrestleMania.
Find out exactly what to expect and what the best finish for each match is Sunday night on WWE Network.
Raw Tag Team Championships Match: Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan vs. The Bar
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In the weeks ahead of their Raw Tag Team Championships defense against The Bar, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan's partnership has become increasingly tense, culminating in an errant knee from The Architect to Jordan on Raw 25.
That growing dissension should play into the finish of Sunday's match, sparking a rivalry between partners that will carry into WrestleMania season.
A finish that sees an overconfident Jordan tag himself into the ring and unload on his opponents, only to walk into a Brogue Kick from Sheamus, who covers for the win and the tag titles, would be just enough to continue building frustration between the babyfaces and lead to their demise as a duo.
Best 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
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The Usos may be the best tag team in wrestling, but in recent weeks, they have been left prone, outwrestled and beaten by the duo of Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin.
Most recently, Gable delivered a rolling German suplex to knock off Jey Uso in singles competition, earning a significant amount of momentum for the heels ahead of Sunday's Best 2-Out-of-3 Falls match.
As good as Gable and Benjamin have been, though, that victory should represent their last one for the time being.
With the score knotted at one apiece, Jimmy and Jey isolate Benjamin from his Olympian partner, and one Uso delivers a trademark top-rope splash for the win to ensure the successful retention of the titles the duo has come to define.
2-on-1 Handicap Match for the WWE Championship
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An unfair creation by SmackDown Live general manager Daniel Bryan, the 2-on-1 Handicap match for the WWE Championship puts titleholder AJ Styles at a numbers disadvantage against two cunning, manipulative and dangerous heels in Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
The match, the latest chapter in the budding rivalry between Bryan and SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon, figures to feature appearances from both men.
The best finish here sees McMahon interfere on Styles' behalf, preventing one of his rivals from winning the top prize on the SmackDown brand.
After months of having his allegiances and impartiality questioned, Bryan has the ammunition necessary to combat his boss and maybe even put into motion what is necessary to remove Shane-O-Mac from power.
Triple Threat Match for the Universal Championship
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Brock Lesnar will have the unenviable task of defending his Universal Championship against two of the biggest, most dangerous Superstars in the entire WWE when he squares off with Kane and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match Sunday night.
Both The Monster Among Men and The Big Red Machine have left The Beast Incarnate lying on the road to Sunday's show. Strowman, in particular, has established dominance over Lesnar.
That fits the narrative that has accompanied the universal champion since the beginning of 2017.
So synonymously linked with dominance, he has repeatedly had to overcome obstacles and prove he is still the baddest man in professional wrestling.
That will continue here in early 2018, as the best finish sees him dispose of Strowman long enough to obliterate Kane with an F-5 and retain his title.
1st-Ever 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match
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History will be made Sunday night, as 30 women compete in the first women's Royal Rumble match.
In the weeks leading into the Battle Royal, there has been increased emphasis on the female competitors of Raw and SmackDown Live in an attempt to build excitement and anticipation for the bout.
Two, in particular, should figure into the match's closing moments.
On a recent episode of Raw, Nia Jax overpowered Asuka in a manner unlike any the WWE Universe has seen. She was the superior competitor, but an ill-timed leg injury cost her the opportunity to finish the job she had started.
The best finish for Sunday's show sees Jax continue her impressive assault on The Empress of Tomorrow, only for the undefeated Japanese competitor to again get the better of her budding rival.
Asuka wins the match and remains undefeated, but Jax looks like an even bigger star destined to break out in 2018.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
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The Royal Rumble is traditionally one of the most exciting, unpredictable and popular gimmick bouts in WWE.
The air of unpredictability surrounding Sunday's match is interesting in that, by this time each year, the winner is almost always fairly obvious. That is not the case as we enter the 2018 edition. A handful of Superstars could win it, including Roman Reigns, John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura.
While almost every sign points to Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, booking Reigns to go over in Philadelphia would only incite a chorus of boos even louder than the one that greeted his victory in the same match in the same building back in 2015.
With a pay-per-view between now and WrestleMania for Reigns to earn the No. 1 contender's spot, he does not need the win.
The best finish sees a final four of John Cena, Randy Orton, Finn Balor and the aforementioned Nakamura. Old vs. new.
After being eliminated moments earlier, the fifth-to-last man in the match, Elias, provides a distraction that leads to Cena's departure.
As payback for the RKO he endured Tuesday on SmackDown, Nakamura eliminates The Viper.
The Artist and the leader of Balor Club then square off in an electrifying finale that ends when Nakamura sends Balor crashing to the arena floor and cashes his ticket to WrestleMania 34 and a date with WWE champion AJ Styles.
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