WWE Royal Rumble

This weekend is my favorite WWE PPV, the Royal Rumble. Thirty superstars in a "randomly" drawn over the top rope battle royal. What's not to love? Here's my predications for the show:

Ric Flair vs. M.V.P.: Ric Flair is on his retirement run. All of his matches now have the stipulation that if he loses, he's gone. Well, it isn't happening at the #2 PPV of the year. Flair's last match will be at Wrestlemania, so he gets the win over the U.S. Champion M.V.P.

Chris Jericho vs. J.B.L.: Y2J's return to WWE has been blah thus far. As soon as he came back, he had a WWE title match, then was put in a feud with a unretiring J.B.L. I don't see how this feud will help either of them. J.B.L. is making his comeback, so in theory, he should get the victory, but WWE put so much effort into marketing the return of Jericho. Why have him lose his first two PPV matches? I'm going with Jericho for the win at the Rumble.

World Championship Match: Edge vs. Rey Mysterio: Edge is the hottest thing going on Smackdown. His new faction of the Edge-Heads are running both Smackdown and ECW. There's no way he drops the belt to Rey. Edge is the call here.

WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy: When this match was booked, I automatically thought that Orton would retain, without a second thought. But Hardy is way over and has been good, if not great, since being thrust in the main event spotlight. It wouldn't be a surprise or too big of an upset if Hardy gets the win, but the more likely case is a win by Hardy, but not a pinfall or submission. So that's what I'm going with, Hardy gets the victory by DQ or countout, so Orton retains.

Royal Rumble (winner gets title shot at Wrestlemania): The obvious choice is Triple H. The booking leading up to the match leaves little other choices. The only way Triple H doesn't win is if a surprise entrant (like Big Show or John Cena) gets it. I just don't see them having a winner that hasn't been in the public for a while. Triple H had the toughest road to get in. He's feuding with management (again) and is the entrant that Vince and William Regal would least want to win...therefore, he will win.