January in World Wrestling Entertainment means Rumble time, and Rumble time means something that will forever be bigger than the Rumble itself - it means we're on the Road to WrestleMania. This is no ordinary road, however - this particular stretch of concrete is defined by its pot holes, contains more bends and curves than Hollywood itself and is almost guaranteed to disappoint and thrill all involved, in equal measure. Simply put, the Royal Rumble represents the first yardstick of the WWE year. The WrestleMania card will begin to look a little clearer after the event this weekend, especially after the Rumble match itself. The eliminations, pull-apart brawls, and other goings on this Sunday will set out the beefs that will carry the company forward for the next few months. But what truly must happen at the event? There are six matches announced (one of which is a Rumble qualifier on the pre-show), five of which are title matches. The United States, Divas, Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship matches make up the undercard, with four matches we've seen multiple times on free television already. Then, of course, the main portion of this hearty meal, the Rumble itself. This year Roman Reigns will defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the match, the first time the biggest prize will be on the line in the Rumble since 1992 when the title was vacant. What needs to happen for this match to reach the heights of that classic? Let's take a look at what really needs to go down this Sunday.
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.
