WrestleMania season kicks off on Saturday when WWE brings the Royal Rumble to Indianapolis. The occasion is among the most anticipated yearly WWE occasions and this 12 months isn’t any completely different.

As is the usual, there will likely be a males’s and a girls’s Royal Rumble match on the cardboard, with the winners with the ability to problem any champion for his or her title at WrestleMania, which takes place on April 19 and 20 in Las Vegas. 

To win the match you have to be the final particular person nonetheless within the ring in any case different rivals have been tossed excessive rope and hit the ground with each toes.

This 12 months’s males’s Royal Rumble is predicted to have loads of drama and surprises. Amongst these confirmed as entrants are John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and extra. However there are nonetheless 15 slots which might be to be decided and WWE CCO Paul Levesque stated you’ll be able to anticipate loads of wildness on Saturday night time at Lucas Oil Stadium. 

“I am desirous about the Royal Rumble,” Levesque stated on the Royal Rumble kickoff on Friday. “It makes me assume, nearly anyone may enter the Royal Rumble as a shock. [Turns to Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton] You bought a minute?” 

The ladies’s Rumble match will even have loads of each, and much more on condition that solely 10 entrants have been introduced. However among the many most notable is the return of Charlotte Aptitude after greater than a 12 months away to get well from a nasty knee damage.

There are solely two matches past the Rumbles on the cardboard for Saturday, however they’re positive to ship the thrill. WWE undisputed champion Cody Rhodes places his title on the road towards pal turned foe Kevin Owens in a ladder match. Plus, the WWE tag group championships are on the road when titleholders #DIY tackle Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons in a two-out-of-three falls match.

Let’s check out who the CBS Sports activities specialists are choosing to win in every match on Saturday’s card, starting at 6 p.m. ET.

WWE Royal Rumble 2024 predictions

Males’s Royal Rumble Match: I felt considerably sure that John Cena would win the Rumble till Monday night time. CM Punk’s confrontation with Cody Rhodes sparked one thing that made it clear Punk vs. Rhodes is the story WWE needs to be telling as a lot as attainable. In fact, there’s additionally simply the truth that momentum has fully stalled out for Cena when his huge return for his final run began with a considerably awkward promo on Jan. 6 and he has been nonexistent since. Certain, he may nonetheless win the Rumble and go on to up his appearances between the Rumble and WrestleMania, however his absence has killed my curiosity whereas Rhodes and Punk have me excited. I feel WWE needs to play into the basic rivalry between Punk and Cena and the match doubtless comes all the way down to these two males on the finish however give me Punk to get the win and Cena to punch his personal ticket at Elimination Chamber — an entire reversal of what I predicted only a few weeks in the past. Choose: CM Punk wins the Royal Rumble — Brent Brookhouse

I awakened this morning believing Cena would win the Rumble, however I am having second ideas. A straight shot to WrestleMania is simply too handy for the down-on-his-luck veteran in search of glory one final time. Orton is not marketed for the Rumble, however I think he’ll pull out a shock victory to arrange a showdown with Rhodes at WrestleMania. Orton will not tie Cena’s world title document, however he can tie “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin’s three Rumble wins. Choose: Randy Orton wins the Royal Rumble — Shakiel Mahjouri

Girls’s Royal Rumble Match: Charlotte Aptitude is such a straightforward plug-and-play possibility for the most important WrestleMania matches that it is onerous to not choose her to win right here. The inevitable match with Tiffany Stratton additionally makes an excessive amount of sense to cross up. Stratton vs. Aptitude appears like a possible passing of the torch second, even when Aptitude will likely be round for so long as she needs. They’re related sufficient wrestlers whereas separated sufficient by the eras through which they entered the sport to offer loads of compelling storytelling earlier than an incredible WrestleMania match. Choose: Charlotte Aptitude wins the Royal Rumble — Brookhouse

There aren’t many standouts amongst this 12 months’s girls’s Rumble members. Reserving Aptitude reverse Tiffany Stratton for WrestleMania is a good way to spice up Stratton’s profile. Aptitude may be trusted to ship in huge matches, so she would possibly simply return from damage victorious. Choose: Charlotte Aptitude wins the Royal Rumble — Mahjouri

Undisputed WWE Championship — Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin Owens (Ladder Match): I hope Owens pulls off the upset. It is a compelling twist within the story, plus it might be tough to see Owens lose in three consecutive undisputed WWE title matches. WWE is dedicated to Rhodes as champion. Whereas I do not assume it’d harm him to lose and reclaim the title between now and WrestleMania, I think WWE takes the secure route by protecting the title on him. Choose: Cody Rhodes retains the title — Mahjouri

Because it would not actually matter to be proper or improper when predicting wrestling matches — and if you happen to’re betting on scripted leisure you are braver than I’m — I used to be going to choose this one with my coronary heart as a substitute of my head. WWE has solely dipped into the title loss earlier than shortly regaining the title as soon as with main titles just lately, when Jey Uso gained the intercontinental title from Bron Breakker earlier than Breakker gained it again lower than a month later. It is good to see prolonged title reigns in WWE once more, however typically there needs to be a bit extra drama through a sense of unpredictability. From that view, Owens ought to win on Saturday with Rhodes grabbing the title again forward of WrestleMania. A ladder match offers sufficient escape hatches for that loss to come back cheaply via outdoors interference. That stated, that strategy is not actually how Paul Levesque has booked main titles and Punk’s interplay with Rhodes on Monday targeted on how the stress of being champion will proceed to put on Rhodes down till he lastly breaks at WrestleMania. You do not have that interplay and wipe that story away lower than per week later. Choose: Cody Rhodes retains the title — Brookhouse

WWE Tag Group Championship — #DIY (c) vs. Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons (Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match): It is too quickly to take the titles off #DIY. Kudos to WWE for giving two world-class tag groups ample time to point out what they will do. Anticipate the Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons to look robust however drop the final fall by nefarious means. Choose: #DIY retain the titles — Mahjouri

I agree with the logic that WWE will not rip the titles away from #DIY this quickly however I’m very excited to see what these two groups can do in a two-out-of-three falls set-up. Fairly Lethal doubtless will get concerned to tilt issues within the champions’ favor within the third fall. No matter if the result feels predictable, that is going to be an incredible match between two completed tag groups. Choose: #DIY retain the titles — Brookhouse