Stewart: 2024 Royal Rumble Preview

Sadly for many the photo at the beginning of this story might end up being just click bait as some new reporting has come out about the possible main events of WrestleMania and those main events won't include Cody Rhodes.

We're only starting the road to WrestleMania with the Royal Rumble. The WWE Royal Rumble match is my favorite annual match and it signifies the true beginning of the road to WrestleMania, WWE's signature event. For those who don't know, the Royal Rumble was the creation of Pat Patterson around 1987, making it's debut on the USA network in January of 1988. The Royal Rumble match itself is the centerpiece of the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, featuring 30 WWE Superstars, who enter the ring at timed intervals. The objective is to eliminate opponents by throwing them over the top rope, with the last remaining Superstar being declared the winner and earning a championship match at WrestleMania.

Joe Murray and I previewed the Royal Rumble PLE coming to Peacock Network this Saturday night and we talked about RAW moving to Netflix in 2025, The Rock sitting at the head of the table in the board of directors room at TKO, Seth Rollins not giving up the RAW World Championship and the face to face promo between Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.

Who might be a surprise in the Men's Rumble match?

Stewart: Joe Murray. Who do you see as a surprise? And this counts the Rock as a surprise because he hasn't been listed. He's not an official entrant, but, who do you think would be a good surprise for the Men's Royal Rumble match?

Joe Murray: I have three. I'll make them quick. Big E. Andrade and I always use Matt Cardona because maybe they'll use him for a night. He's my guy. So I got to do that. Surprise! Announcer Jim Ross.

Stewart: Oh, that's an interesting one. So I would say surprise announcer would be Pat McAfee. I would say Big E is a good one. I would say Brock would be a good surprise. The Rock is considered a surprise. You know they're in Tampa, John Cena, could come right in. Ken Shamrock. Rey Mysterio is due back, so I could see that one. I don't think MJF is a surprise. I think MJF is so banged up and, you know, time off or whatever, but I don't know that, and I don't see Okada being a surprise because he's over in Japan. He's finishing up with New Japan Pro Wrestling. I know that there's some online scuttlebutt that he's going to WWE. He's going to start in NXT if that's the case. And this isn't new reporting, this is just what I've not only read but confirmed through my own people. And next is if he's going to NXT. They don't know what the creative staff does not know that Okada's showing up in NXT.

Royal Rumble PLE Picks:

Men's Rumble Winner: Stewart - Cody Rhodes - Joe Murray - Gunter

Women's Rumble Winner: Stewart - Bayley - Joe Murray - Nia Jax

WWE Championship Match Winner: Both agree - Roman Reigns over Randy Orton, AJ Styles, L.A. Knight

US Championship Match Winner: Both agree - Logan Paul retains over Kevin Owens

James Stewart is the executive producer of the Felger & Mazz program on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Send any issues you have with his takes to Felger@985TheSportsHub.com. Follow him on Twitter @IAmJamesStewart.

Before we begin: some background. I've submitted a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot ever year for a while now. If I'm not mistaken, this is the 21st year in which I have cast a vote. My election patterns have probably changed without me even knowing. If you look hard enough, you'll undoubtedly find inconsistencies with me as you would anyone else.

So let me get this out of the way so we can have a half-decent discussion: on those matters, I'm guilty as charged. OK?

Now, that said, let allow me to make some general things clear with regard to my Hall of Fame voting. First, I'm a "small Hall" believer, which means I believe that the Hall of Fame should be for the one percent of the one percent of the one percent. I'm not interested in All-Stars. I'm interested in All-Timers. Generally speaking, that requires high peak performance and some measure of longevity. I don't go by WAR. (If we're just going to do that, why even have an election?) In addition to the numbers, I rely significantly on my eyes. The reason I have a vote is because I watched a lot of baseball and talked to a lot of people in and around the game. The eyes and ears are supposed to count for something significant, too. That's the whole point of a vote.

Finally, I don't penalize for steroid use based solely on ethics. We all know that there are already guys in the Hall of Fame who used steroids. The entire era was tainted. Numbers were grossly inflated to the point where players with at least 3,000 career hits and/or at least 500 career home runs (Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire) have been denied. Through all the mud of the last 20-25 years, this has all became one big judgment call.

So here's my judgment:

Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.

Was he a great teammate? No. Was he a great outfielder? No. Was he a great base runner? Hell no. But his skills in the batter's box were so downright prolific that everyone repeatedly put up with all his deficiencies. In the 15 years from 1995-2009, Ramirez' teams made the playoffs 11 times. He appeared in 23 playoff series. He was a career Triple Crown winner, which is to say he won a batting title, RBI title and home run title. He was a World Series MVP (2007) and a centerpiece on the the 2004 Red Sox, one of the most historic teams of all-time. Personally, I think there are a lot of similarities between Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera, who will be voted into the Hall of Fame in five years. Manny could hit whether he was on steroids on acid. If you watched him, you knew that. Case closed.

Tell you what: in your mind, draw up the perfect ballplayer. Me? I'd want an athletic shortstop with speed and quickness - but with the size to hit the ball out of the Grand Canyon. Ideally, I'd prefer someone who showed up in October like David Ortiz - and Rodriguez did not - but, again, his overall body of work is so eye-popping that there is simply no way of denying his greatness. Like Ramirez, he got suspended for steroid use. Does this make him any dirtier than anyone else from that era? Love him or hate him - and there are reasons for both - A-Rod wasn't just one of the game's best players. He is one of the game's true titans. That he, Ramirez, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not in the Hall of Fame is an embarrassment, especially when (ahem) many others are. (Use your brain.) The steroid era turned this all into a political argument. Some players performed at an indisputably high level before, during and after the steroid epidemic. Maybe they used throughout. But I'm going with my eyeballs.

As we all know, this year's class will include Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton, all of whom were elected yesterday. So that leaves me as one of the relatively few who had zero inductees on his Hall of Fame ballot this year. Does that make me an idiot? Probably. (This hardly qualifies as news.) But it's also proof that the system works. Over the last 21 years, I've been on the right side of the vote many, many times. I was bound to end up on the wrong side sooner or later.

Now the specifics: in my mind, there has rarely (if ever) been a ballot as deep as this one, with as many legitimate, bona fide candidates. I may regret omitting Carlos Beltran, who was one the best, most complete and dangerous players (look up his October numbers) I have ever seen. (I may commit the sin of adding him going forward after omitting him thus far. I am preparing for the firing squad.) Gary Sheffield is another toughie, but he spiked late in his career and was a poor defender. Bobby Abreu, to me, was a knock-off of Juan Soto, but his peak years were great enough and he didn't last long enough. The list goes on.

So, who a not on Beltre, Helton and Mauer? Frankly, I liked them all as players, but I never considered them true all-timers. Certainly Beltre finished with more then 3,000 career hits - just like Craig Biggio, whom I also voted no on. Serious question: how many times was Beltre even the best player on his team? Helton's career OPS outside of Colorado was roughly .200 lower than his numbers on the road, where his batting average was .287. (I didn't vote for Larry Walker, either.) And as for Mauer, well, he certainly was skilled as a hitter. He also spent the final half of his career as a first baseman and designated hitter and hit more than 13 home runs only once. That's right. Once. (He was listed at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds.) Frankly, I'm more inclined to vote for Buster Posey.

Does that mean any of those suck? No.

But again, the majority has spoken.

I'm just not among them.