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Like all ‘Big 4’ WWE pay-per-view (PPV) events, Royal Rumble will have a two hour Kickoff show. Those need matches - even Jonathan Coachman can’t put up with non-stop Booker T & Jerry Lawler banter.
If you looked at the nine bouts the company has lined up for Sun., Jan. 27 in Chase Field, you probably could have guessed which two would get moved to the pre-show. I’m not psychic, so I can’t say for sure, but if I had to guess which two matches most you would guess... I’d be saying the United States & Cruiserweight championship matches.
Turns out we’re all good guess-ers...
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Yes, Buddy Murphy’s Fatal 4Way Cruiserweight title defense against Hideo Itami, Kalisto & Akira Tozawa and Shinsuke Nakamura’s attempt to regain the U.S. strap from Rusev will get the honor of starting off the action in Phoenix. Along with that “honor” comes the challenge of trying to fire up fans who find their seats early at the baseball stadium.
We’ll see how they do.
Anybody surprised?