What a difference a week can make. When we last checked in with the wonderful world of literally gambling on the outcome of pro wrestling matches, the odds-on favorite to walk away as the winner of Sunday’s Royal Rumble match was Braun Strowman. That was a change from the opening favorite of The Undertaker, and a few days ago, Bill Goldberg took the lead. but as is usually the case with wrestling gambling, we all expected a dramatic late swing in those odds as news began to leak out and we got closer to game time.
At the risk of not wanting to spoil anything for anyone in case you haven’t read the most recent rumors and reports regarding speculative booking decisions regarding the Rumble and potential WrestleMania 33 matches, we gotta go ahead and give you a big ol’ possible spoiler warning here. So while these odds are as locked in as anything else regarding WWE plans (which is to say, not very locked in), go ahead and read on at your own risk.
Okay.
Since the reports have come out that WWE is considering having Randy Orton win the Royal Rumble and possibly face an Elimination Chamber-winning Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship, the odds have swung to reflect those rumors. And suddenly, as though appearing unexpectedly, Randy Orton is your betting favorite to win the Rumble match. The Undertaker and Goldberg are still close behind him, however.
Here are the current top 10 betting favorites according to Sky Bet, in order from most likely to least likely by odds.
- Randy Orton, 10/11
- The Undertaker, 4/1
- Goldberg, 4/1
- Finn Bálor, 11/2
- Braun Strowman, 11/2
- Samoa Joe, 6/1
- Chris Jericho, 9/1
- Brock Lesnar, 14/1
- Sami Zayn, 16/1
- Bray Wyatt, 16/1
The prop bets for the Rumble, which are always fun, still have Strowman as the overwhelming favorite to have the most eliminations in the match, which is one of the safest bets in history, probably. The people most likely to be surprise entrants in the match, based on their odds, are Bálor, Kane, Kurt Angle, Tyler Bate, Triple H (at even odds), and Shinsuke Nakamura.
So there you go. Vegas thinks it’s gonna be the Viper. But take heart: maybe they’re just hearing voices in their heads and they got confused.
