With the Royal Rumble less than a week away, we look at three superstars who are considered sleepers who could potentially leave the match victorious earning a trip to WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble match is always one of the biggest events of the year. With its unpredictability and its reward being so high the match is one of the most important of the year. The winner of the Royal Rumble earns himself a main event championship match at WrestleMania.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the big event, and to celebrate WWE is stacking the match as much as it can. With stars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker in the match the competition is extremely stiff.
The match also will feature some of the top stars on the RAW brand with the likes of Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, and Braun Strowman all in the match as well. With all of this going on the major belief that it will be a RAW star to win the Rumble.
Smackdown, on the other hand, does have talent that will be in the Rumble but they have not been viewed as potential winners. With RAW so stacked in the match, most fans believe that the Red brand star will win the match.
However, if you look at past Royal Rumbles in the brand extension era Smackdown has had more stars on their show win the event than RAW. So, it could be a Smackdown Live star that wins the event this year.
With this in mind, we look at three superstars from the Blue Brand who shock the world and win the 2017 Royal Rumble match.
WWE.com
3. Baron Corbin
The Lone Wolf has been both one of the bright spots and top sleeper picks that Smackdown Live got during the draft. He has quickly risen through the ranks and can be seen as one of the top heels on Smackdown Live.
Corbin in recent weeks has been shown in the WWE Championship picture. Baron challenged AJ Styles for the championship along with Dolph Ziggler showing that he is ready to indeed be in the main event picture.
The Lone Wolf has vastly improved on the microphone and in the ring as he was able to hold his own against two top ring leaders in Styles and Corbin. With his power and strength, Corbin could be a one-man wrecking crew in the Rumble.
The Lone Wolf has turned into a very good heel and knows how to play his character perfectly. He could be the best adversary for whoever is WWE Champion going into WrestleMania 33. Corbin is not a rookie when it comes to a battle royal type setting.
Corbin on his first night on the main roster won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year at WrestleMania. He could use that experience in the Rumble match to help pull off the upset and head to WrestleMania with a guaranteed title shot.
WWE.com
2. Dolph Ziggler
The year of 2016 was certainly a roller coaster ride for The Showoff. After losing a number of big time matches, Ziggler decided to put his career on the line against The Miz and his Intercontinental Championship at No Mercy.
Ziggler picked up the huge victory but would lose the championship back to The Miz less than a month later on an episode of Smackdown Live. The Showoff would continue to lose some heartbreaking matches until he finally snapped.
After losing a hard-fought battle to Baron Corbin, Ziggler was attacked by the lone wolf and Kalisto came to the ring to help Ziggler. In what was seen as a shocking move, Dolph turned on Kalisto hence beginning his heel turn.
Since then The Show Off has had a brand new attitude and demeanor. We saw his attitude in full mode this past week on Smackdown Live when he super kicked Jerry Lawler. With his brand new attitude, Dolph could be a favorite to win the Rumble match.
With his lack of care for others and his sole focus on being the best in the company despite what it will take, Dolph will do everything possible to win the match. Dolph has been impressive in past Rumbles and had lasted for close to an hour in the 2013 match.
2016 may have been a rough year for Ziggler, but he could start 2017 and his brand new attitude with a win in the Royal Rumble.
1. The Miz
The year 2016 was a resurrection year for the Must See WWE Superstar. After years of being overlooked and mismanaged Miz finally found his past form having a fantastic 2016. For most of the year, The Miz carried the Intercontinental Championship.
After a number of years with the belt losing its prestige, The Miz brought the championship back to its former glory. During the year he put on classics with the likes of Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler.
The Miz started 2017 on a bit of a rough note when he lost the championship to The Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose. With the Intercontinental Championship now off of his shoulders, Miz now has his sights on winning the Royal Rumble.
With so many major names in the Rumble, it seems like this could be a year WWE throws a major swerve and could have someone like The Miz win the big event. WWE could do something such as have Miz in the final three and while the other two are trying to throw one another out Miz sneaks in and dumps both out for the win.
There is no doubt that Miz could be a perfect fit for WWE to book a main event storyline going into WrestleMania. Whether it’s John Cena or AJ Styles Miz with his talking ability and his ability to make you hate him would really give Smackdown Live a huge program.
It would help add fuel to the fire to a possible Daniel Bryan/Miz feud with the fact Bryan can’t stand Miz, The Must See Superstar could hang this over Bryan’s head that he won the biggest Royal Rumble of all time.
With his constant history of shocking the world, The Miz might be the true dark horse to win the biggest Royal Rumble of all time.
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