10 Wild Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2021

5. Dolph Ziggler

Ricochet WWE
WWE.com

It was probably in January 2018, when Dolph Ziggler entered the Royal Rumble at #30, that people finally realised they were tired of him. The anticlimax led to an epiphany. They didn't care that he was #30 because they didn't care about him, full stop. The investment had been beaten out of fans for years. They weren't to blame, nor was he. He gave up too.

After years of petitioning for the spot, he instead spent much of his time bantering it off. Incredibly, it was around this time that WWE gave it the old college try. He headlined Extreme Rules in 2018. He was installed as a World Title contender in 2019 and 2020. "It should have been me," he took to saying. "It should have been five f*cking years ago," said everybody else. It's like they finally waited for you to stop caring to give you what you wanted. Good.

Good and reasonable thought process.

"Now that genius wrestling mind Pat Patterson has stopped fighting his corner, we can proceed!"

This bizarre turn of events, should they intensify, might lead to Ziggler dreading being summoned from catering and walking out of the ThunderDome as your 2020 Royal Rumble winner.

And what a feel-good message to send to the audience: all you need to do is stop caring, get into that mercenary spirit, and you will be rewarded!

Probability: 60%

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!