Finn Balor Can Win At The 2019 Royal Rumble

It’s Royal Rumble season, and that means it is time to speculate! Who do you see pulling off the big win, and who is leaving Phoenix’s Chase Field full of disappointment? (Hopefully, it’s not me—who will be there in person—or the fans paying their hard earned money!)

The Royal Rumble match itself is full of potential, as WWE superstars on the men’s and women’s sides vie for a shot at the championship of their choosing and a guaranteed high profile match at the granddaddy of ‘em all—WrestleMania 35!

Emanating from “New York City,” (really New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, also home to two New York NFL teams), the state is set for a historic WrestleMania that could very well see the women take center stage and close out the night (more on that in a minute).

I’ll give you my overall picks in a moment, but the most intriguing match, for me, is Brock Lesnar defending his WWE Universal Championship against Finn Balor. The decision to move Balor into the match made me a happy man, as that’s the match I want to see. It’s not important for an IWC fan to be happy with the card, but I’ll take this one!

No one expects Finn Balor. No one, that is, except for me!

Before we move forward, I must remind you that I was the one who picked Austin Aries to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Bobby Roode at Destination X in 2012. This is important because I—Greg DeMarco—was the only one to make this selection. The proof is in the pudding, folks!

But Greg…Balor winning? Really???

I’ll start with this: Finn Balor has a better chance of beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble than Braun Strowman did. Per SportsBettingDime, a bet on Braun Strowman would come at +275. But the same bet on Finn Balor gives you slightly worse odds at +225. When the match changed, the challenger ended up with better odds of winning.

But there’s more to it for me, as Finn Balor has a weapon that we can’t forget: The Demon.

Now, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that Brock Lesnar could beat The Demon. And it’s also possible we don’t see The Demon at the Royal Rumble. But it that were the case, what good is The Demon. You can tell the story of Finn wanting to win the match on his own accord, but The Demon IS Finn. It’s still him, just him finding that dark corner of his soul, necessary for overcoming certain obstacles.

(And Baron Corbin, but that’s another story!)

HOWEVER, Finn Balor has said that he won’t be The Demon at the Royal Rumble, as reported by ESPN. But I think that supports my argument even more.

Look at the story they are telling. No one believes in Finn Balor. Vince McMahon himself continually dismisses the chance of Finn Balor winning. Now, I must recognize that this could be Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 all over again. The company leadership doesn’t believe in the popular, albeit smallish babyface, and he becomes the WrestleMania hero. Balor could win at Elimination Chamber, or he could enter the Rumble as The Demon and win.

So I must recognize that Finn Balor could realistically lose at Royal Rumble, but still leave WrestleMania as the Universal Champion.

According to those odds above, no singles champions are slated to lose at the Royal Rumble. I can’t see that happening. Finn winning here opens up a world of possibilities for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania, and opens things up for Brock Lesnar as well. It’s a win-win for WrestleMania as a whole, and should be given more consideration than we’re giving it.

Spoiler Alert: I am picking Finn Balor to win the Universal Championship at the WWE Royal Rumble. I also have no problem being wrong.

A few other items for you:
• Charlotte Flair is winning the women’s Royal Rumble, and she has the best odds to do so. That’s because LOL CHARLOTTE WINS is a real thing, people. WWE is building a legend in Charlotte. And before you think WWE doesn’t build legends, let me remind you that it’s all a work.
• The men’s Royal Rumble is wide open if Finn wins. If Brock wins, I still say AJ Styles pulls it off and slays The Beast at ‘Mania. If Finn wins, I expect Drew McIntyre of have a career making night and win the Rumble match. Obviously Seth Rollins cannot be ignored.
• Shane and Miz win the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, because WWE.
• Asuka beats Becky Lynch thanks to interference from Nia Jax, and Becky returns the favor by interfering and eliminating Nia from the Rumble match, setting up their WrestleMania showdown.
• Ronda Rousey isn’t losing to Sasha Banks, that potential WrestleMania show closing showdown with Charlotte is too good for Vince to pass up.
• CM Punk won’t show up in the Royal Rumble. I know, it hasn’t been reported, but you know you were thinking it!

I look forward to your all-positive comments! If you’re going to Takeover, I’ll see you there! And if you’re at the Royal Rumble, come see myself and Worked Over co-hostess Miranda in section 130, wearing a Chairshot t-shirt!