With the 2023 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event (PLE) only a few hours away, wrestling fans and personalities alike are doing their best to predict what will happen on WWE’s most unpredictable show of the year.
Even though there are only five announced matches, there is enough ambiguity and intrigue in the matches to leave viewers guessing what could and will happen. For the Men’s Rumble match, nineteen of the thirty participants have been announced while only seven women have been announced for their rumble match.
Furthermore, there’s still plenty of speculation surrounding the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match between Bray Wyatt and LA Knight and what exactly that match will entail.
With so much mystery, even WWE’s own former wrestlers and Hall of Famers like veteran Booker T are throwing out their own predictions. And with his predictions, he’s especially optimistic about his pick for the Women’s Rumble match.
“She’s the future of the women’s division” – Booker T
On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T kept his predictions limited to the two Rumble matches. His pick for the Men’s Rumble match was straight to the point: Cody Rhodes.
“Of course, in the men’s, it’s going to be Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes is going to win.”
But when it came to the women’s Rumble, Booker T had a lot more to say.
“And in the women’s division? “It’s going to be [Rhea Ripley]. It’s time for The Rip to get that push. It’s time for The Rip to come out of that shadow of the women, you know?”
“Being able to just sit back in the wings, watch and wait with The Judgement Day as of late, has given [Ripley] a little bit of time to get that hunger back to go out there and really take control of that women’s division.
I really think she can. I really think Rhea Ripley is the future of the women’s division.”
Booker T is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer and has won multiple titles and accolades in both WWE and WCW. He’s considered a veteran and has imparted wisdom on WWE wrestlers before, including top stars like Big E.
h/t 411Mania and WrestlingInc for the transcriptions