The WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view is just a few weeks removed with Shinsuke Nakamura as the latest winner, but the odds for who might win the Royal Rumble match next year are already out. While “The King of Strong Style” moved into the favorite spot on many sportsbooks ahead of the big event, he’s currently not the favorite to win it all again. The good news for fans who don’t want to see John Cena or Roman Reigns win the match is that based on the first available odds for the 2019 match, they aren’t the favorites either.
As the WWE Leaks website reported on Saturday, the Royal Rumble 2019 odds were published by the Kambi Oddsmakers online. Leading all of the listed competitors who have been given odds to win the match is “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman at 2-1 odds. Strowman was not included in this year’s edition of the match as he was part of a separate match, a Triple Threat bout for the Universal title, on the same pay-per-view card. Coming in second on the list behind Strowman is the man plenty of wrestling fans love to hate. Roman Reigns currently has 7-2 odds to win the over-the-top-rope battle royal.
Three superstars are tied for the third place spot on the first odds released. They are John Cena, along with WWE Champion AJ Styles, and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, who each have 6-1 odds. Of those competitors, only AJ Styles has yet to win the Royal Rumble match, but he’s also had the shortest WWE career of the three superstars. Lesnar and Styles were not part of this year’s match, but John Cena was, as he lasted long enough to be among the final four competitors.
Below is a look at the first 20 superstars topping the odds list ahead of next year’s match.
- Braun Strowman 2-1
- Roman Reigns 7-2
- AJ Styles 6-1
- Brock Lesnar 6-1
- John Cena 6-1
- Big Cass 8-1
- Daniel Bryan 8-1
- The Undertaker 10-1
- Bobby Lashley 12-1
- Finn Balor 12-1
- Shinsuke Nakamura 12-1
- Batista 15-1
- Dean Ambrose 15-1
- Jason Jordan 15-1
- Kevin Owens 15-1
- Rusev 15-1
- Samoa Joe 15-1
- Seth Rollins 15-1
- The Rock 15-1
- Baron Corbin 17-1
Interestingly, Daniel Bryan and the Undertaker are currently amongst superstars with top 10 odds to win. The Rock is another interesting entry with 15-1 odds. Just a bit lower than Dwayne Johnson on the odds listing is CM Punk, a superstar who has left WWE to pursue a mixed martial arts career. Punk has another scheduled UFC fight coming up this year, but rumors of his return to WWE never quite seem to go away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvYr8H4eUDI&t=7s
As far as the favorite, Braun Strowman seems like a superstar who will have at least one Royal Rumble match win on his resume before his career is over. “The Monster Among Men” has looked strong in other battle royal matches, including the 2017 edition (above), but has yet to win the match. He’s also yet to win any championships within WWE. That could change at WrestleMania this year, depending on which match he is booked for.
