Bengaluru, January 8: A superstar from Tuesday night's WWE Smackdown Live is expected to win this year's Royal Rumble, according to a report from cagesideseats.com.

The Royal Rumble PPV will be the first big event of the year 2018 and as per the tradition of the WWE, it has always been held in the month of January that kick-starts the Wrestlemania season.

We often mention this PPV as the time when the 'Road to Wrestlemania’ begins and this year, there will be no difference in the event hosted at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The concept of the match is an exciting one which is why some of the fans consider it to be the most entertaining event of the year. Here are the rules of the match, 30 men compete in an elimination-style contest, with a superstar going over the top rope and landing on the floor considered to be out of the contest.

Being a dual brand PPV, superstars from both Raw and Smackdown will take part in it and the winner gets the opportunity to challenge any of the prime champions in the WWE at Wrestlemania, as per his choice.

So, this match is considered to receive a main-event ticket to the biggest event of the year. As we are very close to the event of 2018, there are speculations running high as to who would be the winner of the match.

Going by the reports from cagesideseats.com, a Smackdown superstar is going to win the match on January 28th in 2018 which indicates the chances of names like Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens to win the match and challenge the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania.

Previously, Roman Reigns was the favorite to win the Royal Rumble and earn the rights to face Brock Lesnar. The creative heads had planned this match between the two behemoths as the main event of Wrestlemania 34 long time ago but now the plans seem to have changed as per the source, (courtesy stillrealtous.com)

“Cagesideseats.com notes that it’s rumored Roman Reigns won’t be winning the Rumble next year, and it’s likely that a SmackDown Live star will win the match and earn a title shot.

At this point in his career Roman Reigns definitely doesn’t need to win the Royal Rumble, but a Royal Rumble victory could go a long way for a SmackDown Live star depending on who ends up winning.”



It is to be noted that the Raw brand will host the Elimination Chamber PPV in February after this year’s Royal Rumble which might change the plans on the flagship show. However, if a Smackdown superstar wins the match then the officials don't have much to do as they can plan a direct championship match for Wrestlemania from the blue brand of WWE.