WWE Royal Rumble 2018: 5 signs a SmackDown superstar will win

3. SmackDown’s star power outweighs RAW‘s

It’s already been said in a few different ways, but let’s put it out there bluntly: SmackDown has some serious star power heading into the Royal Rumble this year.

Sure, three of the brand’s top stars are pre-occupied in a two-on-one handicap match for the WWE Title, with A.J. Styles squaring off against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. However, unlike the RAW triple threat match for the Universal Title, this one shouldn’t be too taxing on the two challengers. Depending on the result, you could still see Owens and Zayn make their way into the field of 30.

After that, you have Randy Orton declared for the match, followed by Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin and even the “Rusev Day” crew of Rusev and Aiden English. Add in the potential for guys like Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal, The New Day and plenty of other possible surprises, and SmackDown‘s roster is loaded.

On RAW, the only real talent so far is Finn Balor, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt, none of which will be facing Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title in the main event at WrestleMania. Roman Reigns will be their best bet if/when he’s confirmed, and even he doesn’t need the Rumble win to get a match with Lesnar at ‘Mania.

Last but not least is the John Cena wildcard mentioned earlier, and we’ll throw him on the SmackDown side for the title conversation. He’s rumored to be going up against The Undertaker in April, which would likely put him on RAW, but there’s no way Cena is challenging Lesnar at WrestleMania in a few months.

SmackDown seems to be getting the talent spotlight this year, and it only justifies further the signs for them winning the Royal Rumble match.