10 Wild Outside Bets To Win WWE Royal Rumble 2024

8. The Rock

Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble
WWE.com

The Rock will do well to wrestle one match this year, and indeed for the rest of his life.

To borrow a line from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Rock has spent much too long working on his "glamour muscles", and with good reason. He isn't expected to move, a stunt actor can do that for him, and he generally exists to look great on a poster. He will be expected to move in a match against Roman Reigns, at least after the first 25 minutes of monologuing.

Looking at his cardiovascular condition, were he to enter the Rumble, WWE would probably have to invent a number higher than 30 in order to get him in that ring without blowing up. He looked like an octogenarian getting off the bus when he got physical with Jinder Mahal on Raw Day 1.

Beyond the practical issue with Rock actually having to do something other than a 20-year-old promo, it makes little sense to waste his first match in a decade on the Rumble. He worked the 2011 Survivor Series without that affecting the WrestleMania XXVIII buy amount, sure, but he's a lot older and even more immobile now.

If he's going to get exposed, it's better to do that when the Peacock viewership is at its highest.

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!