The Road to WrestleMania kicks off tonight in historic fashion with more Rumble than ever, featuring not only a 30-Man Royal Rumble Match, but also the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Thirty female Superstars will battle it out for an opportunity at a coveted World Championship Match on The Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania.

The stakes could not be higher in the groundbreaking contest, and the WWE Universe will surely never forget the original competitor that outlasts 29 other women to earn her place in history!

Who will it be? Legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter (author of "Is Wrestling Fixed? I Didn’t Know It Was Broken") joins the WWE.com editors in giving their picks for who they think will walk out of the landmark contest with their ticket to WrestleMania.

(Note: Predictions are drawn from the Superstars who officially entered Royal Rumble Match as of Saturday, Jan. 27.)

NATALYA
Sasha has her Bank Statement, Naomi has her special glow, Bayley has the infectious field of energy. I could site a dozen things that make us so eager to watch the Raw and SmackDown LIVE women every week. However, the person who can get the job done in the initial Rumble must be able to think lightning-fast and be ready to brawl. Natalya is that person. She has an evil streak that she can unleash at will. It's that trait that will take her to the crowning and most glorious moment of the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match. — BILL APTER

ASUKA

Look, she’s only been on Raw for a couple of months, so it’s possible that the WWE Universe at large doesn’t quite get it yet. Allow us to elaborate: Asuka does not lose. She doesn’t. When you think she’s done for, at the exact moment you’re convinced history is about to be made, that’s when she turns on the jets, and suddenly, everybody around her is toast. Whether it’s one woman, or two, or three, or four, Asuka always wins. Twenty-nine women will be no different. – ANTHONY BENIGNO

ALICIA FOX
Alicia Fox may not be at the top of everyone’s list of possible winners for the first-ever 30-Woman Over-The-Top Royal Rumble Match, but there may not be a bigger wildcard in this history-making match. The former Divas Champion is arguably one of the most unpredictable Superstars in WWE, and in a contest like the Royal Rumble Match, The Foxy Floridian’s erratic behavior could help her win it all.

No one can predict what the Raw Superstar will do once she enters the Royal Rumble Match, and that is exactly why she is so dangerous. Fox is capable of anything, including winning the Women’s Royal Rumble Match. — SCOTT TAYLOR

NIA JAX 

All the other competitors in Sunday’s historic 30-woman melee need to be most concerned with Nia Jax for one simple reason: The Irresistible Force is built to win a match of this type. Jax’s size advantage gives her an inherent edge in any match where you must be thrown over the top rope to be eliminated. Her raw power should enable her to eject the competition with relative ease. Never mind Jax’s toughness, a key asset to possess in an every-woman-for-herself brawl. Regardless if her pal Alexa Bliss is still holding the Raw Women’s Title come WrestleMania, Nia Jax’s ticket to The Showcase of the Immortals is practically punched. — JOHN CLAPP

CARMELLA
History will be made at the 2018 Royal Rumble Match, and Carmella has a way of asserting her place in the record books.

The first Ms. Money in the Bank is entering the landmark match with an abundance of confidence. She will be tough to eliminate thanks to her Shawn Michaels–esque athleticism and her affinity for game-planning and picking the perfect time to strike.

Carmella will leave Philadelphia with both the Money in the Bank contract and a guaranteed Women’s Championship Match at WrestleMania. And maybe she’ll leave WrestleMania with the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships around her waist. —  JEFF LABOON

MANDY ROSE
Absolution has been on a tear for the past few weeks, and Mandy Rose — who’s been turning heads since she debuted on WWE Tough Enough — could surprise us all by sealing her golden opportunity in the first-ever 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match. A former fitness and bodybuilding competitor, Rose has strength to match her beauty and will have no problem tossing the competition over the top rope and muscling her way to a title opportunity at WrestleMania in this historic bout. — JAMES WORTMAN

SASHA BANKS
Every elite professional athlete gets a few fleeting chances to instantly change their narrative. Sasha Banks is, without question, one of the most accomplished and high-profile Superstars in WWE, but she hasn’t yet shown that she is a true Tom Brady-like closer in the clutch. Her greatest successes, although ample, have often been closely followed with crushing disappointments. 

However, the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match allows The Boss the chance to flip the script as quickly as it takes to throw an opponent over the top rope. Winning the historic match against a stacked field will not only solidify her as the “baddest,” but it would also give her a clear lane to make a WrestleMania moment for the ages. — RYAN PAPPOLLA

SARAH LOGAN
Sarah Logan says she was “born in the woods and raised in the mud.” That survivalist instinct will serve her well in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Don’t be surprised if Logan approaches the 30-Superstar affair with a hunter’s mentality, picking off her opponents one by one, dumping them over the top rope and inching closer to WrestleMania. While we haven’t yet seen much of what The Riott Squad member can do in the ring, look for the Royal Rumble Match to be the stage on which Logan shows what she’s truly capable of. — BOBBY MELOK

BECKY LYNCH
In what was perhaps the most difficult chapter of her WWE career, Becky Lynch found herself the recipient of a savage backstage beatdown courtesy of the debuting Riott Squad in November, and the ambush was so severe that Lynch was on the shelf for six weeks – now there will be hell to pay.

No stranger to throwing down in monumental multi-Superstar matches, Becky is likely to target The Riott Squad early in the bout, and she’s certainly capable of tearing through the much less experienced trio before running roughshod over everyone else. Even prior to being attacked by the dangerous squad, Becky was already one of the most intense Superstars on the roster – and Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan poured gasoline on a flame that was already burning bright. — JON CHIK 

NAOMI
Do you doubt that the glow is a powerful thing? Well, at the first-ever 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match, Naomi will be out to show all 29 of her opponents its full impact as she turns that glow into a golden opportunity at The Showcase of the Immortals.  

The 2-time SmackDown Women’s Champion understands how to win and knows no fear. Without question, she is armed with a dynamic personality and an explosive in-ring style that has taken the entire SmackDown LIVE locker room by storm. Though the “Total Divas” star enjoys her friends, she will have no problem going it alone to survive the type of all-out chaos that the Rumble is sure to bring. — MICHAEL BURDICK