WWE Royal Rumble 2021 Odds, Preview, and Predictions

• WWE Royal Rumble 2021 will take place on Sunday, January 31st, 2021
• In addition to the two annual Rumble matches, several championships will be up for grabs at the event
• How have the odds fluctuated in recent weeks for who bettors are picking to win the Rumbles?

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view has been an exciting annual tradition for WWE since its inception in 1988. The January staple has hosted some of the most memorable moments and classic matches in company history over the past four decades, largely because of the Rumble match itself.

The 2021 installment, emanating live from the WWE ThunderDome on Sunday, January 31st, will feature two Rumble matches as always: one for the men and one for the women, both consisting of 30 people each. The winners of those breathtaking bouts will then advance to WrestleMania for a title match of their choosing.

Ahead of Sunday night, let’s take a look at the favorites that will emerge victorious in each advertised bout according to the current betting odds.

WWE Royal Rumble 2021 Odds

Odds as of Jan. 28

Last Man Standing Universal Championship Match

This rivalry has been brewing for months, but despite Kevin Owens already having lost twice before to Reigns, he’s once again expected to fall to Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble. The Tribal Chief is currently favored at -750 in the betting odds and for good reason; he’s been the best thing going in WWE these past few months and should walk into WrestleMania 37 still the Universal champion.

8 days. pic.twitter.com/ytVWYOEWI8

— Kevinn (@FightOwensFight) January 23, 2021

With it being a Last Man Standing match, Owens doesn’t have to be pinned or submitted to be beaten and therefore he should be protected in defeat. Reigns winning decisively to put the rivalry to rest would be fine, but Jimmy Uso returning and costing Owens the victory would also accomplish that and progress the story in an intriguing fashion.

McIntyre vs Goldberg

After disappearing following his loss of the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36, Goldberg finally resurfaced on WWE TV on the Legends’ Night edition of Raw at the onset of 2021. He immediately challenged Drew McIntyre to a WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble. There isn’t much else to this story than that, though the outcome is definitely in doubt.

"I ain't gonna need a frickin' cattle prod to do it! All I'm gonna need is one Claymore." 😮😮😮

Message SENT by @DMcIntyreWWE! #RoyalRumble @Goldberg #WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/I3KD83TudO

— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2021

McIntyre is the safe bet to win at -240, but Goldberg isn’t far behind at +180, and that’s because of his tendency to return and win world title gold. It’s happened twice before and it could easily happen again (look no further than Super ShowDown 2020), but it would be asinine to take the title off McIntyre so close to WrestleMania.

Goldberg capturing gold again at this stage of his career accomplishes absolutely nothing.

30-Woman Royal Rumble Match

Bianca Belair is the favorite to win the women’s Royal Rumble this year at +180, as she makes more sense than anyone else. She should be in line to face Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. The runner-up, Alexa Bliss, is a logical choice as well seeing as how she’s been hot on the heels of Raw Women’s champion Asuka in recent weeks.

"I know in the future we're going to make some magic."@MsCharlotteWWE talks about the potential of facing @BiancaBelairWWE on #WWETheBump. 🙌 @MountainDew pic.twitter.com/CLbirTciVg

— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2021

Rhea Ripley is probably the only person besides Belair that could and should realistically reign supreme in the women’s Rumble. She has unfinished business with Charlotte Flair from last year. That being said, tossing her out to avenge last year’s WrestleMania loss and earning a title shot against Asuka would be a heck of a way for her to make her main roster debut.

Keep your money on Belair, but Ripley pulling out the upset isn’t out of the question whatsoever.

30-Man Royal Rumble Match

This year’s men’s Royal Rumble match is similar to the women’s in that Daniel Bryan is the favorite to take home the victory at +120, but there’s an even bigger chance WWE swerves the audience and goes with someone else instead.

Keith Lee would be a great choice seeing as how he’s ready for the main event scene and would be a believable challenger to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar making his grand return and winning the whole thing instead is what fans fear because there’s zero reason for that, though it’s a likely possibility.

One year ago. Feels like a decade doesn’t it? Last years story was once in a lifetime. No sense trying to recreate that. Impossible. I don’t have you there. This year my journey is different. I’m not just happy to be back. I want back what I never lost and it starts this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/bmSTyr6nHC

— Adam Copeland (@RatedRCope) January 26, 2021

Big E and specifically Edge are dark horses, along with AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura (again), but none of them are favorites. Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns, and Goldberg are already busy at the Rumble and shouldn’t be in the running to win whatsoever.

Bryan remains the best choice to come out on top as hopefully, WWE intends to put him up against Roman Reigns at The Show of Shows in April.