UPDATE: Not so fast!
Here’s a wrench in a lot of people’s fantasy booking...
It was announced by Scott Stanford on this week’s WWE Main Event (which for the holiday week took the form of matches & highlights from TLC, Raw & SmackDown) that Becky Lynch get a chance to reclaim the SmackDown Women’s title from Asuka at Royal Rumble on Sun., Jan. 27 in Phoenix.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13643290/BeckyAsuka.png)
With a win in the Rumble match presenting a path to challenge Raw Women’s champ Ronda Rousey in a rumored WrestleMania 35 main event, and Shane McMahon recently intimating that contractual title rematchs wouldn’t be a focus of “new era” storytelling, many of us assumed Lynch would enter the over-the-top battle royal, win it and stare down Rowdy to close the night at Chase Field.
Maybe she still will! Lots of people have pulled double duty with a regular bout and an entry in the Rumble at WWE’s annual January event. This could be the path to a surprise when her music hits during the 30 woman match. Who knows, they could be trying to replicate Daniel Bryan’s 2014 run by keeping her out of that match and engineering a fan uprising?
That’s a pretty out there idea, but the point is, we just don’t know. The company hasn’t even publicized this match beyond Stanford’s announcement on a series that’s rolled out for International markets and the Hulu streaming service. We’ll have to wait and see what else WWE books on the pay-per-view (PPV) - especially for Becky’s rivals Charlotte Flair & Rousey - before we can really get back to speculating.
Here’s what’s fully confirmed for Jan. 27:
- Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman for the Universal hampionship
- Men’s Royal Rumble (R-Truth as the final entrant, plus 29 others TBA)
- Women’s Royal Rumble (Carmella as the final entrant, plus 29 others TBA)