10 Most Likely WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Winners

Finn Bálor claiming victory on January 28 would be evocative of some of those great underdog Rumble triumphs of years past: Shawn Michaels in 1995, Chris Benoit in 2004, Rey Mysterio in 2006 (although, in the case of the latter, it is only with hindsight that we can really appreciate it).

And, in encouraging news, someone in the WWE hierarchy clearly believes that putting The Demon King in the ring with Brock Lesnar is a good idea - it was purportedly earmarked as the Beast Incarnate's next big Universal Championship feud months ago, before Braun and Kane arrived on the scene.

Against that, there's the fact that someone else - namely Vince McMahon - appears to vehemently disagree. There's a reason Bálor isn't going to face Brock on January 28, and there was also a reason that he was squashed by Kane a couple of months back, killing dead any momentum he may otherwise have generated from his TLC victory over AJ Styles.

The only thing that gives a slither of hope to fans of the Irishman is perhaps his recent Raw reunion with Gallows and Anderson, which makes a heel turn and feud with AJ - who has his own links with the Bullet Club - an outside possibility.

Even then, however, they still need to explain the fact that he'd be ducking his brand's champ.