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THE ODDSMAKERS WEIGH IN ON WHO WILL WIN THE ROYAL RUMBLE

Bookies Predicting Royal Rumble Glory For Seth Rollins Or Brock Lesnar

The road to WrestleMania 33 will get underway in blockbuster fashion when the Royal Rumble returns to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on January 29 – but who will secure a spot in the main event of the biggest show of the year? Bettingpro.com's Leigh Copson takes a look at the runners and riders.

Twenty years after Shawn Michaels dethroned Sycho Sid to become WWE champion and Stone Cold Steve Austin won his first Royal Rumble match, the WWE is heading back to the 60,000-plus capacity stadium in San Antonio with the intention of making the 2017 Royal Rumble the biggest in the history of this famous event.

But who will win the 30-man over-the-top-rope main event to become one half of the main event for WrestleMania in Orlando, Florida? And will the WWE Universe actually be accepting of this winner after turning their noses up at Batista’s 2014 victory and Roman Reigns’ success in 2015? Let’s be frank, they only cheered Triple H’s 2016 victory because it meant Reigns did not win again.

A popular pick to win the 2017 Royal Rumble would undoubtedly be the recently turned Seth Rollins. The former Shield member was in the form of his career after he became the first man to cash in the Money In The Bank briefcase at a WrestleMania, beating Brock Lesnar at 31 to become champion, but his reign as the number one guy in the company was halted by a serious knee injury suffered during a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland – an injury that kept him out of WrestleMania 32.

Rollins did return to action earlier this year and received huge ovations wherever he went, forcing the WWE to turn him face and embark on a feud that should ultimately see him take on Triple H further down the line. But along the way will there be Rumble success? The bookmakers certainly think so with Unibet currently making ‘The Architect’ its 4/1 joint favourite to win the rumble match.

The other favourite? Of course, that is Brock Lesnar. The former UFC heavyweight champion became the youngest Rumble match winner of all-time when he won the 2003 event, but he has not won this over-the-top-rope match-up since returning to the WWE on a part-time basis in 2012. One of the company’s biggest box office draws, Lesnar will be in one of the high-profile matches at WrestleMania and, at 4/1, the bookies believe that match could be the main event itself.

Finn Balor is next up at 6/1 despite suffering a shoulder injury that forced him to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship just 24 hours after he won it, and he is joined on that price by former winner Reigns, two-time winner John Cena and current Universal Champion Kevin Owens.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles is 8/1 following an impressive first year in the company that has seen him establish himself as one of the top stars, with Dean Ambrose and the legendary Undertake next up at 10/1.

Further down the betting former WCW star Bill Goldberg – who is set to return to WWE on a limited dates or one-off deal – is a 30/1 shot, with The Rock 50/1 to lay the smacketh down at the biggest Royal Rumble of all-time.

And if you fancy a bizarre celebrity pick, current UFC star Conor McGregor is 50/1 to win the Rumble just months after he launched a blistering attack on the stars of WWE. Could ‘The Notorious’ make the jump to professional wrestling and step in the ring with 29 other guys?

 

 

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