Since 1988 The Royal Rumble has provided innumerable memories and lasting impressions on every single fan who has ever bared witness to one.
Amazing title defenses, shocking turns to good and evil, and everything in between.
And that's not bringing the Royal Rumble match itself into account.
30 (and 40 in 2011) men enter the squared circle at intervals spanning between 90 seconds and two minutes relying on strength, conditioning, and the luck of the draw to propel them to not only a massive victory in the record books but a spot at the top of the card at Wrestlemania.
Shocking returns, cameos, eliminations, and outcomes of all varieties have thrilled audiences for nearly 30 years.
Tomorrow night's event with a loaded field of participants and several championship matches should prove to be a worthy addition to the best this PPV has always had to offer.
A Kickoff show will begin at 5 P.M. with a panel featuring Charly Caruso, Jerry Lawler, Shawn Michaels and others breaking down all the action and offering their predictions.
There are eight matches scheduled for the show.
Three will take place on the Kickoff Show and five will be contested for championships representing both Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live
In this preview, I will examine the three matches to take place on the Kickoff!
Our main card preview is forthcoming!
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Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Sasha Banks has made a career out of scratching and clawing her way through obstacles and defying every conventional wisdom that tells her she can't win.
The former three time Raw Women's Champion showed true heart and resilience during her epic series of championship matches against Charlotte Flair. On three occasions she forced Flair to submit on Raw (two of those matches being the broadcast's main event) and claimed the gold.
However it has been a tough go for The Boss dating back to the end of 2016.
Banks and Flair met one last time at Roadblock: End of The Line in a 30 minute Ironman Match which pushed them to their breaking points. In the end it was Flair who secured ultimate victory and her fourth Women's Championship.
Banks suffered a severe knee injury and was utilizing a crutch when she asked Flair out to the ring on the December 19 edition of Raw.
Instead of Flair however, Nia Jax arrived and she was interested in more than just a simple chit chat.
Jax called Banks weak, pathetic, and worst of all a broken little girl. She proceeded to cowardly assault her and target the injured knee.
After several minutes of punishment, Jax felt satisfied her message had been sent. Banks sat in the ring in immense pain and left wondering where she went from there.
For a short period of time, she wouldn't go anywhere. The additional damage kept Banks sidelined but it wasn't the last Jax would see of her new rival.
Fueled by her destruction, Jax moved on to a #1 Contender's match against old rival Bayley on the January 2 edition of Raw.
Though Raw's resident hugger had spurts of offense, Nia dominated the majority of the action; victory seemed well at hand.
That is, until Sasha Banks reappeared and got a measure of retribution in the process.
Just the mere sight of the woman she thought she sent out to pasture was enough to distract Jax who was perched on the middle turnbuckle. It was enough to allow Bayley to recover and hit a super Belly to Bayley suplex and score the pinfall.
Satisfied at costing Jax a title shot, Banks smirked from the top of the ramp. Jax seethed and viewers knew retaliation was coming.
After Jax and Charlotte defeated Banks and Bayley on the January 9 edition of Raw, it was determined Sasha's knee required further evaluation.
So just before the January 16 edition of Raw went on the air, Banks was preforming the standard tests for the medical staff when the callous Jax struck again.
For a second time Nia Jax had caused massive damage to the limb of Banks. It seemed as if The Boss had finally encountered someone who she couldn't figure out an answer to, no matter how underhanded the tactics were.
On the January 23 edition of Raw Jax demolished local competitor Ray Lyn and looked to rub salt in Sasha's wounds in a post-match interview.
In the midst of her mocking, Banks reemerged and this time she wasn't going to sit back and take anymore crap from her larger nemesis. She just started swinging her crutch like a home run derby champion.
This time it was Jax left on the mat battered and bruised setting the stage for the grudge match set for Sunday.
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The two key components of this match center around Sasha Banks.
Is her knee dependable enough to compete in what should be a high impact match up?
Can she overcome the size and power disadvantage?
Smaller wrestlers like Asuka and Bayley have shown previously that Jax can be beaten but it took everything but the kitchen sink for it to happen.
If Banks is acting on pure emotion, both looking for revenge and to get back in the title hunt, she leaves herself vulnerable to Jax's spine crushing offense.
For Nia Jax, this will be the biggest match of her tenure on Raw since being drafted. A win over someone of the caliber of Banks will put her right at the front of the line to challenge the winner of Bayley vs.Charlotte.
She will need to press any advantage she has during the match and not fall to overconfidence, something that has been her downfall before.
In the end I think experience trumps size. Jax will have an impressive showing but The Boss will exact sweet revenge and pick up the win.
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Raw World Tag Team Championship Match with two referees assigned
Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
When former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows made their Raw debut in the spring of 2016, many observers felt it was a matter of when, not if they would become Raw World Tag Team Champions.
Surprisingly, it didn't pan out that way. Though they received many opportunities to knock off then-champions The New Day, the good brothers were unable to prevent the clap happy trio from becoming the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history.
One could only imagine their dismay when enemies turned somewhat friends Sheamus and Cesaro were able to capture the gold at Roadblock: End of The Line.
To be sure, the Swiss Superman and Celtic Warrior have turned into one of the best tandems to form in recent memory. Though they still engage in a game of one trying to upstage one another on occasion, they still come together when it matters most.
And coming together has never been more vital than at present time. The Club have sought to conquer and divide just as their theme song spells out.
On the January 2 edition of Raw Anderson put he and Gallows into contention with a hard fought victory over Cesaro.
The following week Sheamus regained some momentum for the champs with an impressive victory over Gallows as Cesaro and Anderson espoused the greatness of their respective teams on commentary before brawling on the stage.
The Club received another crack at tag team glory on the January 16 edition of Raw. It was their most determined effort to date in the back and forth struggle.
For much of the match neither team was able to get a concrete advantage until The Club isolated Sheamus. But the Irish tough man rallied and made the tag to Cesaro who ran wild.
Late in the match Sheamus was in the process of giving the challengers a beating when he accidentally struck the referee.
When Anderson and Gallows delivered the Magic Killer to Cesaro, a second official ran to the ring and administered the three count.
His ruling was that since Sheamus had made contact with him, intentional or not, that was grounds for a disqualification. That left The Club still with a victory but no titles to show for it.
Sheamus took the brunt of their outrage and also fell victim to the Magic Killer.
On the January 23 edition of Raw it was announced the two teams would collide a second time with the tag titles on the line at the Royal Rumble Kickoff.
Only there would be a twist thrown in; to ensure a fair winner, two referees would be assigned to the match.
Later that night Gallows defeated Cesaro in a match that saw liberal involvement from Sheamus and Anderson.
Going into the match, The Club have the edge with three different wins over the champs.
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Projection:
The additional referee in theory is meant to keep things fair and to make sure there is no confusion when the final bell rings.
Given the animosity between the champions and challengers, seeing that premise through will be an arduous task for the two officials assigned to the match.
This promises to be a smash mouth match with plenty of displays of power coming from all angles.
Anderson and Gallows have the advantage when it comes to longevity as a team from their days running roughshod over New Japan Pro Wrestling with the rest of The Bullet Club. They think alike have mastered the art of cutting the ring in half.
If Sheamus and Cesaro can remain as united as they have been in recent weeks they will be more than able to display their own brand of unity and impressive tandem maneuvers.
If the second referee keeps a watchful eye on the match, the shortcuts neither duo are above resorting to will be negated and the match will be decided on by skill and who executes solidarity better than the other team.
To that end I see Sheamus and Cesaro retaining the gold when it's all said and done.
The Club will be more motivated than ever but after the long struggle it took the Champs to jumpstart their respective careers and win gold, they won't be giving them up any time soon/
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Six Woman Tag Team Match
Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Nikki Bella vs. Smackdown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya
Intersecting rivalries with bad blood and bad intentions will come to a head on collision on Sunday.
Since winning the Smackdown Women's Championship from Becky Lynch in a Tables Match at TLC, Alexa Bliss has gone out of her way to make sure she's made exactly one friend throughout her reign.
When that one friend is a former Women's and Diva's Champion, it becomes quality over quantity in this case. The new alliance has helped her stave off the Irish Lasskicker's repeated attempts to knock her off her throne.
For weeks on end Lynch was relentless in her quest to regain the title and put the cocky Bliss in her place at the same time.
She even resorted to a masked persona, La Luchadora, to gain a non-title win on the 12/20 edition of Smackdown Live.
From there on, the Luchadora ruse became a nightmare Lynch was unable to wake up from.
On the December 27 edition of Smackdown Live, Lynch challenged for the gold and after decimating the arm of Bliss, she was poised to take back the title when..
La Luchadora interfered?!
It sure wasn't Becky Lynch but someone had donned the disguise and threw a monkey wrench in everything fans thought they know about the situation.
The mysterious, disruptive woman in question not only broke Becky's concentration but pulled her head first into the ring post. That allowed Bliss to spike Lynch with a DDT and retain her gold.
Lynch got a measure of revenge against La Luchadora though not in the way she initially imagined.
On the January 3 edition of Smackdown Live, the two met in singles action.
Lynch was able to submit her with the Dis-Arm-Er and for added measure remove her mask to reveal..
Alexa Bliss?!
A confused WWE Universe didn't have long to try and figure out what the heck was going on before the real tormentor of Lynch appeared for a two on one assault.
It all came to a head on the January 17 edition of Smackdown Live.
GM Daniel Bryan granted Lynch a title match given she did submit Bliss the week prior. In order to keep out La Luchadora though, the match would be contested inside a steel cage.
The intentions were good but wound up being for naught.
While the two gifted athletes put on a clinic inside the cage, it was indeed La Luchadora who was once again the deciding factor.
Luchadora first prevented Lynch from exiting the cage.
Then when Lynch opted to try and submit Bliss one more time, a well placed kick to the head once more put an end to her hopes and dreams.
Though stinging with yet another defeat, Lynch fought off her assailaints long enough to FINALLY unmask Luchadora to reveal..
MICKIE JAMES
Not seen since her loss to NXT Women's Champion Asuka in November, James was now at the side of Bliss. The balance of power within the Smackdown Women's Division took an even more dramatic shift.
A week later, a very bitter Mickie explained to Renee Young that she took great exception to Lynch and many others acting as if the Women's Revolution began with them and not her back when she defeated Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania 22 in 2006.
The only person to truly recognize who she is and what she can do was Alexa Bliss which is why she opted to assist her in keeping the title away from Becky.
Lynch wasn't interested in complaints, only throwing fists. Unfortunately without backup, she fell victim to another two on one assault when Bliss made the save for Mickie.
Not content with bringing down one challenger, Bliss would return later in the night to try and mock and degrade the returning Naomi.
Back from injury, Naomi saw her scheduled match with Natalya go by the wayside when Nikki Bella attacked her arch nemesis backstage. Being proactive she issued an open challenge to woman in the back wanting to take her on.
The Smackdown Women's Champion came out but not to compete. Rather, she questioned just who Naomi thought she was or how anyone would even remember her name since she'd been away for so long.
Naomi urged Bliss to step in the ring and defend her title but Alexa had zero interest. She told Naomi to say hello to obscurity for her and arrogantly sauntered off.
Rounding out the chaotic scene is the ongoing bitter rivalry between Natalya and Nikki Bella.
For months Natalya's frustration with being overlooked and left out of the spotlight in favor of her fellow Total Divas cast mate have resulted in a very personal war of both words and physicality.
When relegated to being the official Coach of the Smackown Women's team at Survivor Series (following a loss to Nikki to determine the team captain) Nattie decided to take matters into her own hands.
Bella was mysteriously attacked backstage and the initially suspected culprit was her then-rival Carmella given the prior history between the two. But the Princess of Staten Island pleaded her innocence.
At TLC after her loss to Bella, she outed Natalya as the guilty party. Nattie repeatedly denied this citing the bond she and Nikki had formed while appearing on the E! reality series.
On the December 20 edition of Smackdown Live after more finger pointing from Carmella, Natalya finally confessed with sinister glee that it was in fact her who took out Nikki backstage.
Going on a soul cleansing tirade, the Queen of Harts told Bella she deserved the spotlight over her and that she was only even around based only on who she was sleeping with. But even John Cena would eventually leave her and she'd die alone.
The revelation set off a chain of events that resulted in several vicious brawls between the two former Divas Champions.
It will be interesting to see who gets the upper hand in this intriguing encounter.
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Projection:
In what should be an action packed match, there are plenty of moving parts and emotions in play.
The team of Lynch, Naomi, and Bella will have to find a way to work together against their common enemies rather than go into the match with a singular mindset.
Easier said than done given what their opponents have done to them but very vital to their path to victory.
Bliss, James, and Natalya will look to further push those buttons and stay in their rivals' heads.
The important thing they must do is isolate one of them and not allow any of them to get into an offensive rhythm. Lynch and Naomi in particular are very difficult to slow down once they get rolling. This is where Natalya's expertise in submission will come in handy if she can ground either one.
In the end I think the team work of Team Bliss will be superior to that of Team Lynch and they will walk out victorious. Payback will have to wait another day for the opposing side.
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That wraps up this part of our Rumble Preview!
Stay tuned for the main card and keep looking at wrestling on the Bright Side!!
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