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The excitement levels are through the roof for the 2024 edition of WWE’s annual Royal Rumble premium live event, taking place on Saturday, January 27, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Road to WrestleMania 40 starts at the Royal Rumble, and many fans would argue the 30-person Battle Royals are the most anticipated bouts of the year, setting the tone for the next several months of television programming.
With the biggest names already scheduled to appear and several surprises in store for the WWE Universe, here is the announced match card so far and the biggest projected winners and losers from the marquee event.
2024 Royal Rumble Match Card
Men’s Royal Rumble: CM Punk
Women’s Royal Rumble: Jade Cargill
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Randy Orton
WWE United States Championship: Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens
*Predicted winners italicized.
Biggest Winners
After one of the most significant returns in wrestling history, CM Punk has catapulted to the top of the favorites list regarding who will win the men’s Royal Rumble match. While Cody Rhodes and his story need to be finished, Punk is the flavor of the month.
Instead of letting Rhodes win again, Punk will dominate the Battle Royal and emerge victorious, setting the stage for a championship match against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
While Punk will look like a hypocrite for chastising MJF during his time in AEW for jumping ship and doing precisely what he said would happen—main eventing Night 1 for a secondary world title—casual fans and WWE enthusiasts will ignore the issues and pretend it’s what they always wanted.
On the women’s side, the night’s biggest winner will be Jade Cargill, who will enter the 30-woman match and emerge as the winner. Triple H promised Cargill would be portrayed as a megastar, and while he has come up short since those comments, the talented performer should walk out of Florida with a guaranteed title shot.
Cargill’s inexperience was an issue during her run with AEW, but WWE knows her mainstream ability and will look to put her on top in the marquee match. Whether she deserves the honor or not, the 31-year-old will win the Royal Rumble and walk into WrestleMania as one of the company’s hottest commodities.
Biggest Losers
The return of Punk may have temporarily excited the WWE Universe, but it also exposed how fickle wrestling can be, as Cody Rhodes has been seemingly cast aside. Instead of finishing his story, the former AEW star could be relegated to a secondary storyline at WrestleMania.
With Punk looking like an almost lock to win the Royal Rumble and The Rock setting his sights on current champion Roman Reigns—and that match must take place at WrestleMania—questions have arisen about what will happen to the American Nightmare.
Rhodes should have beaten Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship last WrestleMania, but if he misses out on winning a major title in Philadelphia, the credibility of his character—and his story—will be destroyed.
On the women’s side of the Royal Rumble, the odds-on favorite to win right now is Bayley, but she will be forced to come up short again. After almost a decade at the top of the company’s women’s division, the former champion will continue to be unjustifiably pushed aside.
Other top female Superstars like Cargill, Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan are all considered contenders for the Battle Royal victory, but it should be Bayley who wins to further her storylines with Iyo Sky and Damage CTRL.
Just like every other time WWE built momentum with Bayley and her character, the company will squander it and leave the talented performer to make the most out of what little she is actually given from a storyline perspective.
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