These surprise Royal Rumble entrants could win the whole thing

The 2017 Royal Rumble is this Sunday in San Antonio. The Rumble is always the official start of WrestleMania season — aka, the biggest time of year for WWE and wrestling fans, both hardcore and casual — and usually, you have some idea of what is going to go down to kick it all off.

This year, though, that’s not the case. Roman Reigns and John Cena are already in championship matches the night of the Rumble, and aren’t entered into the actual match. Triple H isn’t going to be in the match, and there’s no major wrestler/celebrity return like Batista’s to influence the direction of the Rumble match and WrestleMania’s main event.

So, this means there is a better chance than usual — a much better chance — of a surprise Royal Rumble entrant being the one who wins the whole thing. WWE is in a great position to try that gambit, and these are the wrestlers we believe would not only be worthy of that attempt, but also have a realistic shot at pulling it off.

Bálor was the first WWE Universal Champion, and has already got a win against the nigh-unstoppable Roman Reigns on his main roster resume. The problem is that, the night he won the Universal title, he also injured his shoulder to the point that he needed surgery — Bálor had to vacate the title before he had even been its rightful owner for 24 hours.

This happened back in August, and his recovery time suggested the Royal Rumble was out of the question. Sometimes, wrestlers get lucky — or just bust their asses — and can recover sooner. John Cena is famous for this, but he’s also not the only one capable. In fact, there are whispers that Bálor is being checked out by doctors this week to see if he’s cleared to compete, and he’s been showing off videos of his workouts and rehab on Instagram.

It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for WWE and Bálor to have lied about the severity of the injury in the hopes he would be recovered in time for the Rumble. That’s because Bálor could show up and surprise everyone, then win the Rumble match, giving him the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Universal Championship that he barely got to hold before it was all taken away from him — and do so on wrestling’s biggest state this April at WrestleMania.

Whether Kevin Owens retains the Universal Championship or Roman Reigns wins it from him on Sunday is of little consequence. Finn and Reigns already had a great match and a moment of respect following it before Finn won the belt at SummerSlam against Seth Rollins. Owens and Bálor previously feuded at NXT over the NXT Championship, with Finn defeating Owens and freeing the latter up for full-time duty on WWE’s main roster. There’s plenty of built-in reason for Finn Bálor to come in and clean house, and given crowds have already shown they love him, the reactions WWE craves would be there for him.

Samoa Joe has no plans for NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. He’s out of the NXT Championship picture after losing the title — and the rematch — to Shinsuke Nakamura to close out 2016. He’s done everything he had to do at NXT, and more. Making his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble, detached from either of RAW or SmackDown, would be huge for both Joe and WWE.

He could challenge for the WWE Universal Championship, since Bálor and Kevin Owens have previously held it, just like they did the NXT Championship. He could go for the most significant prize in the company, the WWE World Championship, which will likely be held by either AJ Styles or Cena: either would be an incredible foe for Joe and his intensity, regardless of whether he shows up as a monster heel or unnervingly terrifying face.

Samoa Joe is one of the most badass superstars in WWE, and the rumor was that he was in line for a major push when he finally showed up on the main roster. You can’t get much bigger than debuting in January at the Royal Rumble, winning the whole thing, and then main eventing WrestleMania a few months later.

This might seem aggressive, even for someone as tremendous as Joe, but remember: we just this week hit the one-year anniversary of AJ Styles in WWE, and he’s been WWE World Champion for months and months already. Special talents merit special circumstances, and calling Samoa Joe special barely scratches the surface of what he’s capable of.

Nakamura is the current NXT Champion, but that could change on Saturday, as he has a title match against Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. If Shinsuke were to lose that championship, it would free him up to debut in WWE’s main roster — and if Nakamura is on the main roster, a Royal Rumble win is a real possibility.

Now, Balor and Joe might be more realistic, given Balor is already on the main roster and Joe’s schedule seems to be opened up in a way that suggests he’s next. Nakamura, though, is one loss away from being able to participate in his first Rumble and WWE match, and two from leaving NXT and joining WWE full-time — if Nakamura were to lose his rematch against Roode down the road, he’d have no reason to still be in NXT the same way Joe lacks one now.

That whole bout of ifs and ands is why Nakamura is a logical choice for a surprise victor, but not quite as realistic as Joe and Finn. Still, not only would Nakamura in WWE, in the Royal Rumble, and main-eventing WrestleMania be an amazing sequence, but it’s not an impossibility, either.

Omega isn’t even a WWE-contracted talent. He is, however, a huge star thanks to his leading the Bullet Club in Japan — a role that AJ Styles and group founder Finn Balor each played before coming to WWE. His contract is also up at the end of January, and while that’s before the Royal Rumble on Jan. 29, WWE is certainly capable of negotiating an out for Omega if they wanted to do something as significant as bring him into WWE to win the Rumble in his debut.

It might be one of the only ways to bring Omega to WWE to begin with, as he’s on the record again and again as saying he doesn’t want to simply be another wrestler in the huge WWE system, and is interested in being on the top and creating new moments and interactions to bring new fans to wrestling.

Like with Styles a year ago, Omega could debut in the Rumble and make a major impact, but go a step further and win the whole thing instead of just lasting for a lengthy time. Out of these four, this is the least likely possibility for a number of reasons. It sure is fun to think about how Omega could not only join WWE but make a historic splash in the company out of the gate, though, isn’t it?