WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Match Card, Latest Rumors, News and Buzz Before PPV

We're kicking off The Road to WrestleMania, and if the matches are as good as WWE has hyped them to be, we're in for quite the ride.

The 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view airs tonight, Sunday, January 27, on the WWE Network. The pre-show starts at 5 p.m. ET, and the main show starts at 7 p.m. ET. Here is the fight card so far:

Credit: WWE.com

Match Card

Buddy Murphy vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami—WWE Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way Match (Kickoff Match)

United States Champion Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Kickoff Match)

SmackDown Tag Team champions The Bar vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon

SmackDown Women's champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

WWE champion Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

Raw Women's champion Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks

Universal champion Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor

2019 Women's Royal Rumble Match

2019 Men's Royal Rumble Match

Credit: WWE.com

Possible Surprise Rumble Entrants

The Twitter account for WrestleVotes claims that Bray Wyatt, Kurt Angle and Velveteen Dream are being bandied about as possible surprise entrants in the 2019 Royal Rumble.

Wyatt has been off television since August 2018; a return, hopefully with a slightly refreshed character, would be a welcome breath of fresh air. Kurt Angle would be good for a nostalgia pop, but his best days are behind him; the free-wheeling nature of the Rumble would be dangerous to his health.

And if the Dream gets called up, the response would be massive. He's one of NXT's most talented performers, and he wasn't on the most recent NXT TakeOver PPV. Perhaps, he's moving on to bigger things.

Credit: WWE.com

Taker-less Mania?

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), The Undertaker is currently not scheduled for a WrestleMania 35 match.

It wouldn't be the worst idea for The Deadman to hang up his boots while he's ahead. The Undertaker looked rickety against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. His match against John Cena at WrestleMania 34 was solid but short—likely to cover for his limitations.

None of this precludes the possibility of an Undertaker appearance; he can still show up, do his entrance and Tombstone a person or two. But to ask for a match, let alone a classic match, might be too tall of an order. Time catches up with all of us.

Credit: WWE.com

The Beast from the East in the WWE Hall of Fame?

And lastly, some post-Rumble rumors. On a recent episode of the Oh You Didn't Know podcast (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Brad Shepard said that Bam Bam Bigelow is almost definitely going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

It would be a long overdue honor for one of the greatest big men in the sport, remembered for his unusual athleticism, flame tattoos, cartwheels and moonsaults. It would also be location appropriate; the New Jersey native would enter the hall in his home state.