WWE Rumors: Chris Jericho Now The Favorite To Win ‘Royal Rumble’ 2017 Match?
The latest WWE rumors are buzzing after the WWE Roadblock: End of the Line pay-per-view Sunday night with regards to Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, and the Universal Championship title picture. The ending of the latest Raw-exclusive event certainly raised eyebrows no matter how much it looked like Jericho and Owens are still “best friends.” Not only that, recent movements in the Royal Rumble betting odds seem to further rumors that Jericho will win the big WWE match, even with two other superstars ahead of him on the listing.
At last night’s Roadblock PPV results in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jericho lost via pinfall in his matchup against Seth Rollins, as ProWrestling.net reported. It was mostly a back-and-forth contest, with both competitors looking ready to capture the win. In the end, Jericho lost due to his “friend” Kevin Owens coming to the ring, thinking he was going to help. It only caused a major distraction, which ultimately helped Rollins hit the Pedigree finisher for the win. However, Jericho came to the ring later on during the main event to repay the favor, and that’s what has many people speculating more than before about Y2J’s chances to win the Rumble.
The WWE Roadblock main event featured Kevin Owens defending the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. Reigns looked ready to capture the title several times and even hit a huge spear to take down Owens towards the end of the bout. However, Chris Jericho came to the ring and got involved. After looking at both competitors carefully, he waited as Owens got up and hit him with the Codebreaker. The ref called for the bell for a disqualification, meaning Owens won and kept his title. Most likely, it’s an indicator that Jericho wants to win Owens’ title and felt taking on Owens was the smarter move. Now Y2J just needs to win the big match in Texas with 29 other competitors also looking to win.
.@FightOwensFight is so confused right now, as @IAmJericho gives him his #UniversalTitle back! #WWERoadblock pic.twitter.com/18p2Uh0KFV
— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2016
The Paddy Power website currently lists Jericho as a 9 to 2 favorite to win the Royal Rumble match next month. Jericho was previously tied with John Cena on the betting odds as the third favorite behind Goldberg and then, Finn Balor. Now Jericho has sole ownership of the three spot, moving ahead of Cena on “the list” of potential winners. The increased movement seems to indicate that more than a few people believe he has a greater chance of winning the annual Rumble match. Keep in mind, he has never won that match before, and it would be another accomplishment on a legendary wrestling resume.
Over at WWE Leaks, David Taylor notes that Jericho is at the top of his list of winners. Taylor notes that it originally looked like the friendship between Owens and Jericho was going to implode soon and result in a Royal Rumble singles match. However, based on the ending of last night’s pay-per-view, the two still hugged it out at the end and fell victim to the destructive combo of Reigns and Rollins. That will likely set up a tag team match involving Owens and Jericho against the former Shield buddies. It will also further the storyline of the two best friends, but most likely Jericho had his own “master plan” by making sure the title stays with Owens rather than Reigns. It could be argued that Jericho will say he did this because he views Reigns as more of a challenge compared to Owens.
As mentioned, there are two superstars above Jericho right now for the WWE Royal Rumble odds, but they appear to be fan favorites to win. Goldberg has been the favorite ever since he put his name into the match entrants weeks ago on Raw. He was the first superstar to announce he’d be in the match. Rumors are continuing that his adversary Brock Lesnar, who is also in the match, will end up costing Goldberg the win. That will set up another bout between the two at WrestleMania 33. Finn Balor, who is second on the betting odds, has been hurt ever since winning the Universal title at SummerSlam. While he could be covering things up, Balor has said his intention is to return to wrestling by WrestleMania.
So what about John Cena? He has fallen to fourth favorite on the betting odds. The best speculation for Cena is that if he is part of the championship match at WrestleMania, he’ll win a No. 1 contender’s match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view set for 2017. It could set up one of two matches: AJ Styles vs. John Cena or The Undertaker vs. John Cena. Another potential match for the SmackDown roster involves AJ Styles and The Undertaker. As of right now, Undertaker is nowhere near the top 10 favorites to win the Rumble, so it would be surprising to see him show up in the match, but don’t count out him becoming involved in the title picture ahead of Mania.
WWE fans, do you believe after last night’s Roadblock pay-per-view, that it has made Chris Jericho a clearer favorite to win the Royal Rumble, or will another superstar win the big match in January?
[Featured Image by WWE]
