10 WWE Stars Most Likely To Win The Royal Rumble (And Why)
8. Randy Orton
The Viper has been absent from WWE screens since November of last year, as a result of a scripted injury at the hands of Seth Rollins. Until this point, he was right in the middle of a face turn against his former Authority masters, and specifically against the new golden boy in Rollins. But since then, he's been out-of-sight, and therefore out of the minds of many. This could mean he's ideally placed to be a surprise entrant in the Rumble match and springboard himself back into the Title scene to pick up where he left off. Randy is no stranger to maineventing Wrestlemania, having done so most recently last year at Wrestlemania XXX. He's also no stranger to winning the Royal Rumble, having done so back in 2009. This is not uncharted territory with the third generation superstar. Unfortunately, that's sometimes the main problem. With Orton, there's this uncomfortable feeling of "seen it all before" that tends to wear on some wrestling fans. Certainly that was the case for the majority of the time that he was Champion last year. But here is where thing's could get interesting, in the form of fresh opponents. Yes, John Cena vs Randy Orton is a tired, dead old horse that absolutely nobody wants to see again. (They have fought each other 121 times. Seriously. If you include the likes of tag team matches, elimination chambers, house shows and the like, it's over 300) But Orton vs Rollins was a feud that was just beginning to get interesting before Randy's departure, there's a lot of potential there. Even more interesting would be Orton vs Lesnar, which is as fresh as can possibly be. The last time those two wrestled each other was 2003, and they've never faced off on a PPV. When Orton is at his worst, he's bland and forgettable. When he's at his best, he's as vicious, quick and deadly as his nickname implies. The work he was doing up until his departure in November was leaning towards the latter, a brooding anti-hero with a score to settle. Let's hope he stays that way for a while.
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
