The Royal Rumble takes place this year in Minute Maid Park in Texas. We’re promised a special show this year when 30 of the shiniest, slipperiest, latex-consuming mountains of muscle on the planet clobber the bejesus out of each other on Sunday night – it’s always a great night’s entertainment.
For those who don’t know, this is a massive event for the wrestlers in which the winner earns a world championship opportunity for the biggest event of the year WrestleMania.
That shines through in the odds for both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumbles, where there are two heavy favourites to win both events.
Roman Reigns is the 1/2 favourite for the men’s bout and he looks likely to win the event on the bridle according to the markets, largely because there’s no clear challenger for WWE champion Brock Lesnar at the April event, meaning Reigns could be the default option.
Lesnar (8/1) is an entry for this year’s Rumble too, which mean there could be some typical Vince MacMahon shenanigans afoot in the 30-man brawl this year or in the aftermath, so we’re reluctant to recommend a strong pick at the prices.
If you think the wily old operator has a celebrity stunner lined up to step in for a shock victory on Sunday, we do have a few longer-priced names that might appeal. Rob Gronkowski (66/1) and Tyson Fury (25/1) are both available and have the frames to fill the gap in the WWE roster, while some former stars of the squared circle who’ve gone on to pastures new are also listed on the market, with The Rock at 25/1 standing out. 2019 winner Seth Rollins is 33/1.
In the women’s Rumble, Shayna Baszler is an even shorter fav at 3/10, meaning she’s almost a cert to take it too. There’ve only been two of these, and both were won by future women’s champions, Asuka in 2018 and Ireland own Becky Lynch in 2019, hence the expectation that Baszler will take this year’s staging. She didn’t pin Lynch when she had the chance at Survivor Series, so that points to them being set to clash further down the line – somewhere like Wrestlemania?
There are some murmurings that UFC star Ronda Rousey could face Lynch at that event too, with 11/2 her price, and winning the womens’ Rumble could be a stepping stone to that, while Charlotte Flair is always a potential headliner too
It’s hard to see anyone else winning either event though, so betting-wise, it makes more sense to look at some of the other markets for value.
New champ! Keith Lee defeats Roderick Strong to win the North American title and wrest one of the belts from the Undisputed Era’s hands pic.twitter.com/k0c7dSmZvs
— SI Wrestling (@SI_wrestling) January 23, 2020
Keith Lee to have the most eliminations in the men’s Royal Rumble looks to be the value bet to me I can really see him having a big performance on Sunday as he’s had some big wins in the lead up to this, taking the NXT North American Championship from Roderick Strong, and had a very impressive showing in the 2019 Survivor Series pay-per view.
It’s starting to feel like WWE really needs to follow up on this and let Keith Lee have a big event on Sunday night.
In the wise words of legend CM Punk “it already feels like it’s been two years since Lee had his big moment with Roman Reigns and that Lee needs to win the Rumble by tossing WWE Champion Brock Lesnar out at the end”.
CM Punk’s pick for the Men’s Royal Rumble is Keith Lee 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sVME9H0D9L
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexMcCarthy88) January 22, 2020
I don’t think Lee will win this year – he’s 12/1 if you fancy a punt on him – but he’s certainly a potential winner of the most eliminations market given the likely profile boost he’s due. At 8/1, he’s definitely worth a shot.
I’ll stick to the same market for the women’s and go for Rhea Ripley to have the most eliminations in the women’s Royal Rumble. She is second fav in this market.
Ripley made her main roster pay-per view debut last year for the Royal Rumble match at number 24, She made a lasting impression by eliminating Zelina Vega, Kacy Catanzaro and Dana Brooke before being eliminated by Bayley. I think there is every chance she has the most eliminations this year and expect a big night from her at 4/1.
Royal Rumble Best Bets
Most Eliminations: Keith Lee – 8/1
Most Eliminations: Rhea Ripley – 4/1
You can then get the double of these two selections 40/1 in our WWE Royal Rumble 2020 – #WhatOddsPaddy market
Cause a ruckus with your royal rumble bets on PaddyPower.com