Top 5: Dark Horse Men’s WWE Royal Rumble Contenders

As much as we love the Men’s Royal Rumble Match every single year, the one thing it lacks is an element of surprise. We usually have a pretty good idea of who’s winning. It’s usually an established star that’s been building towards a title shot for some time now, or a safe choice that people can easily buy into winning even if they’ve hit a rough stretch lately.

WWE typically doesn’t have dark horses win the Royal Rumble. Randy Orton wasn’t one of the top names mentioned before last year’s Rumble, but that was strictly due to his booking. His victory didn’t make people go OMG WHAT A SURPRISE or anything like that. He was a safe choice based on his history. This week, I’m going in the opposite direction and listing the Top 5 Dark Horses that you might not expect to win this Royal Rumble.

For the purposes of this list, I’m considering dark horses to be people outside the top ten consensus picks in various worldwide casinos. When I wrote this column, the top ten was as follows:

• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Roman Reigns
• Daniel Bryan
• John Cena
• Braun Strowman
• Dolph Ziggler
• Finn Balor
• AJ Styles
• Baron Corbin
• Kevin Owens

I’m pretty sure at least half of those people won’t be in the match, but that’s who the gamblers are betting on.

5. Goldberg (33-1 via Skybet, 66-1 via Paddypower)

This is the only non-regular performer making the list. You can bet on plenty of non-regulars, as the top ten shows. The only name that makes me pause for a moment is the man that won the Universal Championship during last year’s Road to WrestleMania & was an entrant in last year’s Royal Rumble.

This year, Bill Goldberg’s involvement seems confined to the WWE Hall of Fame. Ten years ago, Ric Flair doubled as a Hall of Fame headliner & an active competitor at WrestleMania. Goldberg could easily follow in the Naitch’s footsteps & win the Rumble as a surprise to get the WrestleMania main event slot.

4. Kofi Kingston (50-1 via Skybet, 100-1 via Boylesports)

Kofi is celebrating his tenth anniversary with WWE. Traditionally, it’s been tough for people to last ten consecutive years on WWE television. As a singles competitor or as one-third of The New Day, Kofi has been an underrated consistent presence on whichever brand he’s on at the time.

One of Kofi’s best moments of every single year is his performance in the Royal Rumble. He comes up with new ways to avoid getting eliminated before eventually doing so. Lasting the whole match seems like a fitting addition to his litany of accomplishments. Xavier Woods got a spot in the US Championship Tournament. Big E got chosen for the Mixed Match Challenge. Is it Kofi’s time to shine?

3. Jinder Mahal (25-1 via Skybet, 40-1 via Paddypower)

The Modern-Day Maharaja has had a bit of a struggle since losing the WWE Championship to AJ Styles. He failed to reclaim that championship, then came up short against Bobby Roode in the finals of the US Championship Tournament. Jinder obviously still has a taste for gold, but he needs to re-establish his place in the title mix.

His recent shift down the card makes people that didn’t believe in him as a main event talent feel they were right. They thought Jinder was only on top because WWE wanted to get over in India. Once WWE found other things to focus their attention on, Jinder became yesterday’s news. A victory in the Royal Rumble Match would silence the doubters & prove that Jinder will not be hindered on a consistent basis.

2. Elias (20-1 via betway, 66-1 via Paddypower)

 

Talk about strapping a rocket to somebody. The Drifter has caught fire since his arrival on Monday nights, to the point where he’s now getting one over on John Cena in a confrontation. He also earned a spot on Chris Jericho’s list. Elias gets good heat & the veterans seem interested in working with him. A win in this match on Sunday night could catapult him to the next level and make him one of WWE’s future legends.

If Monday night showed one thing, it’s that WWE doesn’t really have that much confidence in many of their current stars. Elias is one guy that got the spotlight, and he made the most of it. Why not give him the ball & see how far he goes?

1. The Miz (28-1 via Skybet, 40-1 via betway)

Miz was named Rolling Stone’s 2017 Wrestler of the Year, and while most of us probably voted for Okada or Omega or whoever, we didn’t knock it. The dude delivers more often than not in the ring & on the mike. He continues to elevate the importance of anything he’s involved in. He just became an eight-time Intercontinental Champion on Monday night at Raw 25. A return to WrestleMania’s main event and a chance to make up for his disappointing showing at WrestleMania XXVII could push Miz another level towards wrestling immortality.

I joked on Friday Night’s Main Event (podcast) about how Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar could have been another Ultimate Challenge pitting the Intercontinental Champion against the Universal Champion. Why not do it again? Heck, if you wanted to tie in the Miz/Daniel Bryan staredown from Monday night, Miz could opt to challenge for the WWE Championship. Should AJ Styles still be champion, it’d be another chance for Miz to target an Internet favorite, while annoying Bryan with his presence on Tuesday nights.