From Spidey:
I know Roman Reigns is the favorite to win, but I think we’ll get John Cena for his third Rumble victory. The opportunity to break Ric Flair’s title record seems too good to pass up on the biggest stage in wrestling.
Sure, they could go with Cena vs. Styles or whatever without Cena winning at the Royal Rumble, but between the option of having Reigns win a second time and get crapped on or having Cena take it and leave fans happy (maybe by eliminating a Runner-Up Reigns), the latter obviously sounds best. Reigns is still young, and has many more Rumbles ahead of him. Cena is on his way out, and it’s no secret. It would simply mean more if John took this one, and gave us the program that could leave him with a 17th world title run.
And since John is still technically a free agent, they can play up him teasing a challenge for either title. It doesn’t have to be a “win” for Raw or Smackdown.
From #hamler.
John Cena is a pretty safe bet. Roman Reigns is an even safer bet. Both men will have major singles matches at Wrestlemania like they have had in the last couple of years and are probably the top two names signed to a current WWE contract. But it’s time to propel someone a bit more interesting into the spotlight. Someone who’s trigger needs pulled before it’s a bit too late. Someone who will shine in the spotlight if given the opportunity. Shinsuke Nakamura is that someone.
At Money in The Bank 2017, Nakamura and Styles had a fairly quick face off and the crowd reacted with great positivity. It was one of the few highlights of the show and it’s one of the very few interactions they’ve had with one another since being in the WWE which seems odd given how thin the Smackdown roster seems to be at times. They’re building to something. They’re building to something big between these two.
Nakamura’s star has cooled a bit since his debut. He needs something big to remain credible and a Rumble win is perfect for him. He has clean victories over John Cena and Randy Orton so someone in the back obviously sees something in him. While we’re stuck with the dreaded Reigns v. Lesnar match on the RAW side, Smackdown Live can steal a bit of the spotlight by having more of a technical masterpiece on their biggest stage. With so much negative reaction to the last five or so Royal Rumble matches, Nakamura is a satisfying choice for hardcore and casual fans alike.
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