WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 10 Potential Dark Horses
2. Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt really shouldn’t be considered a dark horse at this point, but here we are. More than three years into his main roster career, Wyatt’s direction has taken a number of unfortunate twists and turns since 2013, and there’s a strong chance he’ll never fulfil his full potential.
That’s a tragedy, because at one point, Bray Wyatt was the most promising wrestler on the planet. With one of the most unique characters the sport has ever seen (and the talent to back it up), Wyatt looked set to become his generation’s Undertaker, but it hasn’t panned out. His horrendous PPV win/loss ratio has become a meme, and it looks like he’ll be locked in purgatory forever.
Things have looked significantly rosier lately, though. He and Randy Orton were the last men standing at Survivor Series, and Bray got his first taste of WWE gold by becoming a SmackDown Tag Team Champion at TLC. He’s back on the upswing, and the timing couldn’t be better.
Wyatt would be considered among the favourites to win the 2017 Rumble in an ideal world, but he’s a huge dark horse this year. His big match record means that his win would come as a complete shock, but he’s more than capable of carrying the load as a main eventer. Perhaps his immediate future lies in the tag division, but if it doesn’t, Bray’s primed and ready for his long overdue spell in the spotlight.