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WWE has reached soaring heights in recent months. They have embarked upon record-breaking event after record-breaking event. With SummerSlam just around the corner, that trend is expected to continue, but things will begin to slow down at the culmination of the biggest party of the summer in Detroit.
As we approach the latter half of summer and fall rears its head, viewership naturally declines. The return of the NFL and a number of perceived B-Tier pay-per-view events mean that WWE has the chance to reflect on the records they have set as well as gear up to WrestleMania 40, which takes place next April at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
But the road to the Showcase of the Immortals begins in January, specifically at the Royal Rumble, which is rumored to be taking place at Florida’s 42,000-capacity Tropicana Field. Despite still being five months away, online sports betting websites have already compiled odds on both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches. And there are a number of surprises at the top of the pecking order thus far. Let's take a look at the three men that the bookies feel could be punching their ticket to WrestleMania in January.
Before discussing some of the more surprising front runners, we may as well take a look at the man who is the consensus pick to win the Royal Rumble match, Cody Rhodes. Despite most wrestling fans and pundits feeling like it is a foregone conclusion that the American Nightmare will indeed finish his story in Philly next April, it may come as a surprise to many that he isn’t the favorite. In fact, with most betting outlets, he is as low as the third or fourth favorite, with odds ranging from +500 to +650.
Should Cody successfully manage to defy the odds and win the 30-man over-the-top-rope extravaganza, he will become the first man since Stone Cold Steve Austin to successfully win back-to-back Rumbles. The Texas Rattlesnake managed to outlast his competitors in both 1997 and 1998, and if Rhodes wants to headline back-to-back WrestleMania’s he will have to match that achievement.
Last year, he returned from injury at number 30 before eventually eliminating Gunther to secure the victory. He would go on to face the reigning and defending Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SoFi Stadium back in April, and he was heavily favored to end Roman’s Reign of Terror. In the end, however, it was the Head of the Table who picked up the shocking victory and if Cody wants to finish his story, he will have to do it all over again next year.
Perhaps surprisingly, the current favorite for Rumble glory is the Ring General himself, Gunther. The Austrian-born star has embarked on a record-breaking reign as Intercontinental, and he is just weeks away from beating the Honky Tonk Man to become the longest reigning champion in history. Once he breaks that record, he is expected to drop the strap and turn his attention to the world title picture.
Which title he turns his gaze to however remains to be seen. Without a doubt, the top dog in WWE right now is Roman Reigns. He has reigned supreme on the Island of Relevancy for over 1,000 days and his title reign is expected to continue through to ‘Mania at the very least. However, Gunther has no previous with Reigns and as the pair of them are both heels, the current IC champion may well embark upon the World Heavyweight Championship instead, which is currently held by Seth Rollins.
If you had told us a year ago that two of the most over-stars in WWE would be LA Knight and Dominik Mysterio, we’d have laughed you out of the building. The latter was still just Rey Mysterio’s son and not a whole lot else, while the former was about to enter a feud with the returning Bray Wyatt, a feud that he would somehow exit better than he entered, despite being bodied by the Eater of Worlds week after week.
In recent months, LA Knight has been receiving the loudest reaction from anyone in the company. Fans the world over have been clamoring to see the former Impact Wrestling star succeed, and if the betting odds are to be believed, Triple H and Vince McMahon may well be listening. In recent weeks, odds on the California sensation winning the Rumble have been slashed to as short as +400 with some outlets, and should he continue to receive the same reactions throughout the fall, those odds may drop further.
Knight’s rise to prominence is a strange one. As we mentioned, his feud with Wyatt was designed to put the returning former World Champion over however, it hindered him more than it did his adversary. Then, since WrestleMania, an event that Knight didn’t even feature in, his reactions have gone through the roof.
Fans expected him to win the recent Money in the Bank ladder match in London, a match that was eventually won by Damian Priest much to the dismay of everybody in attendance. He then lost to Rey Mysterio in a number one contender’s match for Austin Theory’s United States Championship. But despite all the disappointment, Knight is as over as ever, and his crowning moment may well be just around the corner.
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