How Jey Uso And Charlotte Flair Were Backed Leading Into The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble

It's almost twelve hours removed from the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble and one of the main talking points coming out of the event is Jey Uso's win and the odds potential gamblers could have found for him in the months, weeks and hours leading into the show.

As I mentioned in the most recent post, which was published shortly after the PLE ended, Uso was available at +1,800 in BetOnline's Rumble '25 outright markets on November 26th. 

His peak came on and around 25th January when BetOnline pushed the Jey Uso price up to +6,600. This coincided with Uso set to face Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship later that evening on Saturday Night's Main Event.

By Thursday of this week, Uso's price had dropped into +2,500 and then - sometime in the early hours of yesterday morning - his selection was backed again, forcing BetOnline's system to temporarily take Uso off the board before readjusting the eventual winner into +2,000.

Uso remained at +2,000 right through to the close of the market at 11PM GMT.

Following the result, I noticed speculation on social media that the 66/1 price may have been a 'record' for WWE betting. From the top of my head, I can recall Mansoor was also 66s to win the 50-man battle royal which took place at WWE Super Show-Down in 2019, so - Jey Uso's win at least tied THAT price.

But, just like with Uso last night, Mansoor's price was shorter by the time the market closed for that match.

The Women's Royal Rumble winner was easier to follow.

BetOnline's market for the female version of the match was installed in December. At the time I began to keep record of each selection, Charlotte Flair was a +275 joint second-favourite alongside Rhea Ripley (this was slightly over a month before Ripley regained the Women's World Championship). 

Unlike with Jey Uso's selection, which went up before a late drop, Flair's selection went in one direction - down. 

As you'll be able to see, by yesterday's closure, Flair was the odds-on favourite to win the match. Her price fell from +100 into -200 between the evening of Thursday 23rd January and the following afternoon. That would have been hours before Flair confirmed her place in the Rumble in a video which aired on the 24th January episode of Smackdown.

The final price I have for the eventual winner is -500. After starting out the final day of wagering at -375, Flair's selection fell into her closing number early yesterday evening and remained there until the 11PM GMT cut-off.

BetOnline's 2025 WWE Royal Rumble markets were published in late 2024 and were available right through to 11PM GMT on Saturday 1 February. All prices were collected from the BetOnline Website on the dates noted.

Jey Uso Wins 2025 WWE Royal Rumble

Jey Uso has just won the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble.

From a betting perspective, it should come as a surprise because he closed at +2,000 in BetOnline's outright Rumble winner market.

It is worth noting that Uso was backed on Friday night because his price was at +2,500. There was a period in the early hours when the sportsbook had taken Jey's selection off the board.

The selection had returned by the time I accessed the website at 10:15AM GMT. 

UK sportsbook - Sky Bet - also had Uso at the equivalent of +2,000 when its market closed ahead of the PLE's start.

Uso started off at +1,800 when BetOnline's market was first installed in November, but had drifted out to +6,600 around the time when he was set to challenge Gunther on last week's edition of Saturday Night's Main Event.

Earlier in the evening, Charlotte Flair won the Women's Royal Rumble as an odds-on favourite.

2025 WWE Royal Rumble Betting Favourites

Here are the betting favourites for the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble event.

• Cody Rhodes
• Charlotte Flair (Women's Royal Rumble)
• CM Punk (Men's Royal Rumble)
• #DIY

The selections are ranked in order of strength starting with the wrestler with the shortest odds that were available from the BetOnline Sportsbook.

Punk Now Odds-On At BetOnline

CM Punk is now an odds-on favourite - with BetOnline -  to win tonight's Royal Rumble.

As of 10PM GMT, customers could find Punk at -400. He was at +100 earlier this evening, but was a +190 joint second-favourite when I looked over the markets this morning.

This morning's favourite, John Cena, is now up to +240.

Charlotte Flair remains at -500 in the market for the Women's Royal Rumble.

View BetOnline's Markets

Punk Now Rumble Favourite At BetOnline

In a brief update to this morning's post, the BetOnline Sportsbook has now placed CM Punk as its favourite to win the Men's Royal Rumble.

Punk, who was a joint +190 second-favourite this morning, is now at +100.

As a result, the previous favourite - John Cena - has drifted out from +100 to +150.

The top portion of the market now looks like this:

In this morning's post, I noted that Punk had become a favourite to win the battle royal with betting sites across Europe. 

View BetOnline's Wrestling Markets

A Saturday Morning Look Over BetOnline's WWE Royal Rumble '25 Markets

BetOnline's markets for this year's WWE Royal Rumble were first installed in November when the company published an outright market for the Men's Royal Rumble. The oddsmakers followed that up, around about a week later, when they opened a book on the Women's Royal Rumble.

Both markets are still available as of this morning. They have also been accompanied by odds for the two other matches that have since been added to the card.

BetOnline's market for the WWE Tag Team Championship match - which will see DIY defend the straps against former titleholder, The Motor City Machine Guns, in a two-out-of-three falls contest.

I first came across the market on Tuesday afternoon. At that point in time, the champions were priced as -700 favourites over Shelley and Sabin (+400).  I returned to the website later that day and noticed the odds for the challengers had slid into +300 while those for Gargano and Ciampa has moved up to -500.

By the following afternoon, close to twenty-four hours after initially seeing the market, I once again noticed the Motor City Machine Guns selection had shortened. BetOnline had them at +200 with their opponents up to -300.

As you'll be able to see in the table above, the odds for DIY had dropped into -500 when I visited the BetOnline website yesterday morning. However, on the first viewing for today, I noticed their odds had moved up to -400.

When DIY's price moved in, the Motor City Machine Guns' selection was pushed out to +300, but was cut into +250 overnight.

Betting for Cody Rhodes' defence of the Undisputed WWE Championship - in a ladder match against Kevin Owens - also began early this week.

Rhodes was -1,500 initially, but - as you'll be able to view below, he has been backed down into -4,000 as the week has progressed.

Those looking to back Kevin Owens will presently find him as a +900 underdog. That number is up from the +600 he was on Tuesday afternoon.

BetOnline's market for the Women's Royal Rumble winner was installed in early December with Becky Lynch a +200 favourite. She is no longer in that position due to bets appearing to come in on Charlotte Flair who was a +275 joint-second favourite in December but is now an odds on -375 favourite.

Charlotte Flair will be entering the ring for the first time in over a year as a participant in tonight's match.

Lynch, who has not been confirmed for the match but remains with the company because she was at a WWE/Netflix press event in the latter part of 2024, is still available to gamble on. However, her price has now been increased to +450 and sits below Flair, Bianca Belair (+250)  and Iyo Sky (+325) in the upper part of the table.

Bianca Belair, who has been talked about as a potential future opponent for Rhea Ripleys Women's World Championship, was +350 when the selections were initially published. Iyo Sky's price has plummeted from +10,000 since December.

Now, onto the first market which was published.

John Cena was BetOnline's outright favourite to win the Men's Royal Rumble, with a price of +375, back in November. The retiring superstar - who has set his sights on winning his final Royal Rumble in order to main event his last WrestleMania as an active participant - is back at the top of the market albeit with odds of +100 following a period when Seth Rollins was favoured.

It's worth noting that, over here in Europe, the betting favourite is CM Punk following a surge over the past few days which saw Cena drop into second.

Punk is BetOnline's joint second-favourite at +190. He was a sole fave, with a price of +400, in November.

Seth Rollins is the other second favourite in BetOnline's market. As noted, there was a time when the sportsbook positioned Rollins as the favourite. And an odds-on one at that. 

Roman Reigns is fourth in the betting. As of this morning, those looking to back him can find The OTC at +300. He was +700 back in November.

It's worth acknowledging Reigns (do you see what I did there?) is third in the betting on European sportsbooks' websites. I have created a table contrasting the positions at the top of BetOnline's market to the consensus of European books.

As you can see - The Rock sits fourth with both BetOnline and the combined European books I've used to create the consensus.

BetOnline listed The Final Boss' selection as a +600 third-favourite when its market was created last year. He has since drifted out and is currently +1,000.

Tonight's event begins at 11PM GMT. I hope to add some more posts bearer to bell-time.

Visit BetOnline's Wrestling Markets

My Rumble 2025 Favourite(s)

We're more than a day away from finding out who this year's Royal Rumble winners will be, so I thought I'd do my semi-annual post where I write about the bets I have going into the two battle royals.

This year is an unusual for my wagering. That's because, as I write this post on Friday morning (hours before tonight's Smackdown, I should add), I have only ONE bet on for this weekend.

It's a 4/1 (+400 US) wager on John Cena to win the men's Royal Rumble. The bet was struck in the latter part of 2024. 

Regular visitors are sure to know that, over the years, John Cena and The Rock have always been the first two selections I seek whenever Royal Rumble outright markets are published. The former is one I have done the most because I have strongly believed WWE would go in the direction of Cena having a run to break the 'record' of sixteen world titles.

Quite a while back, I had a spirited debate with somebody in the comment section of a post here on the blog about Cena going for 17. The commenter was adamant WWE would not do the record chase story. It's more obvious now, in Cena's final year, the company will indeed write that narrative.

The elephant in the room with this idea, however, is the fact that Cena could fall at the Rumble and enter the last chance saloon - through an Elimination Chamber victory - in four weeks from tomorrow night.

At the time I placed my wager on Cena, I had discounted Cena .vs. Cody Rhodes because I felt Rhodes' WrestleMania opponent would be The Rock. My opinion at the time was Cena would go after the World Heavyweight Champion - Gunther.

As of right now, the reported potential WrestleMania matches have Cena challenging Rhodes and for Roman Reigns to wrestle CM Punk.

Which leads me to some out there ideas I have which contradicts those news reports. Some have been re-erupted after seeing CM Punk and Cody Rhodes having a promo together on Monday night.

In yesterday's post, I wrote about the BetOnline sample study which points to over half of the US favouring John Cena for the Rumble win. The next person liked by the US public, per the research, is CM Punk.

I keep being drawn into thinking what the favour Paul Heyman now owes CM Punk after the latter helped the Bloodline win at the Survivor Series will be. The conclusion I keep reaching to is the favour will result in Heyman delivering Punk one of the things he has clamoured for in his career as a professional wrestler - to main event WrestleMania.

There are a number ways to get there, but the one which I fantasy booked is for Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble, thus setting up a third consecutive WrestleMania contest between Reigns and Cody Rhodes - which would main event night two - but, here's the plot twist: Punk calls in the favour from his mentor forcing Heyman to have to honour his word and add Punk to the match.

I suppose a similar, yet also dissimilar, angle was done to add Shawn Michaels to the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XX after Chris Benoit won the 2004 Royal Rumble and chose Triple H as his opponent. Michaels ended up adding his name to the contract. I envision Paul Heyman doing something along those lines. Minus a Superkick. 

A triple threat would make a fresh match for the WrestleMania main event after having already seen singles contests between Reigns and Rhodes closing out the shows of 2023 and 2024.

It would be ironic considering one of Punk's gripes from his last run with WWE was the fact he (a) didn't main event WrestleMania and (b) was not added to the WrestleMania XXIX main event between The Rock and John Cena.

A Roman Reigns Rumble victory could then mean my initial guess of Gunther .vs. Cena would be in play.

But, like I've already stated, the reports have Reigns .vs.  Punk in singles and Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against John Cena.

Another thing from Monday night was we - once again - saw Seth Rollins and Gunther in a promo. Last year, Gunther came out and vowed he would challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship upon winning the 2024 Rumble. On the most recent episode of Raw, we witnessed a similar exchange to last year. This time, however, Gunther is the titleholder and Rollins is setting his sights on a Rumble win.

I do not rule Rollins out from winning tomorrow night. Neither do the bettors and sportsbooks because Rollins is currently a +175 second-favourite. That's a drop from the +1,400 BetOnline was offering back in November.

With only one bet, that means I have evidently given the women's Royal Rumble a miss this year.

For most of 2024, I envisioned Jade Cargill as a potential winner (and challenging Bianca Belair) but that has not panned out with Cargill currently written off TV and Belair holding the tag straps with Naomi (who replaced Cargill as co-holder).

Cargill's odds have moved out from +600 to +4,000 since December.

It has been reported that WWE is looking to have Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair wrestle each other some time in the future. With Ripley holding the Women's World Championship, that news has evidently made Belair a potential Women's Royal Rumble winner. She is a +180 second-favourite with BetOnline. The earliest price I have Belair is at +350 (3rd December).

Charlotte Flair is odds-on. She is returning from injuries that have kept her out of action since 2023. As of this morning, a win for Flair will pay out at -200. That's a drop from the +275 customers could have picked her up at in December.

The obvious match for Flair is to challenge Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship - a bout that has also been discussed in the writers' room.

So - to close: I have only ONE bet and that's a gamble on John Cena securing a WrestleMania title shot now rather than in doing so via the Elimination Chamber.

If not Cena, I would like Roman Reigns as it would mean the scenario leading to a triple threat main event with Cody Rhodes defending against CM Punk and Reigns could turn into a possibility.

As for the women's Rumble - I think the safe option would be to predict Charlotte Flair or Bianca Belair although I'd enjoy the bragging rights I'd garner from my friends if Jade Cargill won it.

Over Half Of The US Is Rooting For John Cena To Win The Royal Rumble

Over half of the United States of America is rooting for John Cena to win the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble this weekend. That is the result from research BetOnline's staff have carried out over the past seven days using data from X (formerly Twitter).

The sportsbook's researchers tallied phrases like 'John Cena will win the Royal Rumble,' 'CM Punk should win the Royal Rumble', 'The Rock will win the Royal Rumble' and other similar sentences using names from the WWE roster in order to find a clear 

A sample of over 100,000 tweets/posts from people in the USA were tracked for this project.

Cena is liked by twenty-six states. Following Cena is CM Punk (13 states), The Rock (5 states), Seth Rollins (4 states) and Roman Reigns, who has Arizona and Washington throwing up their ones

As of the time of writing, BetOnline lists John Cena as the odds-on favourite to win the Rumble in the company's outright winner market. He's -110. That's a drop from the +375 I first recorded him at on Tuesday November 26th.

Unlike the order of the research, the second-favourite in the betting is Seth Rollins at +175. Then it's Punk (+225), Roman Reigns (+300) and The Rock (+1,200) followed by a a plethora of other selections.

View BetOnline's WWE Markets

A Look At Cody Rhodes' 2024 Royal Rumble Win

I was in such a rush after watching the conclusion to Royal Rumble this morning I forgot to hit 'Publish' on a post in which I had written about Cody Rhodes' win and noted something about his early and late betting odds both here and offshore.

The mistake, and the time in-between, has allowed me to create a couple of tables to highlight how Rhodes' odds fluctuated leading into last night's victory.

To start off, the BetOnline market for the Rumble opened - back in October - with Rhodes at +600. That price declined across the next few months and was down to +225 at the start of the week.

His price began to drift out following the interest coming in on Gunther following the Sports Illustrated article I dedicated a series of posts to during the week.

The last number I have saw Rhodes at +300 in the early hours of this morning (GMT). 

I found Cody Rhodes' selection in Sky Bet's market the most interesting of the two because it was at 11/2 (+550 US) when I first began to follow the betting on May 5th of last year. It rose and declined as the months led into showtime and managed to be back at 11/2 when I last took note of the odds at midnight.

The last man ousted - CM Punk - was the closing favourite with both sportsbooks (-300/BetOnline, 4/5 Sky Bet). As you've probably guessed, Punk was a late inclusion to Sky Bet's market because he was contracted to AEW in May.

For what it's worth, and it isn't worth much because he didn't win, the first time I saw Punk on Sky Bet's list of names was on September 15th. At that time, he was 14/1 (+1,400 US).

Punk was available at +2,500 (25/1 UK) when BetOnline's market launched in mid-to-late October.

Check Out BetOnline's Pro Wrestling Sign Up Page

Bayley Wins 2024 WWE Women's Royal Rumble

Bayley has won the 2024 WWE Women's Royal Rumble.

She did so as a closing odds-on favourite with both domestic and offshore sportsbooks.

BetOnline's market opened in the latter part of 2023 with the eventual winner priced at +1,000 (10/1 UK). The eventual winner became a +150 favourite sometime before January 16th and fell into -500 shortly before tonight's event started.

Sky Bet and Paddy Power's Rumble markets were published in the spring of 2023. Bayley was 14/1 (+1,400 US) with Sky Bet on May 5th. She was 9/1 (+900 US) when Paddy Power/Betfair's market opened a month earlier than that.

The early favourites were Liv Morgan (Paddy Power and Sky Bet) and Nia Jax (BetOnline). Both wrestled in the match with the returning Morgan being the last person eliminated.

Royal Rumble 2024 Betting Favourites

Here are the betting favourites for tonight's WWE Royal Rumble event as the show was starting.

• Roman Reigns (-2,000)
• Logan Paul (-2,000)
• Bayley (-500)
• CM Punk (-300)

Each selection is ranked in order of strength starting with the wrestler with the shortest odds that were available from the BetOnline Sportsbook.

Rumble '24 Odds Focus As Of 9PM GMT

Here are some price changes I've collected for some of the top tier names in BetOnline's Rumble markets.

Odds from BetOnline

My Rumble 2024 Favourites

It's the afternoon ahead of the WWE Royal Rumble. You know what that means.

I have to share my final guesses on who will win the two battle royals. And, like years previous, I am conflicted with how things will play out.

I'll start off with who I believe is the easiest from the two Rumble markets.

Bayley is my pick to win the women's Royal Rumble. It's either her or Becky Lynch, but I'm going with what will become the most intriguing story leaving the Rumble.

We've seen Bayley being told by her Damage CTRL colleagues that, should Bayley win the Rumble, she should challenge Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship (instead of aiming for Damage CTRL member, Iyo Sky's WWE Women's Championship). 

Bayley herself has targeted Ripley in her promos for the Rumble, but - I believe we will see Bayley challenge Sky for the title at WrestleMania.

They have been teasing Bayley is kind of an outsider in Damage CTRL so a Rumble win would further along that story and lead to the schism between Bayley and her group.

Bayley is currently odds-on to win the ladies' Rumble. I backed her at 14/1 when I first saw the tease of animosity between her and the other members of Damage CTRL.

Becky Lynch is the second-favourite and I think that's fair because the company has been teasing a WrestleMania meeting between Lynch and Rhea Ripley.

A few weeks ago, Ripley told Lynch she wanted the Lass Kicker to win the Royal Rumble so she could defend her title against her at Mania, so they could get to that match tonight (obviously) or let it run into the Elimination Chamber.

It's worth noting that, should Becky win her shot via a match at the Elimination Chamber, she'll do so in Rhea Ripley's home country of Australia, so - in storyline - Lynch would be securing Ripley's wish in front of Ripley's supporters.

Nia Jax has been part of the Ripley-Lynch story for the past few weeks, so I believe they'll have Jax be the person who ruins Lynch's night this evening. 

I also believe Jax will end up facing Rhea Ripley at Elimination Chamber (with Ripley as the hometown babyface), but that's getting somewhat off track.

So, my pick is Bayley. But, if I am wrong, it has to be Becky Lynch.

For the men's Royal Rumble, I have decent prices on CM Punk (14/1)  and The Rock (16/1). I also have a few short-priced wagers on Cody Rhodes.

With Rhodes, I believe if the plan is to wrestle Roman Reigns for a second consecutive WrestleMania, the logical way to get to that bout is by having the Rumble win tonight.

Rhodes is a member of the Raw roster, so he would have to get to Smackdown's Reigns via a Rumble win. 

Punk, on the other hand, is a Raw roster member so he could easily become a contender to fellow Raw colleague Seth Rollins' strap another way.

That is if Rollins defending the title is the plan considering the champ is currently injured.

With all that said - IF WWE's plan is for Roman Reigns to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against The Rock - on the weekend of April 6 and 7 - then they have to do Rock winning tonight to hype the heck out that one.

The elephant in the room is - will The Rock's people be happy with him wrestling so soon after the Vince McMahon scandal re-erupted this week?

I would make the most profit from my wagers if it's a Rock and Bayley double, so I am wishing those two are the winners. 

But, if I'm wrong: it's got to be Becky Lynch and/or Cody Rhodes.

BetOnline's Rumble Appearance Markets

BetOnline's oddsmakers have installed a plethora of specials for tomorrow's Royal Rumble event.

The markets range from the final four, iron person as well as a couple of Over-Unders on NXT performers taking part in both the men's and women's Rumble matches.

As per usual, I have taken particular interest in the appearance specials that can be found on the website.

I have created a table to show you what the sportsbook is offering along with the prices, which are correct as of 6:30PM GMT this evening.

Here are some thoughts.

- The last I saw of John Cena was a couple of days ago. He is in the UK promoting his new movie

- I am of the belief that Kazuchika Okada's contract with NJPW, like most deals with that company, ends on January 31st. He is also reportedly leaning to All Elite Wrestling

- Sasha Banks is also reportedly on her way to AEW

- MJF remains contracted to AEW

- Naomi has left TNA. It's interesting that she is -700 to make an appearance at the event and there is an option to wager against it at +400

- If I could gamble on BetOnline, I would have a punt on Big E at +2,000. Even if he is unable to wrestle, the market asks whether each wrestler will 'Appear during the show'. Therefore, if he were to make a return simply alongside Kofi Kingston or Xavier Woods, that would be enough to win the punt. 

The Over/Under specials asks customers whether any NXT wrestlers will participate in the battle royals. 

In the market for the men's match, 'Under 2.5 Members' is a -130 favourite with 'Over 2.5 Members' at +100.

The women's market has 'Over 2.5 Members' favoured at -130 to the +100 for the 'Under'.

View BetOnline's WWE Markets

Sky Bet Installs 2024 MITB Markets Plus New Rumble Specials

We're a day away from this year's WWE Royal Rumble, but that hasn't stopped Sky Bet from opening up a couple of markets for the 2024 Money in the Bank matches.

The sports wagering firm has installed both Dominik Mysterio and LA Knight as 3/1 joint-favourites to become this year's Mr. Money in the Bank while, over in the market for the women's ladder match, Chelsea Green is at the top at odds of 5/2.

This isn't the only new WWE coverage from Sky Bet.

The firm has recently posted additional markets for tomorrow's Royal Rumble matches with customers now able to wager on final four finishers, iron person, most eliminations and shortest stays in both battle royals.

Barrasso Backtracks On Gunther Rumble Winner Story

In another follow up to a Sports Illustrated article posted yesterday by Justin Barrasso, it looks like the author has now backtracked on what he wrote yesterday about Gunther potentially winning Saturday's Royal Rumble.

Barrasso's update states that he 'reported spoilers for Sports Illustrated yesterday regarding the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 40. I reported what was detailed to me by previously reliable sources. It appears this was a deliberate attempt at misinformation and misinformation that is being spread through WWE itself.'

The writer goes on to apologise for 'errors' in the report and then proceeds to state that speculation and analysis 'point to (Cody) Rhodes winning the Rumble' but noted that there is 'uncertainty (on a Rhodes win) with The Rock involved' and even suggested a scenario where Nick Khan will make a call on Dwayne Johnson being the battle royal winner if Johnson asks him.

Seriously.

As I stated in yesterday's post, you could have jumped to a couple of conclusions and guessed Seth Rollins .vs. Gunther and Cody Rhodes .vs. CM Punk were two matches set for WrestleMania because those parties countered each other in two separate promos on this week's Raw.

I concluded something different from the Rollins/Gunther interaction.

I felt Gunther was introduced to the Seth Rollins story for Mania in case Rollins isn't ready to go and they have Gunther reinjure Rollins somewhere along the road to WrestleMania as an out.

That is wild speculation on my part.

And while I'm being wildly speculative - here's some food for thought.

If Justin Barrasso's sources gave him bad information (and we won't know until Saturday), were they doing this to manipulate the Royal Rumble betting market to get a better price on one of the favourites?

Gunther Becomes Joint-Fave In Rumble '24 Market Plus More

In a follow up to yesterday's post about a Sports Illustrated article which indicated that Gunther was 'the favourite' to win Saturday's Royal Rumble, there has been a change in BetOnline's market for the battle royal.

The adjustment has seen Gunther move to the top of the market as a +150 joint-favourite alongside CM Punk.

When I wrote yesterday's post, the current WWE Intercontinental Championship holder was in third place on the list.

Over here in Europe, the sportsbooks have made Gunther a second-favourite or joint-second (with Cody Rhodes) depending on where you were to look.

It's worth noting that, when websites like Paddy Power and Sky Bet first opened their Rumble '24 books during the spring of last year, Gunther was the early second-favourite with both businesses. His price drifted out as the months wore on, but they are now back to the position where they started out following his status as runner-up in the 2023 Rumble.

CM Punk is odds-on favourite with those firms.

View BetOnline's Pro Wrestling Markets

Gunther Is NOT Rumble Favourite (From A Betting Perspective)

An article by Justin Barrasso, on the Sports Illustrated website, has been brought to my attention because the writer claims that 'Gunther is the favourite to win the Royal Rumble'.

He isn't.

Well, not in the betting markets.

As of the time of writing, Gunther is in the upper portion of sportsbook's markets for Sunday's Saturday's battle royal, but he isn't THE favourite.

Ahead of the current WWE Intercontinental Champion are CM Punk and Cody Rhodes respectively. And that's going by the market from BetOnline. Other businesses, like Sky Bet and William Hill, have The Rock, and - in the case of the latter - Drew McIntyre ahead of Gunther.

Barasso is suggesting Gunther is favourite because - on Monday Night Raw - the Imperium leader interrupted a Seth Rollins promo to convey his intent to choose Rollins as his WrestleMania opponent should he be victorious over the weekend.

The writer's opinion, that Gunther is favourite, has been cast based on that one promo from Monday. 

I'm not saying that Rollins .vs. Gunther isn't a new direction for Mania. However, it has not made Gunther a favourite where it matters. 

Yet?

2 Match Markets For 2024 Royal Rumble Published By BetOnline

BetOnline has installed markets for two title matches that are scheduled for this year's WWE Royal Rumble event.

The bouts will see Logan Paul defend the WWE United States Championship against Kevin Owens(+500) and then, in a fatal 4-way for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Roman Reigns will take on the threats of Randy Orton (+600), AJ Styles (+900) and LA Knight (+900).

Both markets have the respective titleholders favoured with lines of -1,000. 

The sportsbook has been taking wagers on the two Royal Rumble matches since last autumn. As of the time of writing, Becky Lynch is a +200 fave to be the last person standing in the women's Rumble while - in betting on the men's battle royal - CM Punk sits at the top of the list with a price of  +150.

View BetOnline's WWE Markets

BetOnline Publishes Rumble '24 Markets

BetOnline has published markets for both of the Royal Rumble matches that will be competed on January 27th 2024.

Upon looking at the market for the men's match, the first standout selection is who the betting firm has as its favourites.

Both LA Knight and The Rock are +250 joint-favourites. To contrast, Sky Bet lists the former as a joint-second favourite (+300) while Dwayne Johnson is third on the board at the equivalent of +600.

Sky Bet's outright favourite is Gunther at +200. The same price can be found for Gunther with Paddy Power. The Imperium leader's number is double that with BetOnline.

This year's Rumble winner, Cody Rhodes, who has heavily teased wanting to once again attempt to 'finish the story' against Roman Reigns is at a surprising +600 with BetOnline. As of the time of writing, Sky Bet has Rhodes as its +300 joint-second fave alongside Knight while Paddy Power lists Rhodes at +500.

As for the women's market - BetOnline currently has Nia Jax and Raquel Rodriquez as joint +300 favourites.

Over here in Europe, Jax is 16/1 (+1,600 US) with Paddy Power but has not yet been added to Sky Bet's book.

Rodriquez is available with both Sky Bet and Paddy Power. She's a 5/1 (+500 US) second-favourite with the former and a slightly improved 6/1 (+600 US) with Paddy Power.

WWE's latest signing - Jade Cargill - is Sky Bet's favourite. She's 2/1 (+200 US) with that firm while Paddy Power has the newcomer as a 10/3 (Approx +333 US)  joint second-favourite beside Liv Morgan. 

BetOnline has Cargill at +1,200 which - compared to the two European books and considering how she is being pushed from the start of her WWE career - might be an attractive price for Rumble bettors.

View BetOnline's Royal Rumble Markets