Reigns' Rumble Odds Fall & More

Last night's WWE Raw has opened up the floodgates.

Roman Reigns is now the bookie's favourite to win this year's Royal Rumble following the announcement made at the close of yesterday's show that the current WWE Champion will 'defend' his title within this year's match.

The biggest drop of the night came with Reigns' odds at PaddyPower.com. They have fallen from 14/1 to EVENS.

Even though he now sits on top of every bookmaker's list, he's far from favourite in my opinion. The match has to end with him being screwed out of the title to set up what ever is planned for WrestleMania.

The obvious choice is the same name I have been throwing around for weeks - Triple H. Yes, I have been weakening on my opinion that he would win the Royal Rumble following the news that The Rock is returning to WWE in time for the big event in April. With no Reigns versus Triple H match on the Rumble card, I'm preparing myself to jump back on the 'Triple H to win the Rumble' bandwagon.

Sort of.

There are still numerous scenarios that could play out in less than three weeks. Another route this could go is have Triple H cost Reigns within the match and for somebody else to leave the event as WWE Champion.

See, I'm not totally on the bandwagon again just yet.

In my opinion, the other runners worth watching are now Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and The Undertaker. All three, along with Triple H, have been linked to a Roman Reigns WrestleMania match since the Mania speculation has gotten underway.

The best odds for all of these wrestlers - and even Reigns - to win the Rumble are:

Reigns 6/4 Bwin
Lesnar 5/2 Stan James (Now owned by Unibet.com)
HHH 5/1 Ladbrokes
Cena 9/1 Bwin
Undertaker 33/1 Sky Bet

The Undertaker's price has taken a hammering at Ladbrokes this afternoon. He had originally been priced at 40/1, but is now down to 16s.

It had been reported that Reigns versus Undertaker was one of the matches talked about for April. Personally, I do not think it'll happen but have backed Undertaker to win the Rumble as a precaution. After all, I am the person who didn't think AJ Styles and especially Shinsuke Nakamura would wind up in WWE.

The reason why I have a low expectation of a Reigns versus Taker match is because WWE want Reigns to be cheered. It's apparently one of the reasons why they didn't put the strap on a heel Dean Ambrose in November as they felt the audiences would side with the bad guy over the babyface they want as the top attraction. The WrestleMania crowd is a hardcore fanbase and there is no way they'll cheer Reigns over The Undertaker.

With that said, if the company does go in that direction and have Reigns defeat Undertaker for the title at WrestleMania, they have a built-in story set for the next meeting between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns where they can draw similarities to the pair having been the only two to defeat The Undertaker on the WrestleMania stage.

Last night has given us more questions than answers. As a wrestling fan, that's a good thing. But, as for us fans who likes to bet on wrestling, that's something else.