10 Wild Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2023
8. Sami Zayn
The story seems obvious, not that that is a bad thing: Sami Zayn is cruelly annihilated by the Bloodline when he is deemed to have ideas well above his station.
The second he shows ambition as a babyface, that's it for him. Sami is more or less going to be positioned as the man who heats up Roman, mega-heel, to an incandescent level right before he drops the Undisputed WWE Universal title to either Cody Rhodes or, if he can be bothered, the Rock.
But what if it is recognised internally that such a move might be a callback to the mid-2010s, or the 'F*ck You Era' of WWE?
The complexion of the audience has changed considerably - the volatile anti-office sentiment no longer exists - but these fans adore Sami Zayn nonetheless. Cody is an exceptional babyface and a bigger star, but in the battle between talent and timing, timing always goes over. If Cody is forced upon the WWE audience at Sami's expense, resentment may simmer.
There's no real rush to strap Cody up - with his long injury layoff, fans have barely luxuriated in the all-important chase - and so Zayn going over in the Rumble match might be a tactical move, and not merely a sentimental one.