With the Royal Rumble 2018 match just three weeks away, could there be some major surprise entrants showing up for the latest match? This year’s match has to receive the star power that last year’s match has as top superstars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, and The Undertaker all participated in the contest. So far, this year’s has just a few entries with John Cena arguably the biggest name to enter so far. Based on recently published betting odds, fans may have a good shot to see a few other stars from WWE present, past, or future.
According to a report from WrestleZone , there are odds given for an in-ring appearance by a number of superstars who could be surprise entrants. Leading the list of prospective candidates to show up are a number of superstars already associated with the WWE in some capacity. “The Showoff” Dolph Ziggler and Kane have both been recently featured in WWE storylines, with the latter actually scheduled to appear in the Triple Threat match. There are rumors that this may be Kane’s final Royal Rumble pay-per-view in his career, so it would be fitting for him to show up in the match he’s achieved historic stats with. Another candidate to make an appearance is Mark Henry (6/5) who never really had a proper final match to top off his career.
Other superstars listed include Chris Jericho at 3 to 10 odds, UK Champion Pete Dunne and Triple H at 1 to 2 odds. NXT stars Andrade Cien Almas (4/6) and Killian Dain (5/6) are also amongst the top options. The list gets more intriguing after those entries, with independent wrestling star Ricochet listed. The rumor mill has been buzzing that he’s signed with WWE and that War Machine may be joining him. A Royal Rumble debut could be done in similar fashion to when “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles showed up at the Rumble a few years ago.
Some of the less likely candidates to appear in the Royal Rumble this year still have odds listed at Paddy Power Sportsbook. “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels has a movie to promote with Miz and has been listed with 4 to 1 odds. So has Wade Barrett and Booker T. X-Pac (7/1), Shaquille O’Neal (8/1), and Hulk Hogan (16/1) all have odds as well.
New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenny Omega is also listed. There has been speculation that Chris Jericho’s involvement in a match against him was part of a deal to get Omega to WWE. Right now, the NJPW star has 7 to 2 odds to show up, but it seems like a stretch. Former WWE Champion CM Punk, who has his name chanted at just about every WWE event, has the lowest odds of all choices with 20 to 1 on the books.
A few superstars surprisingly without odds on the list include Daniel Bryan and The Big Show. The latter of these two stars has been reported as winding his career down early this year while Bryan has been rumored to make a big return to the ring for months now. However, Bryan has 40 to 1 odds to win the match and Big Show has been given 100 to 1 odds to win it.
The 2018 edition of the Royal Rumble is scheduled for Sunday, January 28th from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
