What’s the story?
According to Troy Smith of Cleveland.com, oddsmakers are adjusting the odds for Samoa Joe to win the Royal Rumble match.
In case you didn’t know...
One of the highlights of the weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble every year is the rampant speculation that surrounds the unofficial kickoff of the Road to WrestleMania. Speculation can come from many different sources, but one of the things we’re always keeping an eye on is the betting odds on online sportsbooks.
Just to be clear, we do not advocate gambling on professional wrestling in any way, shape, or form. Often, the favourites end up winning, and their odds are so skewed in one direction that they’re not really worth a bet. However, sometimes value can be found if you keep track on the odds of a particular performer.
The heart of the matter
This brings us to Samoa Joe. He has long been rumoured to make his main-roster debut at the Royal Rumble. Being held off of NXT television since the steel cage match against Shinsuke Nakamura from Melbourne, it seems that the Samoan Submission Machine is done with NXT.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter last week, Dave Meltzer mentioned that the plan was for Samoa Joe to be involved in a huge match at WrestleMania 33. This rumour may have driven the betting action that has been seen over the past ten days.
On January 9th, Samoa Joe’s odds to win the Royal Rumble were at 40/1. Three days later, his odds had dropped down to 33/1, on January 12th. That very same night, coincidentally after the Wrestling Observer Newsletter came out, his odds were chopped to 16/1 and had fallen to 12/1 by the following morning.
On the morning of January 16th, his odds dropped yet again to 10/1, and have continued to drop throughout this week, to the point where the best odds you can find on him to win the Battle Royale are 8/1. He is as low as 4/1 in some sportsbooks.
Another interesting prop bet that we found listed on one of the sportsbooks was, “Who will eliminate The Undertaker?” Samoa Joe is currently the favourite to win that bet, as well, with his odds at 6/4. If Samoa Joe does indeed eliminate The Undertaker, that immediately puts him over as a serious threat in the eyes of casual fans who may not watch NXT.
What’s next?
There is no guarantee that Samoa Joe will be involved in the Royal Rumble match, but everything seems to be pointing in that direction.
Sportskeeda’s take
Just to be clear, Braun Strowman is the current favourite to win the thirty man Battle Royale. Even if Samoa Joe doesn’t win the Royal Rumble, it appears that he’s slated for a very strong performance if the battle royal is to be where he makes his main roster debut.
Set to turn 38 in March, the big Samoan may not have much time left in the ring, and if anyone deserves this kind of push upon his debut, it’s Joe
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