WWE Royal Rumble 2018: 10 Outside Bets To Win The Men's Match

Like Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens is competing for a top title earlier in the show. Facing off against AJ Styles in a bizarre handicap match, Owens is likely to take a back seat due to his reported injury, letting his bestie Sami Zayn do the heavy lifting.

But if Owens is injured, surely he wouldn't enter and then win the Rumble match? A fair point. But the Royal Rumble is far less physically demanding than a one-on-one, or even traditional multi-man, match. Almost everyone who has a significant stint in the match will have a rest period at some point, and there's always the opportunity for Owens to enter late in the match. He doesn't have to take many bumps, and he wouldn't have to overly exert himself to eliminate enough men to be the victor.

Admittedly, we watched Owens feud with AJ Styles over the United States Championship for much of last summer, and their chemistry was curiously lacking for two such exceptional performers. But you know who Owens does have phenomenal (excuse the pun) chemistry with? Sami Zayn.

Picture this. Owens is (kayfabe) injured sometime after the Rumble and forced to take time off. His WrestleMania championship match looks in doubt. At Fastlane, Sami Zayn faces and defeats AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. We now get to see the partners implode, and one of wrestling's all-time greatest rivalries gets a spotlight on the grandest stage of them all. Unlikely, but appealing nonetheless.