WWE: Six Superstars who won multiple Royal Rumble matches.

The Royal Rumble is the prelude for the greatest Spectacle in Sports Entertainment, Wrestlemania, as winners of the PPV (Per-Pay-View) show go on to main event the Show of Shows.

As it were, since the inception of the Royal rumble in 1988, only six wrestling Superstars have won it multiple times which makes it one of the hardest PPV to dominate.

With the Royal rumble just days away,  we want to take a look at the Superstars who have won the show more than once.


Hulk Hogan

Hogan nicknamed Mr America was the first Superstar to become a multi-time winner of the battle royal. He'd live up to his famous tagline which is 'its every man for himself!' as he first won it in 1990 when he last eliminated Mr Perfect.

Mr America celebrates his victory at Royal Rumble 1991.

The next year, he did it again defeating Earthquake to become a two-time winner of the show.


Shawn Michaels

Heartbreak Kid took second place in the 1994 Royal rumble match and made sure that he won the next two editions in '95 and '96.

HBK delivers sweet chain music to friend, buddy.

In 1995, HBK rumbled his way to glory by last eliminating British bull dog to become the first Superstar to win the PPV after being the first entrant and a year later eliminated his buddy, Diesel to capture his second.


Stone Cold

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the only Superstar to have won the PPV thrice.  The Ringmaster is a three-time Royal rumble winner.

Stone Cold celebrates his Royal rumble victory.

Like Hulk Hogan and HBK,  Stone Cold  won two consecutive Royal rumble matches, last eliminating Bret Hart in 1997 and tossing the Rock in 1998.

He'd also win in 2001 when he defeated Kane to capture his third Royal rumble match.


John Cena

The Cenation leader shocked the WWE universe in 2008 after returning from a pectoral muscle tear in less than four months to win the battle royal. The injury was thought to sideline him for almost a year but he returned to last eliminate Triple H .

John Cena defeats The Rock at Wrestlemania XXIX.

After five years, he'd also toss Ryback out-of-the-ring to grab the ticket to Wrestlemania XXIX where he defeated the Rock for the WWE Championship.


Batista

Also known as the Animal in-ring,  cemented his legacy in WWE when he last eliminated John Cena in 2005 to win the Royal rumble after an infamous tie which caused the bout to be restarted.

The Animal basks in his victory. 

After nine years, he returned to claim a shocking victory after last eliminating Roman Reigns to win his second Royal rumble match.


Triple H

The King of Kings also won the Royal rumble twice. He first achieve the feat in 2002 when he last eliminated Cute Angle.

The Game conquered all in his path to claim the WWE Championship.

In 2016, he joined the club of multi-time winners of the Royal rumble match when he eliminated Dean Ambrose and in the process won the WWE Championship.


These Superstars all achieved incredible feats but what's beautiful about the PPV is anybody could win it.

As we itch closer to the Royal rumble, could we have a new entrant into the league of multiple winners of the PPV?

NBA: Can Russell Westbrook match Oscar Robertson's triple-double record for a single season?

Westbrook certainly looks like a man on a mission this season. With the points hurl he churns out every night, it's no longer news that he is in the running for the MVP but what's spectacular about his performances this season is the rate at which he graces the league with triple-doubles.

Russell Westbrook notches his 18th triple-double of the season.

Just last night, he notched the 18th of the season against the Grizzlies in a 85 - 103 victory.

In 1961-62, Oscar Robertson became the only player in NBA history to achieve the feat of posting 41 triple-doubles, the highest posted by any player in a regular season minus the playoffs.

With Westbrook having logged 18 triple-doubles through 40 games, can he match Oscar Robertson's record with 42 regular season games remaining?


Mentally ready Derrick Rose returns in Knicks loss to 76ers.

After making the news for the wrong reasons by absconding from his team just before the game against the Pelicans on Monday night, Derrick Rose seems to have placed all that in the past and returned to the line-up against Philadephia Sixers mentally ready to go.

Sixers' T.J McConnell buzzer beater.

He scored 25 points making 11 of 16 field goal attempts but it wasn't enough on the night as Sixers' T.J McConnell jumper at the buzzer handed the knicks' their 9th loss in ten games.

The basketball world just hopes Rose can get his career back on track and become the elite player we all dreamt he'd become.


Isaiah Thomas delivers for the Celtics in the 4th quarter.

Playing the second of back-to-back games, Boston Celtics could have been forgiven assuming that fatigue was cited as the reason they lost to the resurgent Wizards but Isaiah Thomas wouldn't give in to excuses.

The 5ft 9 point guard came to the rescue as he served up 20 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics rally for 117 - 108 triumph over Washington Wizards at the TD Garden.

Isaiah Thomas hands jersey to long time friend, Floyd Mayweather.

He knocked down a couple of 3-pointers in front of his longtime friend Floyd Mayweather and later joked that 'the Celtics usually win when he's in the building.'

Guess Mayweather brings his goodluck charm to the TD Garden.


The Cavs say recent slump is all down to lack of practice.

Portland Trail Blazers handed the NBA defending Champs their third loss in five games on Wednesday night as they went down 86 - 102 at the Moda center.

On the whole, it was a poor night for the Cavs. They could only make 34.1% of their field goal attempts, 14 assists and 15 turnovers.

Kyrie Irving goes 4-for-16 on a poor shooting night.

Reports say that Cleveland attributes the recent slump to lack of practice time. They last had their practice on Dec. 28 since then, they have been plagued by series of events - a hamstring injury for Kyrie Irving, food poisoning for Kevin Love, a roster-shuffling trade to acquire Kyle Korver and a wild travel day to get to Portland.

It's all been messy but they can look out for a fresh start against Sacramento kings in their next match and get the needed practice just before their second showdown with the Warriors in Oakland.

Premier League: Why does Arsene Wenger have to wait for an action before making a reaction?

I remember those good old days in Secondary school as my Physics teacher taught Newton's laws of motion. It's one of the fundamental laws in Physics that it just sticks to memory if you're someone acquainted with science courses. On Sunday, I kind of saw one of these laws been applied in football albeit wrongly.

To be specific, the law in question is Newton's third law. It states that

'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.'

Arsenal have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Guess what, Arsene Wenger consents to this law but he applies it in the reverse gear. He doesn't take 'the action', he waits for 'the action' to be taken before he reacts and that has been his bane.

At least, this scenario has played out in two of their games this season. Surprisingly, both matches were against the Manchester teams in which they dropped crucial points.

In the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the second half commenced with United on the ascendancy, Mr Wenger just kept watching as United carved chance after chance until they took the lead. It was then he decided to 'react' to the situation, his first substitution was bringing on Oliver Giroud.

That pattern was repeated in the game on Sunday at the Etihad, City came into the second half a much improved side while Wenger continued with the plan of sitting deep and hitting on the counter but their counter-attacking style wasn't effective as they couldn't keep possession of the ball when they won it. With seconds into the second half, City equalised and pilled the pressure from then on, you could sense that they were going for the jugular but poor Wenger, kept waiting till he was punished. City took the lead with a second goal.

Then, Wenger does the usual stuff, 'react' to the situation by introducing Oliver Giroud.

You see, this post isn't about how introducing Giroud in games is the customary way by Wenger to rescue Arsenal, it's about showing that he can be proactive, take the intiative, force the hand of his opponent rather than waiting to react to their action.

Mesut Ozil was anonymous for most part of the game at the Etihad and yet played the entire duration.

It seems he enjoys shooting himself in the foot. Now, they are a whopping nine points off the League leaders - Chelsea.

Well, it isn't new, it's Arsenal doing things the Arsenal way.

If this approach isn't changed, you could be sure that Arsenal fans have another disappointing season on the cards in their attempt to become Premier League Champions again after 13 years.

WWE Roadblock: Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks, who is better?

 "As iron sharpeneth iron, so one sharpens another."  Proverbs 27:17

Sasha Banks was quoted recently as saying that "as much as she despises Charlotte in-person, Charlotte-as-a-competitor brings out the best in her."

Both Superstars have the raised the bar of the women's division so high that they are willing to go any length to prove that one is better than the other but this feud must end before both women are consumed by it.

The Boss tries to break Charlotte's signature maneuver with a steel chair at 'Hell in a cell'.

For the first time in WWE history, a match between two female Superstars was held inside 'Hell in a cell' (The structure itself) last October. Both women gave their all in a fight that lasted about 30 minutes. Eventually, Charlotte won but it never proved to Sasha that the Queen is better.

The Boss requested for her mandatory rematch which was fixed two weeks after in North Carolina - Charlotte's home town. Sasha Banks' relentlessness caused her to reclaim the title as both women pulled out all the stops. She even went a step further to dedicate her victory to Charlotte's father - Ric Flair - who in return endorsed Sasha Banks over his daughter.

Charlotte's father - Ric Flair endorses Sasha Banks.

You could be sure that the move by Ric Flair only got Charlotte irate. She seeks to prove to herself and the WWE universe that she deserves to be the at the top of the food chain in the women's division on Raw.

This feud must end at Roadblock. It's the end of the line for the battle that has been brewing between Charlotte and Sasha Banks.

Roadblock beckons, it's just some days away. Who will prevail? Who will reign supreme?

Premier League: Chelsea show patience and tactical flexibility in win over WBA.

The victory over West Bromwich Albion wasn't as inspiring or entertaining as the victories Chelsea recorded over Everton and Manchester United some weeks ago but what stood out in this fixture is the patience shown by the London club and the tactical flexibility demonstrated by Conte in the latter part of the second half.

Antonio Conte showed his tactical flexibility against WBA on Sunday.

In truth, this might be the most impressive victory of the nine consecutive matches Chelsea have won since their Italian manager implemented the 3-4-3 formation to his side.

One of the hallmarks of Champions is being able to grind results when things don't seem to go their way. In this fixture, Tony Pulis did his homework on the blues and for more than an hour, Chelsea laboured to no avail in breaking the deadlock.

Then came the first substitution which showed Antonio Conte's tactical flexibility, he brought on Willian for Pedro, with Victor Moses moving from the right wing-back to the left flank while Willian occupied the right flank with both Azipilicueta and Alonso switching to full-backs role. Hazard just played slightly behind Diego Costa. It seemed like a 4-2-4 formation.

With the tactical switch not yielding any incisiveness in Chelsea's attack, the second substitution was made with the introduction of Cesc Fabregas for Moses. It seems Conte switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Hazard moving to the left flank and Willian on the right flank while Fabregas played the central attacking role.

Diego Costa's winner against West Bromwich Albion.

Perhaps, these change of formations during the second half may have discombobulated Tony Pulis and his lads as they were hit on a counter. A long punt of the ball by Cesc Fabregas in the path of Gareth McAuley on the right flank who seemed to have the ball under control only to be nudged off the ball by the Diego Costa who then strode towards the goal and delivered an emphatic finish pass Ben Foster.

From then on, it was solidarity in defending. Conte made his final substitution bringing on Branislav Ivanovic for Hazard. Chelsea reverted back to their familiar three at the back with Ivanovic and Alonso playing the wing-back roles albeit the formation was altered to 3-5-2.

Such tactical flexibility and patience will certainly be needed in Chelsea's quest of becoming Champions again as they can't consistently serve up the thrashing of their opponents.

With those two qualities in hand, it looks like Chelsea and Antonio Conte are primed to become Champions come May 2017.

Premier League: Mauricio Pochettino is plotting one of the biggest coup of this weekend.

You guys will all say I was damn right. I saw it coming. Perhaps, I time travelled into the future to watch the game and came back to the present to act assuredly sure that Tottenham will defeat Manchester United this weekend.

Pochettino planing to beat Jose Mourinho - master of mind games.

Who still thinks Mr Mourinho is the Special one these days except for Pochettino?

The Tottenham manager told a news conference that Jose Mourinho will "always be the Special One," and also thinks the Manchester United manager will be remembered as one of football's greats.

I bet you guys, it's all mind games. Just look at the stats, they speak for themselves. Mourinho has earned just 36 points from 30 matches with Chelsea and Manchester United as manager.

According to a Ghanaian witch doctor, Mourinho should ask for Eva Carneiro's forgiveness before his managerial fortunes can improve. 

With all the disappointing results, he claimed of "rats" being in his Chelsea team, to players (Chris Smalling & Luke Shaw) who can't die for the cause at Manchester United, to being confused with player selection (just look at his usage of Mkhitaryan, Mata, Fellaini and Pogba) and can't stop incurring the wrath of the referees and English FA these days.

It's well documented. The Portugese boss has lost his mojo and may find it very difficult to regain with the number of Supermanagers in the Premier League this season.

Super Sunday clash returns this Sunday at Old Trafford.

Then in the midst of all this, we have Pochettino hollering

"He is the Special one, one of the best in the world."

Guys, don't you see what the Tottenham manager is trying to do? I can see it very clearly. Just tell Mr Mourinho all the sweet words, the things he would like to hear. Just don't tell him he is a spent force. Tell him things like he is the best in the world. Allow him to ride that all weekend while you plot the biggest coup with the return Toby alderweireld, a resurgent Christian Eriksen and a confident Harry Kane.

I see an upset on the cards this weekend at Old Trafford, what do you see?

Premier League: Tottenham will face a great psychological battle this weekend as they head to Stamford Bridge.

Psychological battles are a thing of the mind. You could either be weak, strong or in-between which means 'confused'.

As Tottenham heads to Stamford Bridge this weekend to resume rivalries with their London neighbours, one wonders what state of mind they are currently having heading into this encounter.

Moussa Dembele gouged the eye of Diego Costa which earned him a six match suspension last season. 

Last season, in the match that was dubbed 'Battle of the Bridge', Tottenham surrendered a two-goal lead in a must-win match to all but end their title aspirations to a Chelsea team that was recuperating under Guus Hiddink. From then on, it was the begining of the end for the London football club as they crumbled to relinquish second place to Arsenal.

Before their midweek UEFA Champions League clash with Monaco, Mauricio Pochettino deemed the match a 'must-win' encounter only to come up short in France.

The pattern from last season certainly looks similar to the current campaign, 'after a must win match which you somehow conspire to not win, just do the crumbling'.

Antonio Conte and Eden Hazard won Barclays Premier League manager and EA Sports player of the month for October respectively.

Heading into Stamford Bridge where Chelsea have been on a roller coaster lately (vs. Leicester City 3-0, vs. Manchester United 4-0, vs. Everton 5-0) and haven't lost to their London rivals since February 1990, one wonders whether they are psychological prepared for this encounter.

How do they get to recover from being out of the Champions League and go to a ground that has proven to be a hard nut to crack all in a week while their rivals were resting?

How do they play a team that is on song and showing no signs of weakness (haven't conceded a goal in 590 minutes)?

It's safe to say that all the circumstances are against Tottenham heading into this clash. They are four points adrift of the leaders - Chelsea and therefore must win to close the gap or lose and could be saying goodbye to their title aspirations as early as November.

WWE: My thoughts on the Survivor series match: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar.

Your fantasies just became a reality.

Headline for the main event of Survivor series, 'Fantasy warfare just got real' features Brock Lesnar against Bill Goldberg.

The noise about Goldberg started like a month ago during the promo for WWE 2k17. He had an interview on Sportscenter where he commented on returning to WWE and facing Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman reciprocated by accepting the challenge on behalf of his client. Fast-forward some weeks after, and the fight is holding at Air Canada Center, Toronto, home of NBA team Toronto Raptors.

Bill Goldberg appears on Raw for the first time in 12 years.

Seriously, i have my fears for Goldberg in this match. Less than a month isn't enough time to prepare for an opponent like Brock Lesnar. For a guy that is match rusty (hasn't wrestled in the past 12 years) plus senility has caught up with him (Goldberg is 49) to wrestle someone as devilish as Brock Lesnar who is currently fighting in WWE and UFC, I think it's safe to say that the only conceivable reason Goldberg accepted to do this is because WWE offered to reward him handsomely.

Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania XX.

Let's just forget about the bullcrap Goldberg said about wanting his wife and son see him fight in-ring for the first time. I just hope Goldberg doesn't get beat down plus Brock would be determined not to lose a second time following the first loss at Wrestlemania XX.

Finally, I hope the words of Paul Heyman doesn't ring true, 'you will be beaten, victimised and conquered', but I forsee it happening.

Premier League: The conundrum of duplicating the 3-4-3 formation.

In the Premier League, club managers are gradually cloning the 3-4-3 formation as though it's the blueprint for success.

Looks like Antonio Conte has started a revolution of formation in the Premier League.

Since Antonio Conte implemented the formation in the second half of the London derby against Arsenal and has gone on to record outstanding victories in subsequent matches, some managers have started doing the "copycat".

Pochettino took a leaf out of Conte's book to a great effect in the London derby against Arsenal while Ronald Koeman mirrored the formation to the decimation of Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Notably, over the weekend, managers of Tottenham and Everton FC switched from their usual formation to playing three defenders at the back.

In the case of Tottenham,  they left the Emirates stadium feeling satisfied after a 1-1 draw with arch rivals Arsenal while Everton got trounced at Stamford Bridge in a match which could be seen as Chelsea laying down a marker for the Premier League title.

Previously, Slaven Billic stopped the rut at West ham United by switching to three defenders at the back although, results have been mixed since then.

With managers already going the way of Conte's Chelsea, there are questions which are begging for answers. Will managers implementing the three defenders at their clubs, record the same success Antonio Conte has achieved so far at a Chelsea? Do they have the right players and in-game tactics to execute the formation?

Let's know what you think.

NBA: How far can Russell Westbrook carry Oklahoma City Thunder?

Most teams know what to expect when they meet Oklahoma City Thunder but the real question is 'Can they stop what's coming?'

The unrelentless and energetic NBA superstar.

To most, it's a million dollar question. From the Thunder, we all know it's Russell Westbrook coming for the opposing teams since KD left for the Warriors but for very many teams, this guy is a force of nature, a one man wrecking machine that's just unstoppable.

OKC's Russell Westbrook guarding LA Clippers' Chris Paul.

The latest to feel this force of nature is the Los Angeles Clippers. The point guard logged 33 minutes while scoring 35 points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds and 10 turnovers in an impressive 85-83 win at Staples Center but that's not just all the stats, he went 14-of-30 in field goal (FG) and 0-of-7 in 3-point (PT) shooting. That's massive! Simply put, he hogged the ball and singlehandedly willed the team to victory.

Last Friday against Phoenix Suns, Westbrook made 17-of-44 in FG (field goal) and 2-of-10 in 3PT shooting to score 51 points. In comparison to the team stats, he took 50% of the team's FG and 62.5% of the 3PT shots. That's incredible!

This is Westbrook. He wants to win, he's a winner but then, he just forces his teammates to watch him do his thing in awe plus denying them the opportunity to grow individually as players and as a team.

You don't want to be under the hoop when Westbrook does this.

What of Billy Donovan his coach? Is his plan just to get the ball to Westbrook or does the California-born player draw his plan in-field as against his coach?

Early on, the plan seems to be working pretty well as they are yet to lose this season but time will tell how long they can carry on with this.