Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns should meet for the third time at a Royal Rumble event.
After the conclusion of Survivor Series War Games, WWE now turns its attention to building toward the first major pay-per-view of 2023, the Royal Rumble.
The beginning of the Road to WrestleMania, it is one of the most highly anticipated shows of the year, and fans are already speculating as to what will be on the match card come January 28.
We know there will be a men's and a women's Rumble match, but what will join those bouts at the Alamodome in San Antonio?
Let's take a look, basing our predictions on recent creative decisions.
For the third time in the event's history, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens will clash with a world title at stake, this time being the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
The two first battled at the event in 2017, when Owens bested The Tribal Chief thanks to some timely interference from Braun Strowman. Their second meeting came in 2021, during the pandemic era, and Reigns benefited from ample amounts of interference to retain the title he still holds today.
This time, the match is merely a piece in the larger puzzle that is Sami Zayn's journey to relevance via The Bloodline.
KO established himself as a top contender Monday by way of a win over Jey Uso and should propel himself into the challenger spot in time for the first major premium live event of 2023.
The contest will be the latest cog in the program involving Zayn, forcing him to prove his loyalty to The Bloodline once more, despite his best friend challenging for a title they grew up dreaming of together.
The storytelling within this program has been extraordinary, and Zayn is poised to become one of the biggest stars in the company by the time it reaches its climax.
The latest Rumble showdown between Owens and Reigns will assist in the program and likely deliver a hard-hitting match if a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co) is any indication.
Reigns will win, but fans are most likely to be enthralled by the latest developments in the overarching storyline, which should inch Zayn closer to breaking free of The Bloodline and becoming the top babyface in pro wrestling.
In 2021, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley were the top two breakout stars in the WWE women's division. They were also the final two in that year's women's Royal Rumble match, a contest won by The EST of WWE.
Both would go on to capture gold at WrestleMania 37, firmly establishing themselves as the future of the industry.
Two years later, the future is now.
Belair is unquestionably the top star in the Raw women's division and arguably the top babyface on the flagship show. Ripley has surged recently, excelling as the focal point of The Judgment Day.
The two have teased an upcoming encounter in recent weeks, with a tense showdown on the November 7 episode of Raw hinting at an impending championship clash.
With Bayley and Damage CTRL thwarted, Belair needs a new opponent and what better place for a match of that magnitude than at the Royal Rumble?
The only way it doesn't happen is if WWE opts to save it for WrestleMania 39, perhaps by booking The Nightmare to win her first women's Rumble match and set up the clash with Belair that way.
If that is the case, a placeholder challenger such as the revitalized Nikki Cross is not out of the question.
Ricochet and Santos Escobar may be poised to do battle in the finals of the SmackDown World Cup for a shot at Gunther's Intercontinental Championship but make no mistake about it: Braun Strowman is the real threat to The Ring General's gold.
The Monster of All Monsters is the only competitor to draw fear from Gunther, forcing him to flee the ring rather than confront him. It is a booking decision that drew quite the reaction from fans on social media, and rightfully so given how long The Ring General has been protected as a dominant force.
Regardless, a match between them would probably give Strowman his best in WWE since his original series with Roman Reigns.
It would also further legitimize Gunther among the fans, who still remember Strowman as a main event-caliber competitor and a former universal champion.
More importantly, it allows WWE to protect both men from elimination in the men's Rumble match.
Strowman can lose to Gunther via interference from Imperium, meaning the heel retains and both still look like unstoppable forces rather than being dumped over the top rope in some convoluted form by a returning Cody Rhodes...assuming that happens.
The build to Ronda Rousey's latest championship defense, against Shotzi at Survivor Series, heavily featured Raquel Rodriguez. That was likely no accident.
Rousey and Shayna Baszler injured the 31-year-old, taking out her left arm ahead of the showdown with The Ballsy Badass, forcing the babyface contender to fend for herself against the heels.
It did not work out for Shotzi, but it will set Rodriguez up to be the next challenger for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Competing in front of friends and family in San Antonio, just three hours from her hometown of La Feria, Texas, she will be the overwhelming fan favorite and the perfect opponent for Rousey.
She won't win, especially as WWE pushes toward a Los Angeles-based WrestleMania that it will want Rousey to be part of, but it should still make for a hotter match than the blue brand's offering may have been otherwise.
