10 Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2018

5. Randy Orton

Daniel Bryan Shawn Michaels
WWE

Everything would be weird about Randy Orton somehow winning another Royal Rumble, which is exactly the reason why they might just actually do it.

'The Viper's career is one of extreme contradiction. Wrestlers consider him one of the finest in the field, gifted from the moment his father snuck him in to the WWE system. Yet fans often dread the tedium that come with so many of his major matches. His battles almost always play to complete silence until an RKO 'outta nowhere' gets audiences as excited as they were to share millions of inexplicably hilarious memes of the move. His legacy is absolutely glittering, despite enough periods in the company doghouse to kill most legends.

Alongside zillions of forgettable title reigns, Orton has also twice won the Royal Rumble. On both occasions there were far bigger stars in the match than him, yet his path to WrestleMania was long etched in stone. This would almost certainly be the case should he triumph in 2018. Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura seem heavy favourites from a logical standpoint, but a record-tying third win in the match would yet again defy convention and drastically shake up another moribund spell for the character.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett