9 Last-Minute WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Rumours You Need To Know

by John Bills

1. A Night To Remember For The Land Of The Rising Sun

Asuka TLC 2017
WWE

Dolph Ziggler remains a wildcard option, but at the time of writing there are two distinct favourites for the two Royal Rumble matches. Shinsuke Nakamura has been the favourite for the men’s bout since betting opened. Fans are practically ravenous for a match between Nakamura and AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, and Swagsuke winning the Royal Rumble seems to be the most logical route to that dream encounter.

Ronda Rousey started off as a hot favourite to win the women’s Royal Rumble, but it still isn’t clear whether or not she is in the state, let alone the match. Rowdy has cooled off in the betting as a result. The nightmare scenario of a Stephanie McMahon victory gained some traction earlier in the week, but thankfully that seems less likely at this point.

All of which leaves Asuka as the current favourite for the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble. The nature of the battle royal means the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow can lose without losing (Eva Marie famously eliminated her from a battle royal in NXT), but it is just as likely that the former NXT Women’s Champion runs through the competition on her way to a little bit of history-making (that’s your third drink so far).

If Nakamura and Asuka stand tall at the end of their respective Rumbles, it will be a night of unprecedented success for Japanese stars in WWE. The days of Kai En Tai have never felt further away, thankfully.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.