10 Wild Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2024
Triple H might have to get creative at the Royal Rumble, depending on the Rock's status...
Who's the obvious choice to win the women's Royal Rumble?
Becky Lynch Vs. Rhea Ripley is a huge match, potentially, pitting a vanguard of the "Revolution" against the first woman to truly ascend in the wake of the Four Horsewomen. It could signify the end of an era, almost. It could position Ripley as the biggest women's star in the history of the company, if handled correctly - and Becky is excellent at working the breakthrough match on the losing end, as she demonstrated against Bianca Belair, Tiffany Stratton, and to a lesser extent Lyra Valkyria.
There's also Bayley. The good byproduct of WWE butchering her potential as a babyface is that they can always try again seven years later!
On the men's side of things, there appear to be two obvious winners, which is preferable to the traditional "one".
It looks like a straight shoot-out between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes, with whoever doesn't win in January set to win an Elimination Chamber match in Australia.
The return of the Rock, however, has thrown a rather blown-up spanner in the works; if he is set to work Roman Reigns in Philadelphia, WWE might need to get creative with the Royal Rumble winner.
Which segues neatly to...
10. Chad Gable
WWE, even under Triple H's basics-forward regime, tends to make up the rules as they go along for their own convenience.
Consider the use of Austin Theory in 2022. Anointed as Mr. Money In The Bank by Vince McMahon, Triple H didn't feel he was ready to cash in the briefcase - particularly since, at the time, there was only one World champion. In a disastrous booking manoeuvre, instead of failing to cash in against Roman Reigns, Theory unsuccessfully cashed in against United States champion Seth Rollins. Theory was such a loser that he couldn't even steal a consolation prize.
The general idea here is that, if Austin Theory can cash in for a midcard title, then Chad Gable can win the Royal Rumble and use it to challenge GUNTHER for the elusive Intercontinental title. That story is either in the background, waiting to be picked up, or fans are manifesting a continuation of it; either way, it could happen at 'Mania as a way of getting around what might now be the Dwayne Johnson problem. If the Rock is working Roman at 'Mania, WWE might require some sort of workaround at the Rumble.
Gable Vs. GUNTHER was a tremendous programme - Gable was so great at not allowing GUNTHER an inch of space until his valiant failures - and an emotive title win is as close to a guaranteed classic WWE has at WrestleMania.