WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Rating Each Entrant's Chances Of Winning
This year's Rumble is wide open, but who'll emerge victorious?
WWE Royal Rumble 2017 is almost upon us, and it's shaping up to be a tremendous show. Not only will it feature a number of high profile title matches on the undercard, but the Rumble itself has rarely benefited from such a strong build, and anticipation is through the roof.
It's usually blatantly obvious who's going to win the Rumble by this point. WWE spoiled the fun and presented Roman Reigns and Triple H as dead certs to win in 2015 and 2016 respectively, but there are no such problems this year. This is as open and unpredictable as the Rumble has been in years, and while the odds have tightened in recent days, it's tough to pick a winner.
There's a strong case to be made for close to a dozen of the current participants emerging victorious, and that's without taking surprise entrants into account. Just 22 names have been announced thus far, and with names like Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, and Finn Balor doing the rounds, WWE should be able to deliver a number of huge moments.
Will WWE go with a seasoned Rumbler, or will they send a newer star to WrestleMania 33's main event? It has scarcely been this hard to tell, and as inseparable and numerous as the favourites are, some wrestlers will inevitably enter with better odds than others.
Here is every participant in the 2017 Royal Rumble, rated and ranked by their chances of winning.
23. A Surprise Entrant
There's a strong chance that 2017 will be the most surprise-filled Royal Rumble of all-time. Assuming WWE don't fill the spots with lower tier roster members over the next couple of days, there's an unparalleled number of empty spaces, and a number of big names ready to jump into the match.
Their chances of winning obviously depend on the individual. Names as wide-reaching as Shaquille O'Neal and Kurt Angle have been mentioned, but with all due respect to the Olympic Hero, there's no chance of him winning the Rumble. Similiarly, Vince McMahon probably hasn't lost his mind to the point where he'd book Shaq in the WrestleMania main event... or so we hope.
Finn Balor or Samoa Joe would be an entirely different matter. If Balor is deemed fit and healthy, then he'll be considered an immediate favourite. He never lost the Universal Championship in the first place, and him vs. Roman Reigns or Kevin Owens would make a great program heading into WrestleMania. Joe would enter with a lower chance, but his victory would completely shake WWE up, and change the complexion of whichever brand he landed on.
Chances: Varied.