Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley are the current favorites to win the WWE Royal Rumble matches in 2023.
According to new betting odds, courtesy of OddsChecker, Cody Rhodes is the current odds-on favorite to win the Royal Rumble match this year. A strong number two is Dwayne Johnson, The Rock. Coming in at 3rd place is Sami Zayn, while Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns round out the top five.
Currently, Cody Rhodes is on the shelf with an injury, The Rock has yet actually to commit to any dates with WWE, and Roman Reigns is the incumbent WWE Undisputed Universal Champion.
Over on the women’s side, Rhea Ripley is the favorite to win this year’s 30-woman Battle Royal, with Becky Lynch as a strong number two.
The Royal Rumble is almost here and sportsbooks feel like they’ve got a good bead on what the Rumble is going to look like this year. For now that means it’s Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley taking home the victories, but both have some stiff competition.
Men’s Royal Rumble
Sportsbooks are pretty confident in Cody Rhodes right now. The American Nightmare is given +110 odds, or an implied 47.6% chance to win the Royal Rumble, something his father never accomplished. However, there are two very real threats to him.
The first is The Rock. It’s no secret that WWE has been attempting to set up The Rock vs. Roman Reigns for WrestleMania this year. While sportsbooks aren’t buying into The Rock winning the Rumble and going the distance on the road to WrestleMania, it is a possibility. The Rock is currently second on the market with +350 odds, or an implied 22.2% chance.
The second is Sami Zayn. The honorary Uso has never fit with The Bloodline and that storyline was always likely going to come to a head on the road to Wrestlemania. Most would have guessed that it would come to a head against the Usos, but the books believe there could be a plan for him to win the Rumble and challenge Reigns. Not to dissimilar from when Randy Orton won it and broke from the Wyatt Family as a result. Right now it’s a smaller chance, just +900 odds or an implied 10%, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind.
MENS ROYAL RUMBLE WINNER
Wrestler Odds Implied chance Cody Rhodes +110 47.6% The Rock +350 22.2% Sami Zayn +900 10% Seth Rollins +1400 6.7% Roman Reigns +1600 5.9% Drew McIntyre +2000 4.8% Brock Lesnar +2500 3.8% Gunther +2500 3.8% Kevin Owens +2500 3.8% Logan Paul +2500 3.8%
Women’s Royal Rumble
The Women’s side is more competitive, though the books still only see three realistic winners at this point. For now, it’s Rhea Ripley who’s out in front of the pack.
Ripley has recently taken on a new direction as a character. Just a few weeks ago she started taking on intergender matches, winning her first over Akira Tozawa. With her now competing against the men, it might make sense for the WWE to show that she’s above the Women’s division by having her defeat the whole roster to win the Women’s Rumble match. That’s what the books have in mind for now, as she’s given +200 odds or an implied 33.3% chance to book her ticket to WrestleMania.
Just behind Ripley is Becky Lynch. The Man has already won a Royal Rumble, doing so in 2019. If she were to win again she’d become the first two-time Women’s Rumble winner. Lynch has been mired in a losing streak of late. She hasn’t won a televised match since Survivor Series as a member of team Bianca. She hasn’t won a singles match since July 4th when she beat Asuka. It wouldn’t take much to build her back up into a main eventer if WWE wanted it though, and Becky vs. Charlotte has always been a money match. So, don’t discount here chances of taking home the victory here, the books sure aren’t at +250 or an implied 28.6% chance.
Charlotte Flair is the third woman on this list. She’s given +700 odds, or an implied 12.5% chance. That seems crazier than it is. If WWE does plan to unify all their belts and eliminate the brand split than having Charlotte, who recently won the SmackDown title, win the Rumble and challenge for the Raw title in a unification match would make perfect sense.
WOMENS ROYAL RUMBLE WINNER
Wrestler Odds Implied chance Rhea Ripley +200 33.3% Becky Lynch +250 28.6% Charlotte Flair +700 12.5% Bayley +1000 9.1% Raquel Rodriguez +1400 6.7% Sasha Banks +1400 6.7% Bianca Belair +1600 5.9% Io Shirai +1600 5.9% Alexa Bliss +2000 4.8% Asuka +2000 4.8%
