The Peculiar Case Of The Wyatt/Orton World Champ After Mania 33 Odds

In the comments section of the most recent post, the subject of Betfair.com's 'Who Will Be World Champion By The End Of The Show?' WrestleMania market was brought up.

I noticed on Wednesday that Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt had dropped into joint-favouritism. These moves coincided with wagers landing on Randy Orton in Royal Rumble outright markets from Tuesday and beyond. However, as the table below points out, the customers have been continuously betting on Orton ever since the market was first established.

Notice how the customers have been betting on Orton since the early autumn?

As I wrote in the comments section of the other post, after it was suggested that the World Championship match at WrestleMania 33 could end up being Randy Orton versus Bray Wyatt, I don't see how the title can now fit into their potential WrestleMania storyline.

John Cena versus AJ Styles is booked for the Royal Rumble. So, coming out of that show, either Cena or Styles will be the titleholder. I believe it's very close to certain that John Cena will win that match. Then - a fortnight from the Rumble - I predict both Cena and Styles will meet again in the title match of the Elimination Chamber.

I can absolutely envision Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt facing each other at WrestleMania because the groundwork for their split has started. I would not be surprised if the schism occurs on Tuesday night's episode of Smackdown. One again - I simply cannot see how the title fits into the scenario.

It has been reported that John Cena versus The Undertaker is not a sure thing for WrestleMania as Vince McMahon is re-arranging his Mania plans. So, there might be something to the wagers coming in on a Randy Orton Rumble win. Emphasis on the word 'Might'. It's worth remembering  that - at this stage - wagers for Orton to win the Rumble and for either he or Wyatt to leave WrestleMania as champs is not coming directly from the USA. 

I strongly believe the moves in the 'Who Will Leave?' market is due to customers seeing Orton's price dropping and jumping to the conclusion that Orton and Bray Wyatt will be feuding over the strap by Aptil 2nd.  The interest in Orton was coming in long before there was a hint that Vince McMahon has possibly changed his mind on the Mania matches, so - as far as I am concerned - this is all speculative betting. Whether it pays out in the end is another thing entirely.

A look at a 'Who Will Be Universal Champion?' move between January 4th and 9th also points to fans making speculative punts.

Last week's customers  have opted to go with Brock Lesnar leaving the April 2nd event as WWE Universal Championship. I think the reason behind this is a reaction to Lesnar's price dipping. For example, he was backed from 20s into 16/1 at Coral between Wednesday and yesterday morning.

With that said, and to counter my theory, he has drifted out from 12s to 14/1 in Betfair's Rumble winner market.

It's hard to envision Lesnar being in the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania because of the belief that he'll face - and get his win back from - Bill Goldberg on the night. 

There's also the fact that Lesnar's contract has limited dates. He always takes time off after WrestleMania, so I can't see how winning the Universal Title is feasible.

From where I sit - I mildly believe the right option to take in the World Championship market is John Cena. His odds have moved out from the 6/4 they opened at on September 5th. This is thanks mainly to whoever is out there backing Randy Orton.

Betfair's WrestleMania 33 prop bets can be found under Special Bets' over at Betfair.com.