Since changing his gimmick to “The Perfect 10”, Tye Dillinger has quickly become a
fan favourite in NXT. Dillinger’s contagious “10” chants are reminiscent of Daniel
Bryan’s “Yes” chants so if he was to make an appearance at the Royal Rumble, the
whole arena would be chanting “10”, “10”, “10”! A debut at the Royal Rumble will
be a “perfect” opportunity for Dillinger to leave a lasting impression on those who
aren’t already familiar with what his gimmick is about. Whether he will be in the Royal
Rumble or not remains to be seen, however, his Twitter exchange with The Miz could be
an indication of a potential feud in the works. So what is next for “The Perfect 10”,
Tye Dillinger? A Royal Rumble debut perhaps and there’s only one “perfect” spot
he can enter and that’s got to be as entrant number 10.
The King of Strong Style, Shinsuke Nakamura had an amazing debut match at NXT Takeover:
Dallas against Sami Zayn and since then he has become a top star in NXT, putting on a
series of great matches against the likes of Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe. When you think
of the word “charisma”, it is this guy and this combined with his magnetic personality
in the ring would surely blow the roof off the building if he was to appear in the Royal
Rumble match. Although it is unlikely that Nakamura will appear in this year’s Royal
Rumble as he is currently the NXT champion as of this date and is also in a “glorious”
feud… I’m so sorry… with Bobby Roode. I have still included him in this list because
you never know what could happen, with NXT Takeover: San Antonio being a day before the
Rumble and who wouldn’t want to see Nakamura in the Royal Rumble!? Just imagine if his
music hits, the crowd will erupt!
After his incredible farewell match against Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 which had a six-star
rating in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter… yes, a six f*ck*ng star rating… the spotlight
was on Kenny Omega for a possible WWE debut. AJ Styles made a ‘phenomenal’ debut last
year at the Royal Rumble, so why can’t Kenny Omega? Omega’s arrival to the WWE could
be a possibility with Triple H expressing a huge interest in him. In fact, in a recent
pop question video uploaded on WWE’s YouTube channel, WWE superstars had to say who they
would like to see as a surprise entrant in the 2017 Royal Rumble match. Seth Rollins
said that he would like to see “The Cleaner”, Kenny Omega as a surprise entrant. However,
the video was taken down shortly after it was released, re-edited and uploaded again
with Seth Rollins’ segment omitted. So this could be a big hint to whether Kenny Omega
will be in this year’s Royal Rumble or not. Despite this, Omega’s contract with New
Japan Pro Wrestling expires on January 31st but the Royal Rumble is on January 29th meaning
he would breach his contract if he was to make a Royal Rumble appearance. I guess we
can only speculate.
It has been widely speculated that Samoa Joe will be a likely surprise entrant in the Royal
Rumble match. He has already won the NXT championship twice, being the first person to do so, so
what is left for him to accomplish at NXT? Surely a transition from NXT to the WWE main
roster must be on the cards, right? Samoa Joe is no doubt a force to be reckoned with
as well as a great competitor in the ring and what better way to showcase his dominance
than in the Royal Rumble match, where he could eliminate a handful of superstars at once.
Let’s not forget that he would also be in the ring with the likes of Goldberg and Brock
Lesnar, which would be very interesting to see. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported
that officials are looking to give Samoa Joe a “monster push” so things are looking
promising for a possible Royal Rumble appearance. Do you think Samoa Joe will make his main
roster debut in the Royal Rumble? Let us know in the comments below.
The Olympic Gold Medallist, Kurt Angle was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
Class of 2017, which instantly sparked rumours of him appearing at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
What fuels the rumour even more is the fact that Angle recently pulled out of a scheduled
appearance as a commentator on 5 Star Wrestling’s debut episode of “Dominant Wrestling”,
so could this mean that we will see Angle make his long-awaited return to the WWE at
the Royal Rumble? It has been over a decade since Angle last stepped foot in a WWE ring
but he still has what it takes to make one last run with the company. Interestingly,
Rusev’s wife, Lana, released a rather backhanded tweet on Kurt Angle’s induction into the
2017 WWE Hall of Fame so who knows, maybe there could be a potential feud between Angle
and The Bulgarian Brute, Rusev. But we will just have to wait and find out at the Royal
Rumble.