2009 Royal Rumble Predictions

Ready to Rumble?!? For the 2009 Royal Rumble there's 4 big title matches on the card as well as the main attraction: a 30 man everyone for himself Battle Royal in which the last man in the ring will go on to headline Wrestemania 25. There's also plenty of drama involved in this year's event. John Cena will not only have to worry about facing JBL, but also the fact that JBL's employee, Shawn Michaels will be at ringside. There's also Jeff Hardy who's scheduled to defend his WWE Title, but has had a string of unfortunate accidents occur to him over the past month or so. It should make for a Pay-Per-View event full of intrigue and action. Let's take a look at predictions for this year's Royal Rumble...

Matt Hardy vs. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger was the first wrestler to win a title in 2009, followed by CM Punk. Even though Swagger had a semi-cheap win, using a torn off turnbuckle cover he still displayed power, intensity and skill in going toe-to-toe with Matt Hardy. Hardy was able to hit a Twist of Fate on Swagger during a recent tag team contest, but Swagger's got the undefeated streak going. It seems as if the first man to defeat Swagger will either be Tommy Dreamer or Ricky Ortiz, so expect some sort of DQ from Hardy, or another "clean" Swagger win to retain.

Prediction: Swagger shows why he's got what it takes, staying undefeated and champion by pinning Matt Hardy. Or a DQ comes into play.

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Melina vs. Beth Phoenix
WWE Women's Title Match

This has the potential to be the only title change of the entire event, unless WWE wants to make Jack Swagger look like a chump. Melina's returned to form lately and has had to contend with the new crazy Beth Phoenix fan, Rosa Mendes. Santino recently recruited Rosa to be an intern with he and the Glamazon, much to Beth's dismay. Rosa will most likely come into play in this match and cost Beth the Women's title leading to a bit of a rift in Glamarella and maybe an eventual Rosa Mendes-Beth Phoenix feud?

Prediction: Melina becomes new WWE Women's Champ thanks to Rosa Mendes or Santino Marella's interference backfiring on Beth.

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JBL vs. John Cena
World Heavyweight Title Match

The speculation continues as to what Shawn Michaels' role will be in this main event title match. He showed in the past week that he had an allegiance to JBL, as he went for a Superkick on John Cena. Cena ducked it, but still got clobbered by JBL. It seems as if there's a mishap waiting to happen here and it will work in Cena's favor, also setting up further events. An example could be a misplaced Superkick, or Michaels trying to clock Cena with the belt, hitting JBL instead. No matter how you see it, it looks obvious that eventually the employee will be facing his employer in a match, so this just might be the initial setup.

Prediction: Cena gets the win due to some sort of mishap involving HBK and JBL.

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Edge vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy, like Jack Swagger of ECW, hasn't held his title all that long and really hasn't had to defend it much at all. Jeff's had a rough time though, being beat up in a hotel, smashed into by another car, and most recently had his own pyro display blow up in his face. All this sets up a big return and title defense for Hardy who's known for daredevil antics. Expect Edge to pull out his usual tricks, but Jeff will find a way to overcome them. Jeff Hardy wins it with the Swanton to further solidify his current title reign.

Prediction: Jeff Hardy defeats Edge to overcome the odds of all those accidents, and hold onto his WWE title.

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30 Man Royal Rumble Match

There may be 30 men but it's easy to eliminate names before the match even starts. Unless WWE plans to put Kofi Kingston, Santino Marella or Cody Rhodes in the headline match at Wrestlemania, there's a short list of possible winners. Of those we know are in the match, Randy Orton would be the first favorite to win. One person who wasn't named to the Rumble but could become a surprise entry is Shawn Michaels. Based on how the JBL vs. Cena match goes, HBK could somehow work his way into one of the final spots and take the match. It makes sense for Michaels to be a headliner for Wrestlemania 25 which will be in his home state of Texas, and also could add a further angle to the current JBL/employer-HBK/employee feud. There's also speculation that Batista makes a surprise entry a la John Cena last year, or Christian Cage makes his WWE return to win the Rumble.

Prediction: Of those listed, Randy Orton wins it setting up a storyline involving the fact he took out Mr. McMahon just prior to the Rumble. Of those not listed, surprise entrant Shawn Michaels wins the match to earn the headline spot at Wrestlemania 25. This will be some sort of angle in which JBL has either bought Shawn's spot in the Rumble after JBL loses to Cena, or JBL will claim Shawn must give him the headline spot at Wrestlemania. If not Michaels we could see a surprise return from either Batista or Christian to take the 2009 Rumble.

Check WWE Characters the Blog during the 2009 Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View to get updated results! Full results will be displayed after the Pay-Per-View has officially ended. Enjoy the Rumble!