As we officially approach the Road to WrestleMania, fans are desperately searching for any clues for the highly-anticipated details for Royal Rumble 2017.
The WWE’s 30th edition of the yearly event is billed to be one of the most exciting of all time, with multiple stories and paths coming to a collision.
With just two official entrants so far, the event is still wide open, in terms of guessing who might win. However, the bookies seem to already have some strong opinions on how this rumble might go down.
WWE legend John Cena is the joint-third favorite to win the 30-man Royal Rumble on his wrestling return, following a hugely popular Saturday Night Live outing and some time out of the sport.
The Cenation Leader is a bolstered 5/1 to take down the rest of the ring entrants, a price he shares with old favorite Chris Jericho.
Fresh from a stint on SNL, the 15-time champion could now have his sights set on the WWE Championship.
Cena will be making his full debut on December 27th’s Smackdown event, having last been seen in a No Mercy Triple Threat match against AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose.
As if by fate, this WWE return comes just a month before the January Royal Rumble event that officially kicks off the Road to WrestleMania.
The event will be of great importance to Cena, who will be eager to match Ric Flair’s 16-title wins.
So far, fan favorites Brock Lesnar and Goldberg are the only official entrants to the 30-man event. However, with over six weeks still to go, Cena seems a very likely addition to the bill.
The more experienced Goldberg stunned Lesnar, who has not long been back since his MMA stint, in his own return at Survivor Series last month.
Having defeated the mountainous Lesnar in under two minutes, Goldberg was asked to compete in the Royal Rumble event by Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. Having accepted, Lesnar was quick to also throw his name into the ring, telling sources he had “something to prove”.
Goldberg, whose swift disposal of The Anomaly appears to have impressed fans across the world, is the current favorite to dispatch competition, at just 2/1 on Ladbrokes. His display, which stunned audiences, turned out to be quite the crowd-pleaser.
However, both Cena and Goldberg could face stiff competition from Irish wunderkind Finn Balor, who could be up and ready for action well in advance of his reported 5-month injury period.
The highly-touted Brit became the first ever wrestler in professional history to become a title champ on his pay-per-view debut.
Although he was originally touted to be out for 5 months, after picking up a shoulder injury in that very title match, the rumour mill now suggests he could be ready to return to the ring early.
Fortunately for fans, he’s now the second favorite to win, behind Goldberg, at 7/4 with a Ladbrokes bet, suggesting he could well make an appearance on the night.
The path could be clear for the Irishman, after Raw made it clear they were willing to make a big deal of the young superstar. Now, it looks entirely possible that he could go on to defeat Goldberg, Cena, and the others, to take the Royal Rumble 2017 crown.
