Even during some of WWE’s not-so-great years, fans all over the world look forward to the Royal Rumble. Usually, it’s one night where we can forget about how shitty Raw or Smackdown (depending on the year) is and remember that we know how to count from ten to one every couple minutes. This year will hopefully be no different. It’s Raw’s turn to smell like broiled asshole, but hey, we can still count from ten to one!
This year’s Royal Rumble event comes with a bit of an interesting twist. By the time the Rumble rolls around, we usually have rumors that have come out about the top matches that will be taking place at WrestleMania. We know who the champions will be, we know who the challengers will be, and we know what part-timers will be making their presence felt. It leads to the Rumble winner(s) being easy to predict, or at least allows people to be led in the general direction of knowing who could/should be victorious. That’s no fun. For 2021, things are different thus far. The rumor making the rounds is that Vince McMahon and the WWE Creative Team have yet to finalize plans for any of the “top” matches that will be taking place at WrestleMania in just over two months. That opens the doors to a ton of possibilities. If we don’t know who the WWE Champion will be at Mania, that makes it more difficult to predict a Royal Rumble winner who could go on to challenge said champion.
As I did back in November for AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view, I want to make some predictions for the Royal Rumble, but I also want to have a little bit of fun with things. I’ll be predicting what I think WILL happen, but also listing what would happen if Vince McMahon were to call me tomorrow and give me 100% control over what happens. For some matches, both of those outcomes will be the same. Other matches will see me doing something different entirely.
Before I get to it, I understand that I’m looking at an unfinished card. The men’s Rumble match only has 18 announced entrants as of the time I type this sentence, while the women’s Rumble only has 12 announced entrants. There are, counting the two Rumbles, five announced matches for the show to this point. With Smackdown still to come after this column is posted, we’re undoubtedly going to get more participants revealed, and we might even get another match or two added. I’m under the assumption that we’ll be getting one match added, so I’ll include that here. In fact, I’ll kick things off with the match I think will be announced on Smackdown, just so I can get it out of the way. Here goes…
Big E vs Apollo Crews vs Sami Zayn – Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match
I’ve already discussed the E and Crews portion of this match in a previous column. The addition of Sami Zayn to the mix actually strengthens what I thought was going to happen when it was just the other two having matches against each other. If you remember, I made mention of a newly-heel Crews winning the title, but how that opened the door to questions. That wouldn’t leave Big E with a very lengthy or memorable title reign, but it would free him up for the main event run that everyone is hoping he’ll be getting soon. I was also curious about what being defeated, even by nefarious means, would do for E’s main event run. The casual fan would see him as someone who couldn’t beat Apollo Crews, so why and how would they view him as someone who could beat Roman Reigns? The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to include Sami here. Sami’s the type of heel that everyone hates, and that includes other heels. That means it won’t look strange if Crews heels up on him. What is Sami’s current schtick all about? How everything is a conspiracy against him. What would be an easy way to continue that schtick? If he loses this match to the aforementioned nefarious means. Look at what one match result would accomplish. A heel turn and an Intercontinental Title victory would freshen things up for Apollo Crews, giving him momentum to move forward with. Sami Zayn gets to continue being the annoying “everyone is out to get me” heel that he portrays so well. Big E can move on to the main event, having lost his title without being pinned or being forced to submit. Hell, if E wins the Rumble, he won’t even need his title rematch that WWE loves having again and again, but we’ll see where I stand on that. It’s rare to have a result of a Triple Threat that does so much for everyone involved, but this could be it.
What Will Happen: Apollo Crews Wins (New Champion)
What Should Happen: Apollo Crews Wins (New Champion)
Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler – WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match
Let’s take a look at some facts, shall we? The day of the Royal Rumble will be Asuka and Charlotte Flair’s 42nd day as the Women’s Tag Team Champions. In that span, they do have two successful title defenses, but what seems to have happened with both women? Asuka is in a singles feud with Alexa Bliss, while Charlotte is in a singles feud with Lacey Evans. This isn’t when WWE likes to book Tag Team A against Tag Team B in two singles matches. I’m talking about two entirely different singles feuds. When they won the titles at TLC, people wondered what the point was. Now, they’re wondering the same thing, but… you know… harder. It seems like Asuka has held at least one title every day for the last couple years, partly due to inept booking and partly due to some of the roster’s biggest female stars being on hiatus. Charlotte is always involved in some sort of title picture, so it almost seems like she’s been a champion for years, too, even when she was missing time. If you want them to be in singles feuds, counting Asuka being the fucking Raw Women’s Champion, then let’s have them be singles workers. The pairing isn’t working. The least the company can do is give the tag titles to a pairing that is, for the most part, actually working as a team. With that said, expect WWE to have the champs retain. WWE gonna WWE.
What Will Happen: Asuka & Charlotte Win
What Should Happen: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (New Champions)
Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens – Universal Title Last Man Standing Match
Maybe more than at any other point in his current title reign, I’m seeing people saying that this will finally be the time Reigns loses a match. The last time Reigns lost a singles match was at 2019’s TLC event, when he was defeated by King Corbin in a TLC Match. He has to lose again at some point, right? Right?!? I’m ever-so-slightly torn on this one. Sure, Owens has been built beautifully as a legitimate contender, and the Last Man Standing stipulation can work well in his favor if he can find someone to watch his back and counter the interference from Jey Uso that we know is coming. On the other hand, though, I think it makes a lot more sense for Reigns to look completely unstoppable and unbeatable until WrestleMania, where someone can have a major star-making moment by dethroning him. The problem with that is having Owens lose three title matches in a six-week span. That’s the kind of thing that can kill a wrestler’s momentum. Look no further than when Shinsuke Nakamura won the 2018 Royal Rumble and looked like the hottest act in all of wrestling, only to be unsuccessful at taking the WWE Title from AJ Styles in four matches over a two-month span. What happened to Nakamura after that? Well, he won the United States Title a month later, but he was no longer the hottest act in wrestling, and he hasn’t looked like it ever since. That was two-and-a-half years ago.
A popular prediction I’m seeing from people is Owens winning the title, only for Reigns to be a surprise entrant in the Rumble at the end of the night and winning, giving us Owens vs Reigns again. I’m even seeing some people predicting that scenario plays out, but with Reigns demanding his title shot either on Smackdown or at Elimination Chamber because he can’t wait until WrestleMania. That would free up one of the actual Chamber matches to be for a Universal Title shot at Mania, where someone like Big E, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, or someone along those lines could win. It’s a convoluted story to play out, but it actually makes sense. If Reigns loses the title, his current character isn’t exactly the type to sit back and play the long game. He’s going to do everything in his power to get the title back as soon as possible, and if that means winning the Rumble and using his title shot earlier than most, so be it. I like this idea a lot… I just don’t think that’s where we’re going.
The “WrestleMania Moment” hook is too strong for Vince to ignore. You can really do something special if you have Reigns go unbeaten into the biggest show of the year.
What Will Happen: Roman Reigns Wins
What Should Happen: Kevin Owens Wins (New Champion)
Drew McIntyre vs Goldberg – WWE Title Match
Well… here we go. As Drew McIntyre mentioned during his promo on Raw this week, Goldberg wins titles when he makes returns to WWE programming in the last few years. When he came back at Fastlane 2017, he won the Universal Title from Kevin Owens. At Super Showdown 2020, he defeated The Fiend to win that same Universal Title. Yes, he loses the title a month later in his first defense, but the fact remains that he comes back to win those titles. This one could very well be no different. The WWE Title, after all, is something Goldberg has never held. We all know how seriously the man takes himself and the legacy that he has built in the wrestling business. Would it surprise anybody, whether you’re a fan of Goldberg or if you hate his guts, if this is something he wanted in his WWE contract?
This is another result that I’m kinda sorta torn on. Do we get Goldberg winning a title for the second straight year in the build to WrestleMania, only to lose it at Mania itself? It has been revealed, after all, that he has two matches per year on his contract, so if he does win the WWE Title here, he’s losing it in his first defense, whenever that is. Do we get McIntyre winning, building him up even further, even though he became a true “made man” after the 2020 he had?
What we do know is that this match isn’t going to be long. Goldberg’s longest singles match since returning is his match against The Undertaker at Super Showdown 2019. It went 8:31, and that was about 8:38 too long. It was the drizzling shits, and it almost caused us to go to war with Saudi Arabia right then and there. I just can’t shake the feeling that WWE is going to do something wild and crazy, which could lead to them doing something wild and crazy with the Rumble result. Folks, I’m literally going back and forth in my head about this one as I type these sentences out, and that scares me. It SHOULD be an easy pick to make. It SHOULD be McIntyre retaining.
Ahhh… fuck it… I’m going to throw up a Hail Mary and cross my fingers on top of that. No new champion. Goldberg can return later in the year for a match against Bob Backlund or somebody like that.
What Will Happen: Drew McIntyre Wins
What Should Happen: We go back in time and this match never gets made to begin with
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
It’s difficult to truly make predictions on this match. As I mentioned, there are only 12 announced entrants for the match as of this moment. I know we always get surprise entrants for these matches, and that’s fine, but we usually have something like 20 announced entrants by this point. It is what it is, though.
By now, I’ve seen a good 50 people make predictions for this match. No joke, but somewhere like 42 of them seem to be focused on one of two names… Bianca Belair and Ronda Rousey. Let’s focus on those two names for a moment. I’m on record saying that Bianca Belair is going to be an absolute money-making STAR for the company. I also don’t think she’s ready for this spot yet. She’s getting better at a rapid rate, but to be in a possible marquee singles match at WrestleMania? She’s not there yet. In another year or so, will she be? I would be stunned if she wasn’t ready when WrestleMania 38 rolls around. She is definitely trending in the right direction, even when you just look at the people she’s working with. When she was first called up to Raw, she was facing the likes of Catalina and Jessi Kamea on episodes of Main Event. Now, she’s feuding with Bayley and having matches against women like Natalya. She closed out 2020 with her first main roster title shot, teaming up with Sasha Banks in an unsuccessful bid to win the Women’s Tag Team Titles on the Christmas episode of Smackdown. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if she does win. Don’t get me wrong there. I just think she needs another big year of working with the right people and being in the right storylines.
Ronda Rousey is, of course, a different animal. She’s already an established star in the world of combat sports, pro wrestling included. We don’t even know if she’ll be in the Rumble. We don’t even know if she’ll ever wrestle again! She’s such a big star, though, that she’s one of the odds-on favorites to win the match without even being announced for it. I think the odds of Rousey winning the Rumble are a little better than Bianca Belair winning. WWE is looking for as much star power as they can get for WrestleMania, and there’s obviously a lot of that when it comes to Rousey. There also just happens to be a “dream match” on the table that we’ve never seen before. With all that Ronda did during her one year in the business, she has never faced Asuka. The story writes itself.
I’m not sure about getting a ton of mileage on other outcomes. Becky Lynch is still on the shelf with Roux duty, and we have zero idea when she’ll be back, but a return THIS quickly is not likely. Charlotte won last year’s Rumble, and because it’s Charlotte, you can’t count her out of winning anything. Bayley is always an option, especially with her and Sasha Banks saying that their feud is merely on pause and not quite over yet. WWE loves to push Nia Jax, so I guess it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if she won. Her tag partner, Shayna Baszler, is someone I’d love to see win, especially if Ronda Rousey isn’t coming back just yet. Shayna has already adapted to the main roster nicely, and with Rousey not around, the MMA style Baszler uses really stands out. Of course, this goes out the window if Baszler and Jax win the Tag Titles, as I don’t want to see Shayna take Asuka’s “woman that is involved with every title feud at the same time” spot. What about Alexa Bliss? Mandy Rose? Naomi? Carmella? A debuting NXT name like Rhea Ripley? No pun intended, but this is a very top-heavy Rumble. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind you.
I still keep going back to the draw of having more and more star power at Mania, though. In an era where WWE drives match-ups into the ground, having wrestlers compete against each other week in and week out during their feud, they should take advantage of a first-time match. There just aren’t many of those left right now. Give me Asuka vs Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania.
What Will Happen: Ronda Rousey Wins
What Should Happen: Ronda Rousey Wins
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Now, this is where things get really interesting.
Daniel Bryan. Shinsuke Nakamura. Big E. John Cena. Roman Reigns. Brock Lesnar. Bobby Lashley. Randy Orton. AJ Styles. Sheamus. Edge. Braun Strowman. The Fiend. Keith Lee. Seth Rollins. Goldberg. Karrion Kross. That’s a lengthy list, but it’s not even all the names I’ve seen as predictions for the Rumble winner. It really is crazy to see how many scenarios are out there. If Drew McIntyre beats Goldberg, certain names become the “favorites” to win the Rumble. If Goldberg beats Drew McIntyre, different names become the “favorites” to win. The same can be said about Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens. Just for shits and giggles, I want to use that list of names and narrow it down a bit. Let’s eliminate some people I don’t see winning.
- Karrion Kross can be a big star for the company, but winning the Royal Rumble in 2021? Come on now. He’s still working on trying to win the NXT Title again, as he should be. I do think he’ll be in the 2022 Rumble, even if he isn’t an official member of the main roster yet, but this is too early.
- The Fiend won’t win anything. You know, because he’s dead and all.
- Bobby Lashley is still smack dab in the middle of a United States Title feud with Riddle. They might even have a title shot on the Rumble card itself. Now, if they have a match at the Rumble and Riddle wins the title, Lashley’s chances go up a bit. Even then, I still don’t see it. If Brock Lesnar was still the WWE Champion, Lashley would be one of the favorites to win, finally giving us that “dream match” that people have been waiting for. Last I checked, though, Lesnar isn’t the WWE Champion anymore.
- Goldberg only has two matches on his contract. Using them both up in the same night is an interesting strategy, especially when winning the second match means he needs to have a third match two months later.
- I predicted that Roman Reigns would win his match against Kevin Owens, so I can’t exactly have him winning the Royal Rumble, too, now can I?
- As much as I would love to see it, I think Shinsuke Nakamura needs a little more rehabilitation before becoming a top guy once again. He has spent the last couple years not being on that level, and merely performing well in one Gauntlet Match and changing his entrance music back to what it was isn’t enough. Keep building him up, and we’re probably going to see main event Nakamura later this year.
- Randy Orton is still being haunted by the ghost of a man that he murdered. He’ll be too busy with that.
- As talented as AJ Styles is, I’m beginning to wonder if his days at the top of the roster are done. When was the last time he was a serious main event player? Even when he challenged for the WWE Title at TLC a month ago, people weren’t buying him as someone who was going to beat Drew McIntyre. You’d probably have to go back to the first half of 2019 to see him as someone who could be a WWE or Universal Champion. We’re coming up on 27 months since Styles dropped the WWE Title to Daniel Bryan. I just don’t see it happening, but I’d be happy to be wrong.
From that initial list, it leaves the following names: Daniel Bryan, Big E, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Sheamus, Edge, Braun Strowman, Keith Lee, and Seth Rollins. Nine names. Two names who aren’t even active with the company right now, one who just returned from a lengthy injury absence, one name who could be returning from an injury at any point now, one name who is on paternity leave and may or may not be ready to return yet, and four full-time performers. Let’s go through these names and discuss why I think they’re in a position to win.
- For a while now, we’ve seen the buzz about a Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan match taking place at WrestleMania. Here we are, all these months later, and that’s still on the table. We’ve also seen the buzz that Bryan is transitioning from a full-time performer to more of a part-time guy, so this might be WWE’s last chance to do something special with one of the most beloved workers of all-time.
- Big E is someone who I have mentioned a million times in this role. A ton of you have been mentioning him, too. If WWE split him away from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, it was for a good reason. Being a midcard guy isn’t a good reason.
- John Cena is one of the biggest pro wrestlers of all-time, and is now becoming a huge star in Hollywood. Having him around, even temporarily, provides that star power we were talking about earlier. Having him try to break his World Title tie with Ric Flair can be a major story for WWE to push.
- Brock Lesnar is free to do whatever Brock Lesnar wants. If he is given something juicy enough to work with, he’ll be back, and he’ll be back with a boatload of money given to him. A face Lesnar taking on a heel Roman Reigns has a lot of intrigue, as it is a fresh take on a rivalry that needs something fresh if WWE wants to reignite it.
- WWE has been building to a potential Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus match for a while now. It’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of when. Personally, I’d rather see Sheamus as a face for a bit. It’s something different for him to do, and rushing to him turning on McIntyre isn’t necessary. Draw it out a bit. Have it mean more when it happens. WWE isn’t exactly known for their patience, though, so we’ll see.
- Edge is someone that you know isn’t going to be wrestling a full-time schedule for the next decade. You should take advantage of his presence while he’s around. Coming off of one of the Royal Rumble’s all-time greatest surprises last year, a Rumble win for Edge this year would be a great story. Edge vs McIntyre or Reigns would be an incredible match if you want some icing on the cake.
- As long as he’s under WWE contract, Braun Strowman will continue to be considered for big pushes. He’s got a ton of history with Roman Reigns, but I think the more interesting road is to have him face McIntyre for the WWE Title. We’ve only seen one singles match between the two, and it was a seven-minute (with only four-something minutes airing due to a commercial break) match on Raw in 2019 that ended in disqualification. That was before McIntyre was McIntyre, if you know what I mean. I’d be interested in that.
- Keith Lee is someone that you know is going to get a major push, but you don’t know when it’s going to happen. He’s had a few mini-pushes since being called up to the main roster, but nothing really took hold. As much as WWE has hinted at a Lee vs McIntyre feud, I think it would be incredible to watch Lee and Reigns tear the house down together.
- Seth Rollins was so sick and tired of facing Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio that he went and got Becky Lynch pregnant, just so that he could leave WWE for a while on paternity leave. That’s crazy. Now that Baby Roux has been welcomed to the world, Seth could be returning at any moment. He’s someone that could use something like this to jump start his momentum again.
The latest rumor is that WWE is giving “heavy consideration” to a Rumble finish that “scares the death” out of a rumor source for Twitter user WrestleVotes, who has broken countless stories over the last several months. While not set in stone, you’d have to think that some of those names aren’t going to “scare the death” out of someone. The rumor throws a wrench into my predictions, but I think I’m going to go in a different direction. Until I see that the rumored match finish has been given the official green light by Vince McMahon, I have to stick with my gut. For a while now, I’ve thought Daniel Bryan makes the most sense. Surprise entrants and possible entrants be damned, I think we’re going to get Bryan as the winner, giving us the best possible match for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
What Will Happen: Daniel Bryan Wins
What Should Happen: Big E Wins
Weekly Power Rankings
- Tommaso Ciampa vs Timothy Thatcher: I am a big, big fan of the Fight Pit format. You knew this one would be quality. Both men delivered the hard-hitting action we expected from them, and considering his win/loss record recently, Thatcher winning can be considered a major upset. Ciampa isn’t hurt by a loss at this stage in his career, but Thatcher can be made by a win. We’ll see how the follow-up is on his singles run, but now it seems Ciampa and Thatcher are working together as a tag team. They were thrown together for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeating Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari in a first round match. They now have a big-time quarterfinals match coming up against Adam Cole and Roderick Strong, so it will be very interesting to see what direction NXT goes there.
- Mustafa Ali’s “Replacing Kofi” Promo: Just in case everyone missed his promo last week, Ali got to cut a very similar one this week. He was able to explain, once again, why he and the rest of Retribution are targeting Xavier Woods. It’s good continuity to have him still hold resentment over Kofi Kingston replacing him, which led to the biggest push and moment of Kofi’s career. Now, we’ve come full circle with Kofi being out due to an injury and Ali “replacing” him as an entrant in the Royal Rumble. Bless Mustafa Ali and the work he’s putting in to help Retribution out.
- Edge’s Promo: It shouldn’t be a surprise that Edge is a very, very good promo man. It shouldn’t, but sometimes, it catches me off-guard. I’m used to him cutting the comedy promos. I’m used to him cutting the dickish heel promos. What we’ve gotten from him since his return at last year’s Royal Rumble has been a different side of him. He has been able to cut some great fiery babyface promos, and we got another one this week. A different type of surprise return for this year’s Royal Rumble, but it was laid out beautifully.
- Sheamus vs John Morrison: As tired as I am of the whole Miz and Morrison act, Morrison held his end of the deal in this match. You know Sheamus is going to be physical and punishing, but Morrison was able to match him and deliver some hard-hitting offense, too. The current Sheamus face run is working out better than I thought it would, at least for now.
- The Dark Order: There are some very talented people in the group. Now… and I don’t mean this in a bad or disrespectful way… they’re riding the wave of momentum after Brodie Lee’s passing. It makes perfect sense to push them in the wake of his passing. The AEW fan base is rooting for them now. They picked up another big win on Dynamite, and we’ll see if this extended success carries on.
- Roman Reigns Finally Getting Some Comeuppance: To say he’s been pretty dominant since his return would be quite the understatement. Reigns finally came out on the “losing” side of a segment, being beaten down by Kevin Owens and setting up more build for their Last Man Standing Match. Roman is still the favorite to win, of course, but it’s still good to see him take a hit every now and then.
- The Riddle vs Cedric Alexander Portion Of The Gauntlet Match: Riddle having to take on Shelton Benjamin, MVP, and Cedric Alexander to earn a shot at Bobby Lashley’s United States Title should’ve been something really good. WWE easily could’ve had Riddle go ten-ish minutes against Shelton, something close to that against MVP, and then another ten-ish minutes against Cedric. You could’ve gotten three good matches out of that, and put Riddle over as more than just a goofy stoner. Instead, we got a couple minutes against Shelton, and then mere seconds against MVP. The Cedric portion of the match still didn’t last all that long, but in a very slow week for all the televised wrestling, it was good enough to make the list here.
- Paul Heyman’s “Whoop Yo Ass” Line: Not the whole promo. Just the one line. Heyman being built up by Roman Reigns, saying that Adam Pearce was disrespecting them, leading Heyman to develop some bravado out of nowhere? Funny stuff. Once Heyman puffed his chest out and said he was from New York, I was all in. Hearing the super eloquent Heyman drop the “whoop yo ass” line to Pearce was fantastic.
- Malcolm Bivens Having Something To Do Regularly: Malcolm Bivens is way, way, way too talented to not be on NXT programming every week. The fact that we can go months without even seeing him is a crime. His pairing with Tyler Rust is odd, to say the least, but hey, at least it allows for Bivens to be around. I’d like to see him manage more people, but we all know how WWE feels about managers. I’m not holding my breath for that one.
- Nick Comoroto: I’m not saying anything others haven’t said, but based on his build and look, Comoroto could be pushed as a type of modern-day Bruiser Brody. After making a handful of appearances on AEW Dark over the last few months, Comoroto finally made his debut on Dynamite. He seems to be getting better and more comfortable in the ring. It hasn’t led to any victories, as he lost all seven of his matches on Dark and then lost his Dynamite debut, but it’s something to build on.
This Week’s Playlist: “Free Me” by 42 Dugg… “Unappreciated” by Cash Kidd & Sada Baby… “Tip Toe 4” by Riff Raff & Yelawolf… “Dough” by Key Glock… “The One Time In Houston” by Wale… “The Need To Know” by Wale & SZA… “The Matrimony” by Wale & Usher… “The Hurt Business (Remix)” by Wale, Westside Gunn, Smoke DZA & MVP… “Strictly 4 My Jeeps” by Action Bronson… “Actin Crazy” by Action Bronson… “Baby Blue” by Action Bronson & Chance The Rapper… “WIN” by Jay Rock… “All My Life” by Jay Rock, Lil Wayne & Will.I.Am… “Man Of The Year” by ScHoolboy Q… “Collard Greens” by ScHoolboy Q & Kendrick Lamar… “Studio” by ScHoolboy Q & BJ The Chicago Kid… “Numb Numb Juice” by ScHoolboy Q… “All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA… “LOVE.” by Kendrick Lamar & Zacari… “HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar… “DNA.” by Kendrick Lamar… “King Kunta” by Kendrick Lamar… “m.A.A.d city” by Kendrick Lamar & MC Eiht… “HiiiPower” by Kendrick Lamar… “Opposites Attract” by Kendrick Lamar & JaVonte