A slew of the FanSided staff got together to perform what is sometimes one of the more difficult tasks — picking the 2017 Royal Rumble winner
Here in the year 2017, we are getting set to jump full steam ahead right on the road to WrestleMania. Of course, that means it’s time for one of the most anticipated events and matches of the entire year, the Royal Rumble.
This year, the WWE Royal Rumble will be just about bigger than ever, as it will be making its return to the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX for the first time in 20 years. Near 60,000 people are expected to be in attendance for the festivities, providing quite the atmosphere for one of the biggest shows of the entire year.
Now what’s also intriguing about this year’s Royal Rumble match is that it’s truly as unpredictable as it’s been in quite some time. It’s definitely one of the most star-studded rosters that the 30-man match has ever seen, with names such as The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg taking part, as well as a myriad of other top names in the company.
With that being the case, that’s made predicting who the winner may be about as difficult as it has ever been. However, that didn’t prevent a handful of us FanSided staff members from taking a stab at who may be going on to headline WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
Before we get into the official predictions, here’s a quick introduction to our roster we’re working with today.
Mike Dyce: Managing Editor, FanSided.com
Josh Hill: Editor, FanSided.com
Cody Williams: WWE Contributor, FanSided.com; Managing Editor, NFL Spin Zone
Rob Wolkenbrod: WWE Contributor, FanSided.com; Managing Editor, Daily DDT
Charles Rahrig: WWE Contributor, FanSided.com
Michael Whitlow: WWE Contributor, FanSided.com
Luke Norris: WWE Contributor, FanSided.com
And of course, yours truly will be making a pick that will be absolutely, totally incorrect like millions of other people.
All that out of the way now, let’s get right to it! Who is standing tall on Sunday night in the Alamodome as the winner of the 2017 Royal Rumble?
Mike Dyce: Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar hasn’t been at the forefront of a dominant run in a while, and he is ripe for the return. Lesnar gave Goldberg his moment and could be poised to return to the title picture at Royal Rumble by clearing the ring. A dominant Lesnar is a popular Lesnar, and the WWE needs to rebuild that aura of dominance to lead WrestleMania.
Josh Hill: The Undertaker
There’s no way that The Undertaker doesn’t win this. Why would the WWE put him in the Royal Rumble just to have him get eliminated? Braun Strowman is going to be a popular pick, but he’s going to get tossed by Big Show or someone who puts him in check for the time being. Dean Ambrose is going to make a run, so watch out for him. I wouldn’t sleep on Goldberg either, but Brock is probably going to block him. That opens a path for Undertaker to win the Royal Rumble.
Cody Williams: John Cena
Yes, I know John Cena is wrestling for the WWE World Championship on the show. It doesn’t matter. Once you take off the rose-colored glasses, it’s so obvious this is about to happen. Coming into the 2017 Rumble match, WWE has an opportunity to make a star out of a number of guys with a strong showing on Sunday. Samoa Joe debuting and being a tour de force would be masterful. Braun Strowman coming into the match and dispatching virtually anyone in his path en route to a victory would be a great choice. Rewarding Chris Jericho for doing possibly the best work of his entire career would be amazing. The list goes on.
So naturally, the only choice is to give it to John Cena.
Rob Wolkenbrod: Braun Strowman
This Royal Rumble match could go anywhere. There are plenty of standouts to potentially win, but no one sticks out more than the others, a drastic and positive change from the past three years of Rumble booking.
If you look toward the one with the most momentum, however, it’s Braun Strowman.
He can win without having to main event WrestleMania, something I don’t think he’s ready for yet. There has been plenty of improvement out of him over the past three months, something WWE is probably loving, so they can make him into their next monster heel. This could set up Strowman vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and be a sub-main event to something like the WWE Championship, or Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg.
Charles Rahrig: Braun Strowman
Let me reference this by saying I believe this pick hinges on Roman Reigns defeating Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. If that indeed happens, then the Royal Rumble winner screams RAW to me. Smackdown Live’s path to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship feels like it’s going to run through the Elimination Chamber in Phoenix. Therefore, Strowman takes that next step and becomes the next odds for Reigns to overcome.
Fans will probably boo and not be excited by the match, but the rest of the WrestleMania card should be so stacked that it won’t stick out like a sore thumb.
Michael Whitlow: BRRRRRAAAAAUUUUNNNN … Strowman.
Here’s a stat for you: From 2002-2012, every winner of the Royal Rumble match was a first-time winner. Seven of those 11 winners in that span went on to the main event of WrestleMania and won gold.
The more I watch Braun Strowman, the more I think, “He’s going win the Royal Rumble. It just feels right.” As I wrote earlier this week, Strowman could be in line for a huge night on Sunday and winning the Rumble certainly falls into that category. The trend of first-time Rumble winners has been slowed as of late (three of the last four winners had already won a Rumble match), but only the 82nd Airborne is going to be able to stop Strowman in San Antonio.
Luke Norris: The Undertaker
While I’m hoping things don’t go this way, it just seems like that’s what they’re building towards. Whether or not WrestleMania 33 will be The Undertaker’s last match is anyone’s guess at this point but from what we’ve seen in the buildup, he has to be the favorite right now. He’ll likely be out late as to avoid any prolonged ring time and the crowd in San Antonio will definitely pop huge when he enters the match.
Personally, I’d like to see them go in a different direction as ‘Taker really doesn’t need to be in the title picture to draw at ‘Mania; maybe a surprise winner like Samoa Joe or Bray Wyatt or someone like that — someone that would fully benefit from the win as opposed to someone who doesn’t need that kind of rub. But hey, as long as it’s not Goldberg or Lesnar, I suppose I’d be okay with just about anybody else.
Jack Jorgensen: Samoa Joe
Is it a bit of a stretch for me to pick someone who isn’t even officially in the match, or even on the WWE main roster, for that matter? Maybe a little bit, but given recent events, it seems like the Samoan badass is ready to finally take his rightful place on the aforementioned main roster. And not only will we finally get to see Joe where he’s belonged for so long now, he’ll end up making one of the more memorable impacts (pun intended) that we have ever seen from a debut.
It was reported that they have big plans for Joe, and I truly believe those plans involve a Royal Rumble win and a title bout at his first-ever WrestleMania. In one of the most star-studded Rumbles in history, he’s given all the instant credibility in the world if he pulls this off.
Doesn’t really matter which title he challenges for and whether he ends up on RAW or SmackDown Live, a win on Sunday will immediately make Samoa Joe one of the biggest stars the company has.
What are your picks for this year’s Royal Rumble match? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
More from FanSided
This article originally appeared on 
