Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane WWE Royal Rumble Preview and Prediction

It will be a monster mash of epic proportions Sunday night in Philadelphia at WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, as Brock Lesnar is set to defend his Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane in a Triple Threat main event.

The Beast Incarnate has overcome every challenge he's had since WrestleMania 33. But Sunday, he will have to face the two most unstoppable forces in WWE and hope he can deliver a well-timed F-5 or German suplex to retain his title.

Will he? And what can fans expect from the marquee bout?

The Background

At No Mercy in September, Lesnar defeated Strowman in nine minutes to successfully retain the Universal Championship. It was a curious booking decision to have him defeat The Monster Among Men in such a short amount of time.

He would roll into Survivor Series and defeat SmackDown's AJ Styles. That night, Strowman was one of two Superstars to survive the heated Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown main event.

While Lesnar would disappear from television thereafter, Strowman found himself confronted by a new rival in the form of The Devil's Favorite Demon, Kane.

The Big Red Monster exploded back on to the scene in October and instantly made an enemy of Strowman at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Since that event, at which Kane dumped a string of steel chairs on his new-found rival and sent him away in a garbage truck, the mastodons have waged war on a seemingly weekly basis.

When a No. 1 Contender's match pitting the two against each other ended in a double count-out, Raw general manager Kurt Angle announced a Triple Threat match for the Royal Rumble in which Lesnar would defend against both of his potential challengers.

The January 8 episode of Raw saw Strowman snap, pummeling Kane and Lesnar in the backstage area before pulling part of the set down on them.

Following a near-career-ending assault on his Rumble opposition, Strowman was fired on the January 15 episode of Raw. Not willing to go away peacefully, he unleashed hell on anyone and anything around him.

He destroyed Curt Hawkins and overturned a tractor-trailer. Moments before throwing commentator Michael Cole into a bevy of security workers, he was rehired by Angle.

With just six days until Royal Rumble, the three behemoths clashed one last time in a brawl that ended when Strowman planted Lesnar with a powerslam through the announce table.

The Match

Erase every preconceived notion you may have of some Match of the Year contender that will exceed all expectations.

This is going to be an ugly, nasty, chaotic brawl that plays to the strengths of the Superstars involved and have a short run time to boot.

As has been the case over the past year or so, expect Lesnar to bump around and maybe even be out of action for a portion of the bout before fighting his way back in and taking his opponents to Suplex City.

There will be no technical expertise. Nor will Kane suddenly look like the Big Red Monster of 15 years ago.

Expect a plodding brawl that features enough high spots to keep fans interested in the outcome.

Prediction

Lesnar will retain his title Sunday night.

All signs suggest the universal champion will defend his title against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34. To get there, he has to retain against Kane and Strowman.

Neither challenger is a WrestleMania main event attraction. They do not spark casual fan interest in the way a marquee star like Lesnar does. Nor would a win over one of them mean as much for Reigns.

The Beast Incarnate will deliver another bone-crunching performance Sunday, Strowman will be protected and Kane will eat the pin in the role he was almost certainly booked for.