WWE Royal Rumble 2013 PPV Live Stream, Schedule, Predictions, Match Card and How to Watch: John Cena vs Randy Orton for the Title, Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan, Batista in the Rumble
Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view launches the start of the Road to Wrestlemania with the winner of the 30-Man Over-the-top-rope main event guaranteed a spot in headlining Wrestlemania XXX in New Orleans.
WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The New Age Outlaws (Title Match)
WWE Tag Team champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust defend their titles against the former five-time champions The New Age Outlaws - "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn and "Road Dogg" Jesse James, in the Royal Rumble Kick-off show - available on YouTube.com, WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, Google+, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, Sony PS3, Pinterest or Pheed prior to the start of the pay-per-view (PPV). The Outlaws hold a non-title victory over the champs, beating them on Smackdown, and dream of holding the gold for one last run. But the champions should overcome the experience Road Dogg and Billy Gunn bring to the ring and retain the titles.
Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
The match is the culmination of months of Bray Wyatt siccing Erick Rowan and Luke Harper on the former champion, in hopes of recruiting Bryan into The Wyatt Family's fold. Bryan joined the Wyatts for a brief stint, waiting for his chance to pounce on the leader of The Wyatts, with an opportunity presenting itself two weeks ago inside a steel cage. With Kane holding the key to the door and Wyatt's clan prevented from entering the cage, Bryan turned on Wyatt after they lost their cage match against the Usos and beat Wyatt down after weeks of taking his abuse. With Bryan cleared to compete after suffering a concussion in the cage match, Bryan will finally get revenge on Wyatt and get his crazy clan off his back.
Brock Lesner vs. The Big Show
The Big Show has been a thorn on Brock Lesnar's side since Triple H announced that Lesnar would be the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight championship. Lesnar attacked Mark Henry on two occasion, who had a problem with Lesnar cutting the line to the title shot, decimating "The World's Strongest Man" before the Big Show made the save. The Big Show showed Lesnar he is not one to be trifled with, manhandling "The Beast", tossing him across the ring and swatting the former MMA champion when Lesnar went for a couple of double-leg take-downs. The Big Show also made an example of The Real American's manager, Zeb Colter, nailing Colter with a WMD after defeating Jack Swagger in a singles match while preparing for Lesner. Lesnar's ex-factor, Paul Heyman, will not be shy about interfering in the match, and will work on helping Lesnar find an opening to outsmart The Big Show. With his Hulk-like strength, Lesnar will be able to lift the Big Show and toss him on his face with the F5 on his way to victory and title shot on the horizon.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena
John Cena gets his rematch against Randy Orton after losing the Heavyweight Championship in the unification Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC. Cena is seething after Orton attacked his father two weeks ago, on Monday Night Raw, beating down Orton all over the arena in last week's edition of Raw, and would love to get his hand on the title once again. Cena is hoping that Orton's current distractions are enough to help him take the gold, after the "Apex Predator" has expressed his anger at The Authority, for what he sees as a lack of support for "the face of the WWE," after bringing back Brock Lesnar and Batista to the company as well as scheduling him in matches against Kofi Kingston. Cena is usually focused in titles match, but with his emotions running high after seeing his father beat up, "The Viper" will use that to his advantage and find a way to retain the title.
The Royal Rumble
A lot is at stake in the Royal Rumble main match - with the winner of the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal earning a main event spot and a title match at Wrestlemania XXX. Part of the fun of the Royal Rumble is guessing who may make a surprise appearance, with Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who has been lobbying for a shot in the Rumble since last year, a possible participant since making an appearance on Old-School Raw. Three names rumored to be in the Pittsburgh area who could also make surprise appearances are Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, and Sheamus. Both Sheamus and Jericho are making appearances at the Pittsburgh World of Wheels while Nash is hosting a party at a venue in Robinson, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh over the weekend. Wade Barrett has hinted on Twitter that he gave up his Rumble slot to an old-school wrestler, teasing, "It's top secret, but just between us, here's a clue: Voodoo," which could mean Papa Shango.
A potential favorite to win the Rumble, Daniel Bryan, has told Straits Times he will not be in the main event. Some WWE stars who have had matches earlier in the card have previously tried their luck in the Rumble after their bout but Bryan has knocked that possibility down for himself.
The obvious favorite is Batista, who returns to the WWE and has already let WWE Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton know that he is targeting his title last edition of Monday Night Raw. Alberto Del Rio could be a spoiler for Batista, who is petty enough to eliminate Batista even if he himself is thrown over the top rope.
CM Punk, despite being the first entrant in this Royal Rumble - giving him a .00000186 percent chance of winning and headlining Wrestlemania XXX, according to WWE Director of Operations Kane, is another favorite despite being given the first slot. Kane ordered that Punk be number one at the Rumble after Punk defeated Billy Gunn of the New Age Outlaws on Raw this week. The first entrant has won the Rumble as many times as the last entrant despite the odds and if anyone has the iron man endurance to win the Rumble from the first spot, it is CM Punk. But between The Shield also participating in the Rumble, the mathematics of starting at number one, and the The Authority plotting against him, the "Straightedge Superstar" has a lot of obstacles to surmount.
The wild-card in the Rumble is Roman Reigns of The Shield. Reigns and his stablemates, United States Champion Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, could work as a unit to reduce the odds of their elimination. The random order of the Rumble could work against The Shield but with The Authority watching their back, it is possible the "Hounds of Justice" could get favorable numbers to benefit the stable.
And if it came down to the three members of The Shield at the end of the bout, while Ambrose may be holding a singles title around his waist and Rollins is the more technically polished of the group, Reigns has a win over CM Punk (who defeated both Rollins and Ambrose) and seems the more ready member of The Shield to win the Rumble and headline a Wrestlemania.
Television
Please contact your cable or satellite provider for information on how to order Royal Rumble WWE pay-per-view, with the broadcast set to begin at 8 p.m. EST.
Live Stream (online)
Live stream coverage of the Royal Rumble Kickoff match begins at 7:30 p.m. EST and can be seen on Youtube.com and WWE.com. Live stream coverage of Royal Rumble can be seen on WWE.com.