What WWE ‘Royal Rumble’ Results Mean For John Cena, AJ Styles And ‘WrestleMania’

Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble has posed more questions than it answered. Many in the WWE universe expected The Undertaker to win the 2017 Royal Rumble. Despite being one of the last combatants to enter the battle royal, The Undertaker was eliminated, after being blindsided by Roman Reigns. In his turn, Reigns was eliminated by Randy Orton, who claimed his second Royal Rumble crown, and landed a World Championship bout at WrestleMania 33 in April. It’s fair to say that, in the days running up to the Royal Rumble, few expected Orton to win the event, but the Wrestling Observer seems to have had the inside track.

On Friday, Cageside Seats reported that the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer claimed that Orton would be taking on Bray Wyatt, in a World Championship match, at WrestleMania 33. Of course, if Orton and Wyatt have a World Championship match at WrestleMania, then logic dictates that one of them will need to win a world championship before then.

We now know that Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble, that win earns him a World Championship at WrestleMania. That means that Orton won’t get a shot at a world title before WrestleMania, that would render his Royal Rumble victory meaningless. If we follow that logic, then Bray Wyatt will be a world champion by the time WrestleMania comes around in early April.

That chain of logic is picked up by FanSided, who argue that if Bray Wyatt is going to be a world champion, then that championship can only come from the WWE’s Elimination Chamber PPV event, which takes place on February 12. The official WWE website explains that the Elimination Chamber is akin to a smaller version of the Royal Rumble.

Two WWE wrestlers start the bout, and the remaining four join after set periods of time. Unlike the Royal Rumble, competitors are only eliminated by a pinfall or submission. The Elimination Chamber bout continues until only one Superstar is left standing to claim the World Championship.

Of course, if Bray Wyatt is set to be the World Champion after the Elimination Chamber, then by definition that means that neither John Cena or AJ Styles will not be.

So, What Do The Royal Rumble Results Mean For AJ Styles And John Cena At WrestleMania?

If John Cena is to lose his world title at the Elimination Chamber, he will have held the belt for just two weeks. Mind you, two weeks would have seemed like a lifetime to Cena back in 2010 when he won the event. Cena had come through a brutal Elimination Chamber, beating Randy Orton, Triple H, Sheamus, Ted DiBiase and Kofi Kingston. Cena had just come to terms with his victory when Shane McMahon entered the ring to tell Cena that, if he wanted at main event billing at WrestleMania, he would have to beat Batista, there and then.

Batista pummeled an exhausted Cena and took his World Championship from him after just 3-minutes.

Let’s be realistic, the matches between Cena and AJ Styles over the past year have been nothing short of epic. The World Championship match at the Royal Rumble was the bout of the night. The quality of the wrestling was stunning, and a win saw Cena win his 16th World Championship, equaling Ric Flair’s record in the process.

Cena took the title from the biggest success story in the WWE’s recent history. Styles is wildly popular with the WWE Universe, and you can be sure that he will take another championship before too long. We know that Styles had a rematch clause in his contract for the Royal Rumble bout. It may be that Styles has had to play that card to earn a shot at Cena for the Elimination Chamber match. After all, if Wyatt wins the championship at the Elimination Chamber event, then Styles would be left holding a dud.

It’s been rumored that Styles may be taking on Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33. Despite being a part owner of the WWE network, it is doubtful that McMahon would risk putting himself into a championship match at WrestleMania. That could well set up a match between Styles and McMahon at the WWE’s showcase event. It would be high-profile and entertaining match and one that keeps Styles in the public eye until he earns his next world title tilt.

As with anything in the WWE, plans can change at any time, but the 2017 Royal Rumble has provided a roadmap to WrestleMania, and we will know much more about WrestleMania after the Elimination Chamber event.

[Featured Image by WWE Network]