10 WWE Spoilers For 2018 We Already Know

It's impossible to predict who will win the World Cup next year - and the same can perhaps be said of Wimbledon, the US Masters and whatever the badminton equivalent of those events is.

With WWE, however, things are very different - partly because it's predetermined (and therefore things like a sudden downturn in form are far less consequential), and partly because the company itself has spent the last few months helpfully sign-posting its future storylines.

WrestleMania 34's headline match, for instance.

Anyone who has been paying even the slightest bit of attention to Monday Night Raw this year - and, probably, a large group who haven't - knows exactly who will challenge for the Universal Title on April 8 (here's a hint: it's not Finn Bálor).

Other 2018 happenings are a little more tricky to call, but not by much. Wrestlers who are in or approaching their twilight years face a finite window of opportunity to get back in the ring, or add one more crown to their list of accolades, whilst certain feuds are simply bound to happen before Vince McMahon shakes things up again in the spring.

There's just no pulling the wool over our eyes.

WWE has probably already started printing WrestleMania 34 posters depicting Roman Reigns standing nose to nose with Brock Lesnar, which is one of the reasons The Big Dog stands out among the early favourites to win next month's Royal Rumble.

The other reasons can succinctly be summed up with: he's Roman Reigns, and he always, always wins. In fact, victory on January 28 would mark the second time The Big Dog, just 32, has won the Rumble after his maiden triumph three years ago. Since then, he's finished in second and third place.

He'll probably make the podium this time out too, but there's no guarantee he claims gold. His feud with The Beast Incarnate, if it ever went away at all, is already lingering in the background after their run ins over the summer. Roman doesn't need a Rumble win to find himself in the 'Mania main event, and by giving him one, WWE risks their leading man getting booed.

They're not going to make the same mistake again, so - unless a Raw wrestler wins and decides to jump over to Tuesday nights (there's precedent here, but ducking Lesnar would make them look like a chump) - there's a good chance the Rumble victor comes from SmackDown.