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

It wasn't long ago that Finn Bálor was rumoured to face off against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. Then, apparently, Vince McMahon deemed him "not over enough." He was inserted into the Royal Rumble, and fans were left with a bizarre triple threat match featuring Braun Strowman and, for some reason, Kane.

Bálor has taken this in his stride, with the "Finn Bálor FOreVER" gimmick being splashed across social media, and even appearing on official WWE merchandise. This seems odd, given that Vince McMahon would be unlikely to want his disapproval of such a popular star brought to international attention.

Were the rumours false? Was it a ploy to generate interest in Bálor, or to throw fans off the scent of a Royal Rumble victory? It's hard to say. But despite questionable booking and an unfortunate dampening of his popularity, Finn Bálor remains over - perhaps ironically more so for being labelled as not. He's a magnetic personality, and his match with AJ Styles at TLC proved that he is one of the most talented men in the industry today.

After months of directionless feuding with Bray Wyatt, his reunion with former Bullet Club buddies Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson has reignited the Demon. A strong performance in the Rumble and subsequent victory could propel him to heights not seen since his disastrous victory over Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016. Would WWE scrap the planned Lesnar/Reigns match in favour of the long mooted Demon vs Beast clash? We can dream.