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Though spoilers were readily available days ago, it was made official with tonight's (Jan. 4, 2013) broadcast of Friday Night SmackDown on SyFy that both Randy Orton and Sheamus are entrants in this year's Royal Rumble match, scheduled for the pay-per-view (PPV) of the same name on Jan. 27 in Phoenix, Arizona.
The two join John Cena as the only three official entrants so far.
WWE.com is already pushing an angle on the three, wondering who needs the victory the most. All three could use it to catapult back to the top on either Raw or SmackDown.
Cena may be on his way to working a rematch with The Rock at WrestleMania 29, with the WWE championship expected to be on the line if that is in fact the plan. Cena winning the Rumble would be an easy set up for that match and give it a full two months of build.
As for Orton and Sheamus, they appear to be headed for a program against each other, but the blue brand hasn't exactly been strong with Big Show as world heavyweight champion, so a switch could be made before "The Grand Daddy of Them All." That could include one of the two winning the belt at Elimination Chamber with the other challenging for the title at WrestleMania.
There are a number of plausible scenarios and it should be most interesting to see how they play out.
What's your best guess, Cagesiders? Is one of these three going to end up being the eventual Royal Rumble winner? Or will we get a big surprise?