In this edition we've contrasted our top five picks to win next year's Royal Rumble. We plan to revisit these Rumble rankings on a regular basis all the way into late-January.
So, without further ado, here are our top 5 predictions for the Rumble in descending order.
Number 5
Bookie: Kevin Owens is my wild card pick to win the Royal Rumble. I think he could get help from Sami Zayn. If it isn't Nakamura, Owens could be the next guy in line to challenge for AJ Styles' championship and possibly build to the best friends exploding at SummerSlam 2018.
Blogger: Bobby Roode has been my wild card ever since he was brought up from NXT to Smackdown. I wouldn't have considered him if he had joined Raw.
Number 4
Blogger: My long-list is Smackdown heavy. So, to balance it out, I've put Seth Rollins in fourth. Unlike every other person in the top five, I have not bet on Rollins.
Bookie: I have to put Braun Strowman in fourth because he's the most over guy in the company even though they hurt him by having him lose to one F5 in the Lesnar match. Strowman has been booked so strong that I believe he could be in a title match if WWE goes in an unlikely direction by having a Shield triple threat match.
Number 3
Bookie: You can't count John Cena out.
Blogger: If you had asked me to do this yesterday, the person I have in number two would have been here instead. I have Roman Reigns in third place. We know he's reportedly set to meet Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, so one route is to have him win the Royal Rumble and earn his title shot that way.
Number 2
Bookie: Roman Reigns has to be on this list because he's Vince McMahon's pet project.
Blogger: I have forced myself to put Shinsuke Nakamura in second place especially with AJ Styles walking around as WWE Champion. If the title lands back on Jinder Mahal before the battle royal, it should mean..
Number 1
Blogger: John Cena. WWE definitely had a plan for Cena and Jinder Mahal to interact at the Survivor Series, but this was obviously changed with the Mahal vs Lesnar match scrapped now that AJ Styles is champion. I think Mahal will cost Styles the victory against Lesnar this Sunday and their feud will recommence. If Mahal hasn't regained the strap by December 18th, I think it'll be safe to start moving Cena down the list. Until then, I'm sticking.
Bookie: I had Shinsuke Nakamura pencilled since Money in the Bank when Styles and Nakamura interacted during the ladder match. Now that AJ Styles has won the WWE Championship earlier than expected, I think they might go this way.
As noted above, this is the first in a series of 'Bookie .vs. Blogger' posts. We plan to frequently contrast our Royal Rumble Rankings and predictions for upcoming WWE events. The Bookie will also make visits to the comments sections to elaborate on his thoughts and respond to feedback.
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As noted above, this is the first in a series of 'Bookie .vs. Blogger' posts. We plan to frequently contrast our Royal Rumble Rankings and predictions for upcoming WWE events. The Bookie will also make visits to the comments sections to elaborate on his thoughts and respond to feedback.
I find it interesting that Rollins is currently 6/1, when its very difficult to think of a path/reason for him to win the rumble. It is quite similar however, to the situation with Randy last year, where he had no clear path, but his odds were right up there with the likes of the favorites about this far out.
ReplyDeleteRollins is right up there because that's where he opened.
DeleteFor example, he was 6/1 when Paddy Power priced up on February 1st and 5s when Kambi's market was published before that.
Rollins will win Rumble, but not this year. If SHIELD will be together until Rumble, there is more point in Reings win.
DeleteIf SHIELD will break before Rumble, it more possible Ambrose - Rollins at Mania. So, so Rumble win
I agree with Jason comment we didn’t see Orton coming but this is even more unlikely I like the comment before about Rollins ambrose but I think they might be tag champs going to mania maybe against a new tag team tease for mania guessing
DeleteReally enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next one
ReplyDeleteThanks Marc.
DeleteCheers Marc
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