Dave Meltzer, arguable the most respected journalist in pro wrestling and head of The Wrestling Observer, has influenced the Royal Rumble odds by his reporting of what he has learned from his backstage sources. The idea here is that Bray Wyatt will win the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, a Smackdown branded PPV. Originally, when we learned this the thought had been that The Rumble winner would obviously and definitely be from the RAW roster as the speculation suggests that the Elimination Chamber would be for a WWE Championship title shot at Wrestlemania. RAW’s Universal Championship, by this point, would have been determined already based on a Rumble win. These predictions were shook up when it was announced the the WWE Championship would actually be defended in the Chamber instead of being for the number one contendership.

Meltzer put out the concept of Wyatt going into Mania as champion and that Randy Orton would be the challenger, meaning he is set to win the Rumble. Orton joined the Wyatt family last year, but his explosive personality disorder and the fact that it’s not really fitting for his “Viper” character indicates that he cannot last as the “servile puppy dog” of Wyatt for very long.

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Dave also put out the idea that the two major titles would not be kept on Kevin Owens and AJ Styles going into Wrestlemania and now both of those title matches at Royal Rumble have odds against the champions leading to what many consider a “nightmare scenario” with Roman Reigns and John Cena as the WWE Universal Champions and WWE Champion respectively.

This reporting has influenced the odds with Randy Orton now the favorite with even odds at the moment from Paddy Power, which caters to the European market. For the American market Orton has risen to most favored at +275 and this can been seen at 5Dimes. How people bet results in “moving the lines” so sports books can maintain a balanced book.

Follow the odds in the European market by visiting [clink id=”14″]clicking here to visit Paddy Power[/clink]. For the [clink id=”1″]American market click here to visit 5Dimes. [/clink]