10 Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2018
Flyers and outliers.
It's the post-Holiday treat wrestling fans look forward to all year, but the Royal Rumble's cursed luck in recent editions has left the legendary battle in danger of becoming obsolete.
The 2009-13 extravaganzas were a little...predictable. WWE had done its usual job of foreshadowing the winner on a sign bigger than the hanging one the poor mugs had to endlessly point at. Even the continued presence of two World Titles didn't infuse the elimination chase with the usual drama. Suddenly though, predictable didn't seem all that bad.
From 2014 onwards, the match was redefined as a festival of fan disdain. The company ordinarily has carte blanche to present any old sh*t and sell it as sugar, but that particular 30-man war triggered an an extremely vocal majority. It fell slap bang in the middle of Daniel Bryan's push, or lack thereof. He'd lose the evening's opener to Bray Wyatt, and infamously be left out of the main event, drawing unrelenting rage towards the remainder of the roster and eventual winner Batista.
2015's was arguably worse. Big Show and Kane were deployed as fun destroyers in a such a manner that the audience would have to cheer obvious winner Roman Reigns. That failed spectacularly too. Triple H's true genius showed itself when him winning the match (and WWE Title) in 2016 was somehow the lesser of two evils, and the company finally steered into the bile in 2017, unleashing 'The Big Dog' as the #30 entrant to an expected hailstorm of hatred.
Does this mean they've learned their lessons? One of these fellas scooping a WrestleMania title shot would certainly imply a long-awaited shift.
10. Jason Jordan
The former America Alpha member seems finally able to plug into the deeply flawed gimmick he was saddled with over the summer. All fur coat and no knickers, the 'What's Kurt's secret?' story was heavy on suspense but lightweight on planned follow-through.
Jordan switched to Monday Night Raw immediately following the announcement of his paternal surprise, but was almost instantly subjected to suspiciously familiar treatment from an audience that WWE should really show more respect for. The quiet torrent of boos at his smiling veneer quickly snowballed, and Jordan went from popular tag team performer to loathed singles barrel-scraper within weeks.
The frenetic build-up to the Survivor Series finally changed all that.
Jordan begged Captain Dad for a spot on his side and miraculously got one amidst accusations of nepotism from the roster towards Kurt. Sustaining a knee injury during a beating on the go-home Raw, Jordan looked a weak link in storyline terms until Angle was forced to retreat on the idea by a returning Triple H after 'The Game' dropped the less-than-prodigal son with a Pedigree.
Since then, Jordan's recurring knock has become the subject of some controversy on Raw. The world can see Jason beginning to manipulate his father, but to what end? Abusing Kurt to to coast to WrestleMania from the back of a late Royal Rumble entrance would be the ultimate in gamesmanship, especially if he revealed an alliance with former oppressor Triple H in an effort to bitterly oust the Olympic Hero.