Matt Nazario’s WWE Royal Rumble Predictions

Published: Saturday, February 1, 2025

by Matt Nazario

Two out of Three Falls match for the WWE Tag Team Championships: #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (c) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)

After weeks of a potential breakup building, in a much-welcomed turn of events, DIY turned heel and reclaimed their titles from the Motor City Machine Guns in early December. It has since been a fun run, with belts that have been a perfect mixture of the heel tendencies Gargano and Ciampa have dabbled with in the past.

The Motor City Machine Guns’ long-awaited arrival in WWE with decades of experience and journeying under their belts has gone well up to this point. They won the WWE Tag Team Championships from the Bloodline in only their second week and match, after their debut in October. The veterans have helped to elevate the younger talent within the blooming tag team division on Smackdown, and are playing their roles exceptionally well in their chase to get their championships back from DIY.

A few years ago, there might have been quite more buzz for this contest, especially if it took place in the beloved NXT Takeover settings where DIY made a name for themselves. Make no mistake, however, that these are still two of the best tag teams in the industry today, and they will surely do their best to remind the world of this fact.

As for the winner, either result will be the right one, however I am leaning towards DIY retaining and holding the belts until WrestleMania in April.

Prediction: DIY retains

Ladder Match for the WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes(c) vs Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has completely snapped in recent months, reverting to his killer instincts that led him to much success many years ago. The weakness that cost him in his initial championship match against Rhodes at Bash in Berlin back in September is gone, and it has turned him into the most dangerous version of himself in years.

Cody Rhodes faces a bit of a crossroads in this match that will affect his trajectory heading into WrestleMania season. With the pool of competitors in this year's Rumble being one of the most star-studded in history, it would be more than ideal for WWE to keep Rhodes as champion for a much-anticipated title defense heading into WrestleMania in Las Vegas.

In recent weeks, Owens has attempted to recruit his best friend, Sami Zayn, to assist him in winning the championship. If Owens were to win this match and Zayn wins the Royal Rumble, it could set up an exciting championship bout between best friends and former rivals.

However, Cody Rhodes will still come out victorious in this bout. Sami Zayn surely will get involved and try to help Owens win, but it will backfire on him tremendously.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes retains.

30-Woman Royal Rumble Match

The current set of World Champions in the form of Tiffany Stratton and Rhea Ripley creates many great potential sets of challengers. Iyo Sky and Bayley were heavily displayed on TV as strong favorites; however, a giant wrench seems to have been thrown into this scenario.

WWE has announced the long-awaited return of Charlotte Flair, the 14-time World Champion, will be returning to action in this very match on Saturday. While unannounced, many anticipate it will also mark the return of Becky Lynch, a five-time World Champion in her own right.

There will be plenty of room for surprises and breakout performances, however it is hard to argue against Lynch and Flair being the favorites in this bout. The two tend to have tremendous amounts of importance when WrestleMania season approaches. With the current set of champions available, any of the two would serve as excellent choices as winners.

I would consider Bianca Belair more heavily if she was not currently holding the tag team championships with Naomi, as the dream match with Rhea Ripley is inevitable. I am in the camp that it is a Mania worthy main event and should not happen unless that were to be the case.

I believe Charlotte Flair will be victorious and punch her ticket to WrestleMania, most likely challenging Tiffany Stratton in a high-profile match come April.

Prediction: Charlotte Flair

30-Man Royal Rumble Match

After a few years of rather predictable outcomes, the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and eventful matches in the concept’s history. Between the likes of John Cena, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, amongst others, there are plenty of routes that WWE could take for their high-profile matches come WrestleMania.

Whether it is John Cena looking for a way to secure his 17th world championship, CM Punk finally getting a main event in WrestleMania, or Roman Reigns looking to win back his WWE Championship, there are plenty of interesting routes to go with this match.

Another important headline coming into this bout is what exactly is the favor CM Punk owed from Paul Heyman for helping to vanquish the new Bloodline last November? Perhaps it is to help him win the Royal Rumble. Or, if Roman Reigns were to win, maybe there is the possibility of CM Punk inserting himself into whichever championship bout Reigns chooses.

My heart is leaning towards John Cena, but I have a strange feeling that it will be Roman Reigns who wins this year’s Royal Rumble match. If this were to be the case, John Cena getting his world title match at WrestleMania is still very much possible if he were to run the gauntlet that is February’s Elimination Chamber match, which might even be the more exciting option. Roman Reigns will come out on top, and perhaps we will see CM Punk’s favor owed from Paul Heyman come into play as a result.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

Matt Nazario can be reached at matthew.nazario@student.shu.edu.

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