As we tick into 2023, the WWE has its eyes firmly set on the Road to WrestleMania. That particular journey begins on January 28th with the Royal Rumble. This will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Over 60,000 wrestling fanatics will be in attendance for the event, with the 30-man over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble match being the highlight. 

Last year, the epic match was a touch anticlimactic. It featured appearances from Jackass star Johnny Knoxville and the multi-time grammy award-winning musician Bad Bunny. But in the end, we all knew what the outcome was going to be. 

The match was won by former WWE and UFC World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate has been a dominant force in the world of combat sports for the last two decades. Last year’s Royal Rumble match was no different, with a particular highlight of the match being Lesnar delivering a monstrous F5 to Bad Bunny. 

We haven’t seen Lesnar inside the Octagon since he defeated Mark Hunt back in 2016. Sportsbook Bovada, which shows you how to bet on UFC fights, made the former University of Minnesota standout the favorite for that particular contest. And he duly delivered. The same cannot be said about his main event appearance at WrestleMania 38, however, a spot he secured with his Rumble victory. 

Lesnar faced off against Roman Reigns at the AT&T Stadium in last year’s Show of Shows, in a main event that was billed as the biggest of all time. The match didn’t deliver, however, with Reigns pinning Lesnar within ten minutes to unify the WWE and Universal championships. 

This year, Lesnar isn’t in contention to face Reigns for what would be the tenth time. Instead, WWE has plans for the Tribal Chief to unprecedentedly headline BOTH nights of this year’s WrestleMania. Supposedly, these are the ongoing plans for the upcoming show. 

Night One – Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes 

Ever since Cody Rhodes made his triumphant return to the WWE at last year’s WrestleMania, he has been on a collision course with the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. That just so happens to be Roman Reigns, a title he has held for a record-breaking 870 days and counting. And the Head of the Table hasn’t been pinned or submitted in even longer than that. 

The American Nightmare returned last April to the company that his father – The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes – made a name for himself. And he immediately feuded with Seth Rollins. Rhodes picked up three consecutive wins over The Visionary, with the latter of which coming inside Hell in a Cell. On his first appearance back on Monday Night Raw, Rhodes made it clear that he had one goal and one goal only. That was to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. 

To do that on the Grandest Stage of Them All, he will need to win this month’s Royal Rumble match. He is heavily favored to do exactly that. But with the current plans that WWE has in place, there’s no guarantee that Rhodes will become the undisputed champ. 

Right now, fans and experts are unsure whether the undisputed crown will be once again broken up, with any one of the Universal or WWE championships being defended on nights one and two respectively. Alternatively, night two’s main event may be a non-title contest. Speaking of… 

Night Two – Roman Reigns vs The Rock 

For years, fans have been clamoring for a showdown between Roman Reigns and The Rock. The pair are from the same wrestling family. They aren’t actually blood relatives, though, as WWE likes to tell us they are. “Reverend” Amituana’i Anoa’i and “High Chief” Peter Maivia were as close as friends get. They considered themselves blood brothers, hence why the pair’s families are so close and are considered as one. 

The Rock helped his “cousin” Reigns win the Royal Rumble eight years ago. However, the pair haven’t had an interaction on screen since. That looks set to change on the 23rd January episode of Raw. In the previous episode of the show, Reigns’ actual cousins, The Usos, stated that “every generation” of their family’s bloodline will be appearing the following week. 

This got fans clamoring over a potential return for The Great One. If he does show up, will he fall in line and acknowledge The Tribal Chief? We are presuming that he will not. 

Fans also got to talking about a potential return from The Rock when the promotional poster for the upcoming Royal Rumble was released. The poster features bolts of electricity flowing freely. As The Rock is known as the most electrifying man in the entertainment world, fans took the advertisement as a teaser. And it seems that they were right to do so. 

As things stand, The Rock is set to headline night two of WrestleMania against Roman Reigns. Whether that has any permutations on the upcoming Royal Rumble or whether the contest will be for a championship remains to be seen, however. 

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