Royal Rumble Rumors: Possible Surprises, HHH/Rollins, Lawler/Ziggler

Here are a few rumors for this Sunday’s Royal Rumble, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Possible Surprises

There are just 22 currently announced spots, leaving 8 spots open for the Royal Rumble match. These are just rumors and speculation and nothing is guaranteed, of course:

– Samoa Joe: As previously mentioned, Samoa Joe is expected to be called up to the main roster soon and many are speculating that the Royal Rumble may be when, since his time in NXT seems to be pretty much wrapped up.

– Finn Balor: Finn Balor is expected to be cleared to return soon after going through testing this week that could officially clear him. He has been out with a shoulder injury since SummerSlam, which had an expected recovery time of 4-6 months. It’s been about 5 months.

– Shinsuke Nakamura: There is some speculation that he could return if he loses the NXT title to Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver, but it honestly seems doubtful to me. It seems more likely that Nakamura and Roode continue their feud for a little while longer.

– Tye Dillinger: There is some speculation that Tye Dillinger may show up at the Royal Rumble at the number TEN spot, which would probably get a big pop from the crowd. There also may be a fear of the fans chanting TEN and being disappointed and booing if Dillinger doesn’t enter. To counteract that, WWE may just put in a heel like The Miz at number 10 to absorb any potential boos.

Triple H and Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins isn’t scheduled to compete at the Royal Rumble after losing his spot to Sami Zayn on Raw, which leads to questions of what else WWE might have planned for him. Triple H obviously seems like he will return to TV soon to set up their eventual match at WrestleMania, so there’s a chance of something happening with the Rollins / Triple H angle either at the Royal Rumble itself or on Raw the next night.

Jerry Lawler and Dolph Ziggler

WWE is expected to continue the Jerry Lawler / Dolph Ziggler angle and it seems like something will probably happen between them at the Royal Rumble. Jerry Lawler will be the commentator for the Royal Rumble match instead of Byron Saxton and Dolph Ziggler will be be in the match, so something seems likely.