Edge
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since “The Rated-R Superstar” made its triumphant return. He hasn’t been seen since he suffered that tricep tear on Backlash, but that was more than seven months. On top of that, he is still aiming to complete that trilogy of matches with Randy Orton, who has already confirmed he will be in the match.
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Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins
We link these two because they disappeared for the same reason. Lynch has been out of business since announcing her pregnancy in May, while Rollins was written off television on Survivor Series to be home with Lynch to welcome their first child. Their daughter, Roux, was born on December 4.
Rollins was initially announced for a return on SmackDown a few weeks ago, but those plans were quietly scrapped. Whether Lynch is physically ready to get back into the ring remains unknown.
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Ronda Rousey
The fact that Rousey has been back in ring training has been one of the worst kept secrets on social media. Whether this means she’ll be in the actual Rumble is a whole other conversation, but the odds are pretty good, especially as WWE finally gears her and Lynch up for a one-on-one match at WrestleMania.
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Brock Lesnar
“The Beast” made headlines last year when news broke that his last WWE contract had expired, and the fact that he didn’t appear on SummerSlam in any way led fans to think he might be gone for a while. But if WWE’s booking strategy has taught us anything over the past five years, it’s that Lesnar is never far from a World Cup match. And why book a rematch with Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania faster than letting Lesnar win the Rumble?
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Rhea Ripley
Ripley has been ready for the jump to Raw or SmackDown for quite some time now, and a Rumble win could put her in a rematch with Charlotte Flair from last year’s event.
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Jay White
It has been five years since AJ Styles made his surprise WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, and every year since then fans have been queuing up expecting a big name from another company to make the leap to WWE at the match of 30 men. This year, that speculation revolves around Jay White, who announced after Wrestle Kingdom 15 that he was “quitting” after the New Year’s Dash event.
Is there any evidence that White’s contract with New Japan has actually expired? No. But he legitimately hasn’t wrestled since New Year’s Dash, and popping up in the Rumble would throw Wrestling Twitter into a frenzy. This is the longest of the long shots, but it’s fun to think about.
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