WWE has confirmed Cody Rhodes as a participant in the 2023 Royal Rumble battle royal.
Rhodes had recently appeared on the poster for next week's event. However, during last night's episode of Raw, the company aired another video package showing Rhodes rehabbing the pectoral muscle injury that has shelved him since mid-2022.
The clip closed with Rhodes announcing that he'll be returning to action on Saturday January 28th.
Rhodes has been a betting favourite to win the Royal Rumble more or less since he returned to WWE at last year's WrestleMania. He has topped markets consistently since his last in-ring appearance in June.
For example, Paddy Power listed Rhodes at 5/1 in its Rumble market shortly after the WrestleMania 38. Following Rhodes last couple of appearances for WWE, in early-June, customers of Paddy Power would have found him an odds-on favourite with a price of 5/6.
Another European oddsmaking company - Kambi - listed Rhodes as a 7/1 second-favourite when its Rumble market was available on the weekend of WrestleMania 38. A week after his injury, Rhodes was priced as Kambi's 7/4 favourite.
Sky Bet currently lists the favourite at EVENS. Interestingly, this is slightly up from the 4/5 customers could have grabbed him over the summer.
Overseas bookmaker - BetOnline - opened its market in the latter part of June. At the time, punters would have seen Rhodes a +125 favourite. The selection has since declined and is now odds-on at -160.
The only other two names close to Rhodes, from a betting perspective, are The Rock and Sami Zayn.
For the former, customers have sided with the prospect of Dwayne Johnson winning the Rumble as a way to segue into a dream match with his cousin - Roman Reigns.
Paddy Power's market, which opened in February of 2022, kicked off with The Rock available at 18/1. The selection is now a 2/1 third-favourite behind 15/8 Zayn, who has descended from February's 80/1 due to his participation with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline faction - in my opinion, one of the best storylines that has been written in pro wrestling for quite some time.
BetOnline launched its Rumble market in June with The Rock a +550 second-favourite and Zayn at +5,000. As of the time of writing, Zayn is seated in second position at odds of +200 while a win by The Rock would now pay out at +400.
In the most recent post, I briefly mentioned that Rhea Ripley has become the betting favourite to win the Women's Royal Rumble.
After starting out 14/1 in Paddy Power's market back in February, The Judgement Day member is now 13/8.
Interest in a Ripley win has occurred with Sky Bet and Kambi. In the former's case, Ripley has moved in from 9/2 into 5/4 between July and today while Kambi has adjusted Ripley's odds from 9/2 into 6/5 between April and this month.
BetOnline has cut Ripley's odds from +600 into +100
Becky Lynch had been the earliest favourite to win the match. I would surmise this was due to the belief that Lynch versus Ronda Rousey would take place at WrestleMania. However, reports state that a meeting between the two wrestlers is no longer planned.
As a result, Lynch has become the consensus second-favourite with all firms.
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