What’s the Story?
As reported by Dave Meltzer on this morning’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Randy Orton is currently penciled in to win the Royal Rumble Match. This piece of news has also been reflected in the sports books. Although Randy Orton has been the been the betting favourite for a while, the odds have drastically shortened over the last four days. He is now the prohibitive betting favourite at 1.04/1 ( Source: sportsbet.com).
The following pictures reflect the movement of the betting odds over the last four days (Source:sportsbet.com).
Follow our WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Results and live coverage
In case you didn’t know...
Randy Orton has been a part of the Wyatt family over the last couple of months after initially feuding with them, and he looks to be on course to reignite his rivalry with Bray. It is evident from recent episodes of Smackdown that the WWE is slowly building to the inevitable breakup. The story has made the audience thirst for the Viper to hit the RKO on Wyatt and complete his turn.
It is safe to say that this is the hottest Orton has been since the day he punted Vince McMahon in 2009.
The heart of the matter
According to Meltzer, the plan is for Randy Orton to win the Royal Rumble match and challenge Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. This implies that Bray Wyatt is set to have a run with the gold, and if he is to defend the title at this year’s Wrestlemania he will more than likely capture his maiden title at this year’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
Triple H was also on record saying that the winner of this year’s Royal Rumble would be someone that nobody expected to win. Although Randy Orton has always been booked strongly, his career has stagnated over the last three years, and it is safe to say very few people expect him to win.
What next?
The Royal Rumble is merely hours away, and we’ll soon know whether Meltzer’s story holds water.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Slow builds have almost always paid dividends in the history of Professional Wrestling. With the audience invested in this feud, it makes complete sense to raise the anticipation and get to the big match with the highest stakes possible.
Although a section of fans will groan at the thought of Orton in another main event, his chemistry with Bray Wyatt provides an opportunity to tell a compelling story. The WWE had a lot of success with a similar angle between Triple H and Dave Batista that led to a huge buy rate at Wrestlemania 21.
