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

By David Austin Bumpus

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: Randy Orton enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 23, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: Randy Orton enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 23, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images) /
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Photo credit: WWE.com
Photo credit: WWE.com /

2. SmackDown is looking to propel someone to a program with A.J. Styles

Just like 2017, the SmackDown field is wide-open at the moment for who will be challenging for the WWE Title at WrestleMania. Now, it looks like the brand will use this match to set up the build for the next two months or so until the big night in April.

Last year, Randy Orton was propelled into a feud with Bray Wyatt for the title with the Royal Rumble match, while RAW built everything up around Goldberg and the Universal Title. This year, it’s looking very similar, with Brock Lesnar likely learning about his challenger in February or March.

Lesnar doesn’t need much of a build for his matches, mainly because he isn’t around enough to make a long wait worth it. A Rumble win for a RAW superstar wouldn’t work well without Lesnar upping his number of appearances over the next few months, while SmackDown has proven they can get months of good television out of a Royal Rumble win.

This year, it looks like we’ll get A.J. Styles in a WWE Title match at WrestleMania, and we’ll get a fresh challenger for him with a Royal Rumble win. Whether it’s a repeat win for Orton, a first-time win for Shinsuke Nakamura or even a three-time win for John Cena, it’d provide a fresh perspective on the title scene that could give SmackDown the edge in WrestleMania hype.

This type of win would instantly start a fresh, new program with no questions asked, and could propel a superstar to the main event scene on the blue brand.