What’s the story?
With less than a week to go until the most hotly-anticipated Royal Rumble match in recent memory, two more men have officially entered the 30-man annual event. Rusev and Big Cass will both be entering the Royal Rumble, as their feud continues to move forward in the new year.
It is unlikely that either man will have their hand raised after 29 men have been eliminated, but the Bulgarian Brute and the Big Bambino will be sure to bring a certain sense of extra credibility to the match.
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It also seems likely that Enzo Amore and Jinder Mahal, will not be entering the match. Plans can always change, and whether or not he is involved in the match itself, we can almost be assured that Enzo will be heard at some point during the evening. Jinder may not be so lucky.
In case you didn’t know...
The 2017 Royal Rumble match is arguably the least predictable in recent history. There is no clear favourite to win the match, and whilst performers like Big Cass and Rusev are huge outsiders they still can’t be ruled out entirely.
Betting sites currently have Goldberg, The Undertaker and Braun Strowman as the favourites, but you could easily put in the names Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho or Finn Balor in there and get the same response.
According to those same sites, Rusev is a bigger outsider than Austin Aries and Karl Anderson, which doesn’t bode well for the former United States Champion’s chances.
The heart of the matter
The Royal Rumble match is a curious one to put together, in that in-canon every man has a chance to win the match, but the reality is that couldn’t be further from the truth. The match is usually made up of a small number of potential winners and 25 or so others; warm bodies to keep the match moving over the minimum hour it takes to complete.
Rusev and Big Cass will fill that role in this year’s Rumble.
Rusev will be looking to improve on his 2016 performance, however, when he lasted just a minute and a half before being the first man dumped over the top rope by Roman Reigns.
What’s next?
If you wanted to get into specifics, one of the two will enter early and the other will enter late, but the rest is pure speculation. Rusev and Cass are in the match to pick up a payday and little else.
Sportskeeda’s take
Whilst any and all entries into the Royal Rumble match are somewhat newsworthy, there is always going to be a certain assumption about men from the middle of the card being involved. In the same way that Val Venis and Big Boss Man were never going to win the Rumble but needed to be involved, Rusev and Big Cass will take part this Sunday.
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