WWE Royal Rumble Preview

Twenty years ago, the WWE came up with a great idea called the Royal Rumble. It was a 20-man battle royale, but it started with two men and added a new competitor every two minutes.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan won the 1988 Rumble, which aired for free on USA to counter the NWA Bunkhouse Stampede on pay-per-view that night. The event was so successful that the Rumble has been a pay-per-view event ever since 1989.

Today, the Rumble includes 30 men, and they arrive at 90-second intervals. The pay-per-view will air on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The winner of the Rumble will earn a shot at the World title at Wrestlemania 24. Before we look at the Rumble participants, let's take a look at the other matches on the card.

Chris Jericho vs. John Bradshaw Layfield - These two men have a lot in common. They are both former former World champions. They love to talk on the microphone. They have both been out action for more than a year before recently returning to active competition.

Most importantly, both men need a win to get back into title contention and avoid being an also-ran. JBL should come through with the win, putting more pressure on Jericho to regain his old magic.

MVP vs. Ric Flair - MVP will not be putting his U.S. title up for grabs, but Ric Flair will have his career on the line in this match. In case you missed it, Vince McMahon decreed that Flair must win every match, or he must retire.

MVP has a great future ahead of him, but Flair has survived retirement matches against Randy Orton and Triple H. Flair should come through again with a win over MVP.

WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy - This is the biggest match in the career of Jeff Hardy, who has risen from the ranks of jobber (loser of TV matches) in the mid-90s to the bring of his first WWE title. Orton is not overwhelming in size and ability, but he is a cunning champion who should be able to hit the RKO (Diamond cutter) for the victory.

World champion Edge vs. Rey Misterio - Edge has momentum on his side, and he has the Edgeheads (formerly the Major Brothers) and Smackdown assistant GM Vickie Guerrero backing him up as well. As much fun as it would be to see Misterio win a second World title, it probably won't happen here.

The Royal Rumble match - With John Cena sidelined by an injury and with Triple H out of the Rumble (a stipulation of his loss to Flair), the field for the Rumble is wide open.

Undertaker is the favorite, since he won last year's Rumble and it would set up Undertaker vs. Edge in a battle of two men who have never been pinned at Wrestlemania. Batista is the only other obvious choice to win the Royal Rumble. Some of the long shots include Mick Foley, Kane, Umaga and Hornswoggle.

Triple H is very conspicuous by his absence from this event. This would seem to keep HHH out a main event spot at Wrestlemania, but not so fast. The February pay-per-view No Way Out, will feature a six-way Elimination Chamber match. The winner of that match may get the second main event spot at Wrestlemania (challenging for the Raw title if the Royal Rumble winner chooses to face the Smackdown champion, for example.

So the Royal Rumble should be as fun as always and hopefully more unpredictable than usual.