WWE News: Updated odds for the 2018 Royal Rumble matches 

What's the story?

The current betting odds for the top nine favourites to win the 2018 Royal Rumble has been released and it seems that the WWE Universe could be disappointed. The top two favourites are former winners of the Rumble, with many other strange names making up the list.

It seems that there is only one main name on the list when it comes to the women's match and that's former UFC Champion Ronda Rousey.

In case you didn't know...

The 2018 Royal Rumble is now less than five weeks away and for the first time in the 31 year history of The Rumble, next year will see the women of WWE be given their own Royal Rumble match as well. Most of the build-up to the Rumble over the past few weeks has focused on the women as they announce their participation in the match, but it seems that at some point the men will have to announce their involvement as well.

Elias is the only Superstar who has officially stated that he will be in the match on January 28th, even though he isn't one of the men who makes up the list of favourites. On the women's side, Asuka and Naomi have officially announced their involvement in the first ever Women's Royal Rumble so far.

The heart of the matter

According to Wrestlinginc.com, John Cena is currently the favourite to win the 2018 Royal Rumble match with odds of 5/2 but Roman Reigns is hot on his heels with 3/1 odds. One man that many of the WWE Universe would hope to win The Rumble and go on to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania is Shinsuke Nakamura, who is currently the third favourite with 3/1 odds.

Incredibly, AJ Styles himself is in fourth, despite being the current WWE Champion which means that he can't actually be part of the match if he still holds the Championship on January 28th. Bobby Roode is next on the list as he steps into his first Rumble match closely followed by Seth Rollins who could be set to be part of his first Rumble in four years.

Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor round off the list of nine favourites to win the match at present, but with more than a month to go until the match itself, these odds could easily change to suit the events on Raw and SmackDown over the next few weeks.

Ronda Rousey is the heavy favourite to win the Women's Rumble even though it is well-known that she will be away filming Mile 22 throughout February.

What's next?

John Cena returned to Raw on Christmas day and faced Elias but the former Champion could remain part of the show for the next month and go on to be just the second man to win three Royal Rumble matches, after Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After the way the WWE Universe reacted to last year's Rumble, it's unlikely though since WWE will want to add a few shocks to the show as they turn the corner on the road to WrestleMania 34.

The same could be said for the women's match, but with the likes of Asuka, Paige, Ronda Rousey and a number of other legends set to throw their hats in the ring, there could be more shocks in store throughout January.

Authors take

Next year's Royal Rumble is completely wide open, it seems that whilst it is highly unpredictable many of the WWE Universe could be thinking WWE would go with John Cena as the safe bet.

As participants announce their involvement in the match over the past few weeks, it will become much clearer as to who the winner could be, as for right now, some of these odds are better being taken with a pinch of salt.