WWE Royal Rumble Kickoff Show: WWE United States Championship Open Challenge

[Jack-Hammer]

One of the three announced bouts for the kick off show will see Bobby Roode issuing the first "Glorious US Open Challenge" for the United States Championship.

Odds are, Dolph Ziggler will be Roode's first opponent and if they have Roode drop the title back to him, then the entire month with the tournament and everything done with the title has been a waste of time.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's a waste of time anyway. Why relinquish the belt to then challenge for it on the pre-show?

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

I don't think it's gonna be Ziggler. I expect him to return during the event, maybe even after the match, but if he wants to claim that he's the true US Champion, having him do it by accepting Roode's open challenge, especially as a heel just doesn't make much sense in my opinion.

 

[LoveReignsO'erMe]

If it's Ziggler, that's really poor writing. There's no way they'd have the guy who dropped it challenge for it in the pre-show against the guy who just won it in a tournament.

I am expecting a heel that they want to push a bit more (Mojo Rawley?) or a call-up/debut from NXT (Dunne? Ohno? Lars?)

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I kind of expect this to be a way to debut a new guy, like Ohno or maybe Roddy Strong but doing it on the pre-show is kind of lame. I expect someone with some recent momentum like a Mojo Rawley or Jinder. Kinda hoping it might be Neville though.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

I kind of expect this to be a way to debut a new guy, like Ohno or maybe Roddy Strong but doing it on the pre-show is kind of lame. I expect someone with some recent momentum like a Mojo Rawley or Jinder. Kinda hoping it might be Neville though.

Damn I'd love to see this be a spot for Neville to return, maybe even take the belt. I'm still holding out hope he does return somewhere on Sunday.

I have a feeling this will be Ziggler though, because why go with logic when you can book dumb things that makes no sense? Feels like an odd spot for an NXT debut when you have the Rumble Match later in the night, even more so if the plan is for Roode to retain. As long as it's not Ziggler or Jinder, I'm interested.

 

[@smarkmouth]

This'll be filler. I really don't think we're advancing the storyline here. Tye Dillinger? Fandango? Sunil Singh? We might get an entertaining match, but I'm not counting on much else.

They really like US open challenges now, huh? No complaints from me, but it's going to be hard for them to top Cena's run.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

Ziggler returning for "his championship" is something that should happen at Wrestlemania. It give Roode and Ziggler both something to do, while also giving the U.S championship a strong story to be in that, hopefully, won't lead to a 3rd year of it being on the pre-show.

for my pick, Neville or Eric Young would be awesome, but most likely it will be someone from the SD roster.
Mojo or Mahal would both be let downs so I am going outside of the box here and saying that Chris Jericho will answer the challenge. He was at Raw 25 and I would be shocked if he doesn't participate at the Royal rumble.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I would love to see the Miz, not only challenge for the United States Championship Title Belt, but also defend the Intercontinental Championship Title Belt against Bobby Roode, in a Unification match. That would be both Awesome AND Glorious!!

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Should be someone else other than Ziggler. Otherwise this whole deal didn't make any sense. They could even use this opportunity to debut someone or have someone return. Neville would be great.

But this being on the pre-show tells me it won't be something major. Don't be socked if Jinder walks out there to challenge Roode.

 

[#hamler]

I'd say they save Dolph Ziggler for the Rumble. Besides, returning after a month off after giving up his United States Championship just screams lazy writing and doesn't make much sense. It's on the preshow no less so I don't see a debuting EC3 or Bobby Lashley returning to challenge. With that, Jinder is a pretty safe/boring bet. It doesn't matter though, Roode holds onto the belt at least until Wrestlemania.

Hamler's Prediction: Bobby Roode will retain the United States Championship.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

This feel like just filler to establish the u.s open challenge gimmick they did with pretty much every babyface that won the title since Cena started it. I don't see them started a mania angle on the kickoff show so i don't see Ziggler show up for this. i wouldn't be surprise if it's somebody low on the card that won't get a spot in the rumble match like Mojo rawley or somebody like him. Maybe even the one Singh bros. that isn't injured right now but again this fell like just filler.

 

[LoveReignsO'erMe]

If it's Ziggler, that's really poor writing. There's no way they'd have the guy who dropped it challenge for it in the pre-show against the guy who just won it in a tournament.

I am expecting a heel that they want to push a bit more (Mojo Rawley?) or a call-up/debut from NXT (Dunne? Ohno? Lars?)

Nailed it. I hope they let Roode have a long reign with the US title. Take it into Summerslam even. Would like to see Rusev get involved in the picture eventually.