We are now about three and a half weeks away from the Royal Rumble match.

With one of the most anticipated matches of the year coming near, it is time to attempt to project the field and list what would be ideal for the 2011 Rumble.

The numbers are in no particular order of entering the match or importance of being in the match.

No. 1: Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio is the only confirmed participant so far after his appearance Monday night on RAW. Of course, Del Rio will have a decent showing in the match but will likely not win in the end.

Can we just hope that he will steer clear of Rey Mysterio for his tenure in the match? I'm getting sick of seeing those two fighting each other and nobody else.

No. 2-6: Nexus (Otunga, Slater, McGillicutty, Gabriel, Harris)

Finally, WWE has given the fans a faction that can make a major presence in the Royal Rumble.

Not since DX had the likes of X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws or the Nation of Domination with Faarooq, Mark Henry and others have we seen a large group of people on one side who are booked strong. And no, I did not forget about Right to Censor.

The five members will be there to try and help CM Punk win the Royal Rumble. That's a pretty clear goal and will likely be the major storyline of the match.

No. 7: Big Show

Can you have a Royal Rumble without a big guy like Big Show?

Big Show will have his expected spot of being ganged up on by like six people at once and will look strong until being eliminated shortly after Michael Cole refers to him as the favorite in the match.

It's too bad that Big Show won't win, since he is the only guy ever to be runner-up twice, especially at a time when most runner-ups have eventually won a Rumble themselves.

No. 8: Triple H

We all know that Triple H has been hurt for a while and that he will return to face Sheamus. He was likely waiting for a major moment as opposed to a random RAW. Royal Rumble is about as big as they come.

I'll be rooting for HHH to return and restart that rivalry, but I will pray like hell that he doesn't win the Rumble entirely. Since Sheamus is in the WWE Championship match and may leave Boston with the belt, it isn't looking good.

No. 9: CM Punk

CM Punk is one of the favorites to win this year's Rumble, especially with Nexus by his side. He likely won't come to the ring until late in the match but it would be a good guess that Punk will accomplish one of the few things he has not done in WWE.

No. 10: John Cena

This is up in the air at this point.

We aren't certain about the health of Cena at this point but Cena is a tough individual and it wouldn't be a Royal Rumble without him. Hate him all you like but he is in his home state of Massachusetts and his program with Nexus and CM Punk is too important to the company to see go unnoticed at a major pay-per-view. If he can go, he will be here.

No. 11: Rey Mysterio

Mysterio will have his typical place in the Rumble where he is an underdog but they remind us how he won once upon a time. Mysterio will be close to elimination for a while before eliminating someone out of nowhere. He won't win but he is too much of a mainstay for the match to keep out.

No. 12: King Sheamus

Sheamus has never been in a Royal Rumble match. His only battle royal appearance has seen him win the chance for his first WWE Championship reign. He will be dominant. HHH will come out and ruin that. Sheamus will then come back and eliminate HHH on his own. Remember, people, that the Royal Rumble match is no-disqualification.

No. 13: John Morrison

After having an early Match of the Year candidate on Monday, it is back to the drawing board for John Morrison. Give him a nice showing and build him strong for Elimination Chamber.

No. 14: Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan is a great technical wrestler and can make the Royal Rumble match a lot more watchable than past years. That was proven on NXT this week. What's that? You didn't watch the show online? I can't blame you on that one...

No. 15: Ted DiBiase

DiBiase was also on NXT this week when they had the six Pros in a over-the-top battle royal. DiBiase stayed until the end, when he was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler, who won the bout. DiBiase will likely not be as lucky this time around. With the way he has been booked lately, he could do wonders with a few minutes surviving in the ring before being thrown out as a major contender goes on a rampage.

No. 16: "Dashing" Cody Rhodes

The Dashing One is in dire need of a strong pay-per-view showing. With a good night, it isn't entirely out of the question to have him in the Intercontinental Championship hunt or the Money In The Bank argument come WrestleMania.

No. 17: Kane

I had Dolph Ziggler here until I read the spoilers from the Smackdown tapings. If you haven't seen them and don't want to find out what happened, then I'll just leave this slide like this. If you have read them, you know why there was a swap.

No. 18: Kofi Kingston

Ok, fine. I'll leak something from the Smackdown tapings. Kofi Kingston becomes the new Intercontinental Champion. Translation: he isn't going to win the Royal Rumble. He isn't the Ultimate Warrior or anything...

No. 19: Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett is a big question mark right now. Now that the NXT Season 1 winner has been disowned by Nexus, the group he created, will he have a run as a face? Let's hope not. Will they use his great showing in the cage match on RAW to give him a proper push? Let's hope so.

No. 20: Drew McIntyre

I don't know what to make of The Chosen One. He's beating up Kaval before he gets released, beats up Trent Baretta, whom I can't help to get the same feeling from, and all the while, he is trying to impress Kelly Kelly. He may just be a tweener but it is too unclear right now. McIntyre could do well with a showing here and he may even find himself someone to wrestle in storyline.

No. 21: Ezekiel Jackson

I don't think WWE has any idea what they want to do with Ezekiel Jackson. At least they know that they want him (isn't that right, Shad Gaspard?). Big Zeke is now back on Smackdown and will likely get some eliminations and some face time. He won't win but they'll actually use him to wrestle instead of showing promos about him. So that's an improvement...

No. 22: Jack Swagger

Swagger was absolutely nothing in this company at this time a year ago. Then he won MITB at WrestleMania. Now, he is an "It's True, It's True" away from being Kurt Angle's nephew and needs a storyline to sink his teeth into. He will eliminate some people and lock into some ankles, only to get eliminated by someone like Randy Orton.

No. 23: Chris Jericho

There is nothing to say that Jericho will be back and there is nothing to say that Jericho would show up for the Rumble. But this is a list for people we WANT to see. You can't tell me that if you had a chance at seeing Jericho return that you would say no, right? Stranger things have happened. Remember when nobody thought that Daniel Bryan was coming back?

No. 24: Chris Masters

Yeah, sure. Why the hell not?

No. 25: Skip Sheffield

Remember this guy?

Maybe it was all of the talk for Tough Enough (he was on the $1,000,000 Tough Enough season alongside The Miz) that has made me remember Skip Sheffield. Wouldn't it be nice to see Wade Barrett in the ring with Nexus members, only to see Skip Sheffield return and help fight Nexus? He's been hurt for so many months now that it seems like he should be at least close to ready at this point.

No. 26: Christian

I can't tell you how many people I have heard say that Christian will return and win the 2011 Royal Rumble. This means to me that people want to see him come back. It also means to me that people will never learn. WWE hates booking Christian strong ever since he returned from TNA. This isn't to say that Christian will never be a world champion in WWE but... ok, so that's kind of what I'm saying.

No. 27: Zack Ryder

Are there going to be average guys in there to be thrown out at a moment's notice? Woo Woo Woo, You Know It.

No. 28: Tyler Reks

I still have no idea what his gimmick is. He just seems like an angry dude who is even more pissed because his hair is never in place.

Regardless, there's just something about Tyler Reks that I need to take notice in. They'll book him to stay in there longer than anyone wants him in there (I used to refer to it as the Mike Knox Complex) but there's something intriguing about Reks that makes me feel okay about that.

No. 29: Evan Bourne

Evan Bourne won't be ready for the Rumble, but Bourne will eventually have to take the torch from Rey Mysterio of being the underdog in the WWE. Jumping around the ring like Rob Van Dam was doing randomly two years ago would be similar to how I would picture Bourne to act. He won't win the thing but it would certainly be an intriguing idea to have HIM be the returning superstar to win the Rumble match.

No. 30: Tyson Kidd

Don't get used to it. Tyson Kidd won't be #30 ever.

I just enjoy him as a heel for some reason. His enforcer reminds me of Christian with Tyson Tomko and how well that worked out for him. The luck of being a small guy with a big enforcer will rub off on Tyson Kidd as well. Hell, The Brian Kendrick scored a pinfall in a Championship Scramble match with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line.

Why Others Were Left Out

I left out Santino Marella and his tag partner, Vladamir Kozlov, because I don't feel the need for much comic relief. There is a strong group of people this year and a lot of people in need of some good showings. Besides, Santino is being built up to be strong now and that would conflict with him being historically terrible at the Royal Rumble.

I also left out some young guys who will likely end up filling in some cracks. The Yoshi Tatsus and Darren Youngs of the world may fall into the thirty men because that's usually how it goes. I also wanted to put Beth Phoenix in again, but let's be reasonable here.

I await your criticism, Bleacher Creatures.