Good, Bad and Ugly Preview: WWE Royal Rumble 2019

The WWE Royal Rumble is here, and so is Bobby Fernandes with his Good, Bad, and Ugly preview for the kickoff to the Road To WrestleMania!

The Royal Rumble is an OG PPV for the WWE brand.  It brings surprises, non-stop action and changes to the storyline for the start of WrestleMania Season.  You see more superstars on this PPV than any other due to the 60 individual participants.  The most important aspect is that you never know who is going to win.  Let’s see what we have to work with this year. 

THE GOOD

Men’s Royal Rumble

So many deserve that top spot as #1 Contender and before the latest situation surrounding Finn Balor and John Cena, they both have been my pick so far.  Personally I see Finn Winning the title and Daniel Bryan retaining.  That means who would be the best fit to feud with either of them.  The obvious answer is Seth Freakin Rollins.  However he isn’t a lock.  There are plenty of names that could do something huge with a win at the Royal Rumble.  Either way, there is a lot of room for surprises, and faces old or new that could make this interesting.  If we see anyone that has been swirling around, especially The Rock or Batista show up here, we will have pure Gold.  Either would be a great feud with Drew McIntyre would be amazing.  This will be Good, well because it always is. 

Prediction:  Bray Wyatt Wins

Woman’s Royal Rumble

The Women’s Division with the exception of a few (Tamina Snuka, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox and a couple more) are pure fire.  They have fantastic content, great rivalries and have been the Main Event on almost all WWE television lately.  Rousey will retain in my opinion, as well as Asuka.  Bayley and Sonya Deville both would be a fantastic choice to come into the spotlight and title scene, however with all of the names including the infamous Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, they don’t have a chance.  So whoever wins here will have to contrast the two Champions well.  This tells my gut that Becky Lynch could shock the world and win the Women’s Royal Rumble when and if she loses to Asuka earlier in the night to set up a super match with Ronda Rousey. 

Prediction:  Becky Lynch Wins

Universal Championship Match – Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor

No surprises to write about, we have David vs. Goliath, only David will be possessed by an unstoppable Irish Demon, and if and when Balor comes out as the Demon, Lesnar is done.  The Beast will be conquered and possibly in a quick fashion.  This should be a Good, entertaining but quick Title Match. 

Prediction:  Finn Balor Wins

WWE Heavyweight Championship Match – Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles

This feud is just so amazing.  We will see some stiff, high energy, action packed content here.  The two involved are master level professionals who always bring their A Game.  It is highly unlikely it will be a disappointment, as this could have easily been saved for WrestleMania.  A real treat, this should be stellar. 

Prediction:  FICKLE!  Daniel Bryan Wins

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match – Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Here we go, in contrast to the Raw Women’s Title Match, this is just amazing.  Asuka is super talented and has unbelievable matches.  Becky is untouchable and is riding the wave high still from her recent success.  The hype for this, as well as the potential is so high, it could be the match of the night. 

Prediction:  Asuka Retains

United States Championship Match – Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

How disappointing it is that this is what WWE thinks of these two tremendous talents.  Their skills are top notch, they have the fans in the palm of their hands, and everyone loves the feud.  Everything works here and points to the Good side of things except, why in the hell is this a Kickoff Show match?  That is just a shame.  Simply put it is stupid to do this on the kickoff.  Still, the match will be damn Good. 

Prediction:  Rusev Wins

THE BAD

Raw Women’s Championship Match – Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks

The silver lining here is Sasha Banks.  It is nice to see a different face (although a former Champion) in the picture right now.  It saves everyone from the stale same old every week.  Sasha Banks is a tough opponent to the unstoppable Ronda Rousey.  Unfortunately, Rousey is just not going to drop the title until Wrestlemania if not at all.  It wouldn’t make any sense.  This match may disappoint however Rousey is sometimes just all over the place, and even someone like Banks may not be able to guide and contain her mess.  I see this being well…Bad. 

Prediction:  Rousey Wins

THE UGLY

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match- The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

Where to start?  This could be horrible or it could be brilliant.  Shamus and Cesaro can work, as can Miz and Shane but honestly the buildup has been anything but Good.  It seems so forced that it just doesn’t fit right.  Unfortunately this has the makings to be an Ugly disaster, which will be a wasted spot on the Main Card. 

Prediction:  The Bar retains

Cruiserweight Championship Match – Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Towaza vs. Hideo Itami

In contrast to the other Kickoff Match, this match belongs on the Kickoff Show.  A big who cares we already know you will be going crazy with chaos and highspots is the feeling around this match.  Yeah it will be entertaining but overall no one will care or maybe even pay attention.  This is just a waste of time and so many others could and should be on the show. 

Prediction:  Hideo Itami wins (hopefully)

OVERALL

Royal Rumble 2019 is looking Good but not Great.  It is a split almost.  There could be a lot of Bad but there are also some very strong matches to offset the Bad and Ugly.  No matter the case, we will be watching and with the possibilities of a lot of surprises and changes, this will be one hell of a show. 

NXT Takeover looked near perfect on paper, and delivered in a big way.  The matches will be a super show, as Takeover always is.  This means that the WWE main roster may be out shined yet again by NXT, but who know, this is a new WWE.  Either way, what a great weekend of professional wrestling.