For the first time in 20 years, the Alamodome will play host to the Royal Rumble on Sunday night as WWE invades San Antonio to officially kick off the "Road to WrestleMania."
The events of this weekend will shape the bulk of everything that will follow in the nine weeks leading up to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida, on April 2 -- and far beyond, for that matter. The effects of the 2016 Royal Rumble -- most specifically the debut of AJ Styles -- are still being felt a full year later.
The eight-bout card (which includes three matches on the kickoff show) is headlined by the Royal Rumble match, with the winner earning an opportunity at either the WWE Universal championship or the WWE championship on the biggest stage wrestling has to offer. Sunday's pay-per-view, one of four annual "majors" for WWE, also brings together the Raw and SmackDown brands for the first time in 2017.
Let's take a closer look at what's at stake in each match.
(c) - Indicates defending champion(s)
2017 Royal Rumble match
Unlike during the past five years, WWE enters the Royal Rumble with an embarrassment of riches in terms of star power and potential winners -- and that also makes this Rumble match the hardest one to predict in recent memory.
With returning legends (like Goldberg and The Undertaker) and healthy stars at their disposal, helped by the success of last July's brand-extension draft, WWE doesn't necessarily need the Rumble winner to main event WrestleMania. While that could always be the case, by default it makes the likelihood that the winner will come from a large group of superstars just beneath the upper echelon as high as it's ever been.
Whether the nod is given to someone in the midst of their first big push (Braun Strowman or Baron Corbin), a refurbished veteran (Dolph Ziggler or The Miz) or an NXT superstar poised to make an instant impact on the main roster (Samoa Joe or Shinsuke Nakamura), WWE has a plethora of options available.
In fact, it's not a stretch to say that this year's Rumble is the most anticipated in years, with the potential for it to play out as the most entertaining event of its kind since 2011, which was the only 40-man Rumble in WWE history and the last time the WWE entered the match in the midst of a brand split.
With 22 of the 30 participants already announced, the remaining eight spots will likely be a fun mix of retired stars, NXT and cruiserweight wrestlers (including the potential for WWE UK tournament participants like newly crowned champion Tyler Bate), and midcard performers (both R-Truth and Kalisto appear on the official Royal Rumble poster yet don't have a scheduled match).
What's not as likely are appearances from the likes of 2017 Hall of Fame nominee Kurt Angle, New Japan Pro Wrestling standout Kenny Omega and injured star Finn Balor, despite recent rumors surrounding all three. While surprise appearances, like Styles' debut in 2016, are part of the event's charm and allure, all but Balor have specifically stated that they won't be in the Royal Rumble match.
The Rumble always serves to either lay the groundwork for new rivalries or put the match to gasoline and truly ignite preexisting tensions into something far more tangible. No matter how things ultimately play out, watching how all of these stories intertwine -- from the Goldberg-Brock Lesnar feud, to the uneasy tension within The Wyatt Family, to the potential of a Triple H appearance in the Rumble and a clash with Seth Rollins -- will be undeniably entertaining.
WWE championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena
Styles and Cena took part in a pair of memorable PPV singles matches in 2016, including an instant classic at SummerSlam in August, and Styles was victorious both times. It would appear as if Sunday's match marks the delayed blow-off to the rivalry after Cena took time away during the fall to film a television show and attend to other obligations.
Considering the run Styles has been on since debuting at the 2016 Rumble, and after he's put forth arguably the best debut year in WWE history, it would seem logical that he'd get the chance to enter WrestleMania with the WWE's most prestigious title. But the idea of Cena going over and setting up an opportunity to break Ric Flair's record for world championship reigns somewhere down the line isn't completely out of the question, which helps Sunday's match retain even more of a must-see feel.
Both superstars have shined, in terms of delivering promos, since Cena's return to SmackDown -- and that's gone a long way toward building things back up in a hurry while removing any lingering fatigue of having just seen this feud five months ago.
WWE Universal championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns
The added element of Kevin Owens' best friend, Chris Jericho, being suspended above the ring in a shark cage may not be enough to make up for the fact that this rivalry has carried on for far, far too long.
Raw viewers have been inundated with an almost unforgivable number of matches between Reigns and this heel duo since Survivor Series. Still, there's potential for a strong match here, especially since Owens was allowed to return to his previously vicious ways by powerbombing Reigns through the announce table to close out Raw two weeks ago.
The finish to Sunday's match, however, feels a bit too predictable -- and that almost makes you question whether it's a setup. Still, having Reigns, who is routinely positioned as the WWE's top young star, enter WrestleMania with the Universal championship seems like a no-brainer, as does having Owens spin off into an oft-teased breakup with Jericho, who conveniently captured the United States title from Reigns on Jan. 10.
Raw women's championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley
The first break in the action for Flair after a sensational 2016 feud with Sasha Banks provides Bayley with her first opportunity to compete for a title on the main roster. While the creative direction has looked good on paper, with Flair heckling Bayley for being a WWE superfan, the execution has been lacking at times.
Bayley had been the odd woman out on Raw in recent months, embroiled in stay-busy feuds and squash matches as Flair and Banks took turns exchanging the title. It's fair to question whether her character has completely lost the hype and buzz she debuted with on Raw shortly after SummerSlam.
Anything short of a Flair victory would be a surprise here, considering how often her unbeaten record in PPV title matches has been brought up on the air.
WWE cruiserweight championship: Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville
Neville's recent heel turn has been the shot in the arm that the cruiserweight division -- and its spinoff "205 Live" series on Tuesday nights -- has desperately needed. It has done just as much good for his character at the same time, as the WWE seemed to quickly run out of ideas for him on the main roster shortly after his debut, despite a believable run as NXT champion.
As Neville enters his first cruiserweight championship match, it looks as if he has a great shot to win the title, thanks to how valuable he's been in such a short time. There's a lot of credit due to Rich Swann as well, as he's helped make this feud both entertaining and far from one-sided, with stiff retaliation and aggression in the face of Neville's constant attacks.
While this match may not get much time on such a stacked card, there's a lot of potential here for it to steal the show in the early going.
Kickoff show
Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella & Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James and Natalya
Not much seems to be at stake in this six-woman tag team match, designed to get as many deserving top female superstars onto the card as possible. But the good news is that it brings together a number of feuds that are currently red-hot, from the constant brawling of Nikki Bella and Natalya to Mickie James' surprise insertion into the Alexa Bliss-Becky Lynch angle, and it's good to see Naomi right back in action after her return to TV on Tuesday.
Raw tag team championship: Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
From the very beginning, the idea of Cesaro & Sheamus as tag team champions has had a very transitional feel to it. While both superstars have clearly overachieved in this pairing, their ambiguity between heel and face gave WWE plenty of options in deciding a true successor to The New Day's record-breaking title reign.
It appears the successor in question could very well be the heel duo of Gallows & Anderson, who could certainly benefit from consistently strong booking after such an up-and-down run since the brand split.
There's no better time than now to give them a shot, especially if an eventual showdown with The New Day is in the cards for WrestleMania season. The recent "Dusty finish" on Raw, in which The Club were declared champions only to see the decision reversed due to a referee KO, felt like a moment of foreshadowing. One thing's for sure -- they almost certainly wouldn't have the two-referee stipulation in place if it wasn't going to come into play.
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
The WWE women's division could certainly use the type of unique monster heel character that Nia Jax provides, which has made her strong push in this program in recent weeks an appealing change of pace.
Jax's response to the push has been hit-and-miss, which speaks more to where she currently is in her development after a relatively brief run in NXT. At the very least, Jax's surprise attacks have been vicious, targeting Sasha Banks' injured knee.
It's uncertain as to whether this will be a one-off for Banks ahead of much bigger opportunities at WrestleMania, but it's unquestionably the highest-profile chance for Jax to date -- and it's a test she will have to pass in order to be taken seriously going forward.