Thirty years ago, Vince McMahon took a gamble.
The Chairman took a concept first introduced to the WWE Universe in Hamilton, Ont., back in 1989 and expanded on it in Houston. McMahon moved the Royal Rumble to pay-per-view, while also expanding it from 20 to 30 wrestlers.
It is no secret that 30 years later, the Royal Rumble has become the most popular pay-per-view event on the WWE calendar. While WrestleMania is unquestionably bigger, the Rumble is far more popular among wrestling fans. One of the main reasons for its popularity surrounds the fact that members of the WWE Universe enjoy gathering together for Royal Rumble parties and betting on the event.
Royal Rumble parties are akin to Super Bowl parties, where fans will bet on anything. Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the prop bets WWE fans could be making on Sunday and what the odds might be based on favourites and expectations for the Rumble. Using a $100 budget, here’s how you could spread that across six betting categories.
The Winner
| Wrestler | Odds |
|---|---|
| Roman Reigns | -140 |
| Seth Rollins | +140 |
| Brock Lesnar | +150 |
| Drew McIntyre | +190 |
| AJ Styles | +200 |
| Randy Orton | +220 |
| King Corbin | +250 |
| Ricochet | +300 |
| CM Punk | +600 |
| Edge | +800 |
| The Field | +300 |
Since his first Rumble in 2014, Roman Reigns has dominated this event. While he’s only won the match once, that hasn’t stopped him from entering as the betting favourite in the past, and this year is no different.
Reigns enters the match without a ton of steam, and without any championship around his waist; however, that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from thinking that Reigns will stumble out of the gate. Reigns could win this match, thus immediately transforming his lacklustre last couple of months into an inside track towards the main event of WrestleMania. Make no mistake in thinking Reigns is better suited for a mid-card role. The Big Dog will have one of the main event slots.
Also, with Brock Lesnar entering at No. 1, Reigns could finally get some measure of revenge on Lesnar – whom he’s never been able to beat in any traditional match – by eliminating him last to win. I’m taking Reigns and, as a hedge, someone from The Field (any wrestler not listed in the table above).
Bet: $15 on Reigns to win $25.71
Side bet: $10 on The Field to win $40
Most Eliminations (Wreslter)
| Wrestler | Odds |
|---|---|
| Brock Lesnar | -130 |
| Braun Strowman | -120 |
| Roman Reigns | +110 |
| Drew McIntyre | +150 |
| Keith Lee | +300 |
| The Field | +500 |
Reigns has eliminated at least three wrestlers in each Royal Rumble match that he’s participated in, including a record 12 eliminations in the 2014 Rumble. Reigns is also the favourite to win this edition of the battle royal. However, Reigns is facing tough competition this year, particularly from one participant.
When he’s in the ring, Lesnar is the most dominant wrestler in WWE. Despite being the WWE Champion, Lesnar is entering this year’s Rumble, and to make things more interesting, he is entering at number one. All of that information is to say that there is ample opportunity for Lesnar to eliminate multiple wrestlers.
There is a possibility, however, for a Lesnar bet to go sideways. If he runs through the first three or four entrants, WWE could then throw out Cain Velasquez, who could get some revenge from his loss at Crown Jewel back in October byway of eliminating Lesnar.
For betting purposes, there isn’t enough “juice” on Lesnar. I’m taking Drew McIntyre, who has looked very strong recently to dominate and make a big impact.
Bet: $15 on Drew McIntyre to win $37.50
Most Eliminations (O/U)
| Over | Odds |
|---|---|
| 5.5 | -115 |
In addition to betting on who will rack up the most eliminations, let’s also throw a few bucks on an over/under. Leaving out Reigns’ record 12 eliminations in 2014, the average for most eliminations over the last ten years is 5.6. So let’s set the barometer at 5.5 for Rumble 2020 with the odds at -115.
Most Time Spent in Ring
| Wrestler | Odds |
|---|---|
| Brock Lesnar | -110 |
| Roman Reigns | +120 |
| Braun Strowman | +130 |
| Seth Rollins | +180 |
| Keith Lee | +200 |
| Drew McIntyre | +200 |
| Ricochet | +250 |
| Rey Mysterio | +250 |
| AJ Styles | +250 |
| The Field | +300 |
There’s a marathon man every year at the Royal Rumble, so who’s it going to be in 2020? I’m leaning towards an underdog for this pick, as I think based on his performance at Survivor Series, this wrestler has Limitless potential.
Keith Lee is primed for a big push into superstardom. WWE could run back the idea with previous marathon men, like Reigns, Rollins or Mysterio; however, I think there’s a great opportunity to further develop Lee, the newly crowned NXT North American champion, into a household name.
Bet: $15 on Keith Lee to win $45
Most Time Spent in Ring (O/U)
| Over | Odds |
|---|---|
| 46.5 mins | -110 |
Over the last ten years, the average length for the longest time spent in the ring by one wrestler is 46.5 minutes. Chris Jericho holds the distinction for the longest time spent in the ring over the past 10 years, spending just over an hour in the match in 2017. John Cena spent just over 27 minutes in the ring in 2010, marking the least amount of time spent in the ring for a marathon man over the past ten Rumbles.
An over of 46.5 minutes would have hit six times over the past ten years, and I’m going to stick with that trend in 2020. There are too many good candidates for a historical marathon performance.
Bet: $10 on the Over to win $19.09
Who will eliminate Brock Lesnar?
| Wrestler | Odds |
|---|---|
| Roman Reigns | -105 |
| Cain Velasquez | +105 |
| Matt Riddle | +150 |
| Keith Lee | +250 |
| Ricochet | +350 |
| The Undertaker | +700 |
| Himself | +600 |
| No One | +500 |
| The Field | +300 |
Who will slay The Beast at the Royal Rumble? WWE has been doing a decent job over the last several years of incorporating personalities showcased by their wrestlers on digital platforms, like Twitter, into the television product.
There is another good opportunity to flex that cross-promotional muscle in determining who will eliminate Lesnar. Matt Riddle has been calling out Lesnar (along with several other wrestlers) on Twitter for months on end, and NXT is sure to have several entrants in the Rumble. Riddle should be one of them. He’s one the top stars on the NXT brand, and now he’s got a chance to turn his Twitter fingers into trigger fingers by tossing Lesnar over the top rope.
Bet: $10 on Matt Riddle to win $25
Overall: Seven bets totalling $100 to win $239.03
Match Predictions
Women’s Royal Rumble winner: Shayna Baszler
WWE Universal Championship: The Fiend (C) defeats Daniel Bryan to retain his title
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (C) defeats Asuka to retain her title.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley (C) defeats Lacey Evans to keep her championship.
WWE United States Championship: Andrade (C) defeats Humberto Carrillo to remain the U.S. champion.
Falls Count Anywhere match: King Corbin defeats Reigns
Other singles match: Sheamus defeats Shorty G
Follow along Sunday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. EST as the road to WrestleMania begins with the 2020 Royal Rumble live blog on Sportsnet.ca.
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