WWE Royal Rumble Odds and Bold Predictions: Will Johnny Knoxville Record an Elimination?

WWE Royal Rumble Odds and Bold Predictions: Will Johnny Knoxville Record an Elimination?

The road to WrestleMania officially kicks off on Saturday night as the superstars of WWE descend on St. Louis for the 2022 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Of course, the show is headlined by the 30-man and 30-woman Royal Rumble matches. The winner of each mass will earn the right to challenge the champion of their choosing in the main event of WrestleMania. Names are made and dreams truly do come true at the annual WWE Royal Rumble event.

While the vast majority of entrants for both the men’s and women’s rumble matches have already been announced, there are always a few surprises each year. This will once again be the case as fans and bettors are unlikely to know the entirety of the 30-superstar fields until the entrance music hits for the unannounced participants. One unique Royal Rumble participant who has already confirmed his entry in the men’s match is actor Johnny Knoxville. 

While the WWE betting odds give Johnny Knoxville all of a 1% chance to win the match outright, there is reason to believe Knoxville could record at least one elimination before he is ultimately thrown over the top rope himself. Read on for this and a few other bold predictions, as well as the current Men’s Royal Rumble betting odds.

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WWE Royal Rumble Odds and Bold Predictions

Bold Prediction #1 — Johnny Knoxville Will Eliminate Sami Zayn

A lot of times, not much is expected from gimmick entrants in WWE matches like the Royal Rumble. But given that Johnny Knoxville has largely built his fame on the back of some crazy stunts on MTV’s show, Jackass, there’s reason to believe he could have an impact in the 30-man rumble. Heck, after watching Bad Bunny go off at WrestleMania last year, it’s impossible to fully write off an outsider ever again.

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While +10000 odds tell the story as far as Knoxville actually winning the Royal Rumble match outright, a fun prop bet would be to predict whether or not the 50-year-old actor will record an elimination before being ousted himself. For our first bold prediction, we’re going with “Yes” on that prop and even naming the exact superstar he will eliminate. After back-and-forth challenges with resident WWE heel Sami Zayn, look for Knoxville to eliminate one of the most clever of superstars and rid the match of Zayn’s inevitable hijinks. 

Bold Prediction #2 — Co-Favorite Big E Will NOT Win the Royal Rumble Match

While there is a storyline behind Big E being listed as the co-favorite at +350 in the Royal Rumble odds, the chances of him winning have seemingly gotten bleaker by the week. Big E lost his WWE Championship in a Fatal Five-way match at the Day 1 pay-per-view. After winning Money in the Bank last year and having a rather uninteresting reign as champ, why would WWE choose him to headline WrestleMania 38?

Indeed, the last few weeks have quieted the buzz around Big E’s Royal Rumble hopes. With the title picture currently made up of far bigger names, he really doesn’t fit in and thus, WWE’s plans for The Showcase of the Immortals. Do not bet on Big E to win the rumble.

Bold Prediction #3 — At Least One Commentator Will Leave the Desk and Enter the Royal Rumble Match

Notice that the bold prediction says “at least” one commentator will enter. This is because there could quite conceivably be two announcers who leave the desk and/or simply show up unannounced to compete in the men’s Royal Rumble match. And no, neither of them are listed among the current Royal Rumble odds.

The first possibility here is Corey Graves. He has been on commentary for some time now and is pretty damn good at it at that. However, the former wrestler has also been cleared to return to in-ring competition after his career was temporarily ended due to multiple head injuries. The Royal Rumble would certainly be a way for Graves to make a splash in a potential return.

The second option as far as a commentator competing in the Men’s Royal Rumble is former NFL punter, Pat McAfee. Although his previous wrestling experience was brief and came only on NXT, McAfee was pretty darned good at it. He’s hilarious as a commentator, and could easily be seen ripping off the headset and joining the fray on Saturday night.

Bold Prediction #4 — Austin Theory Will Make the Final Four

Every year, there is at least one superstar who uses the Royal Rumble Match as a career launchpad despite falling short of actually winning the spectacle outright. This year, no one fits that mold better than young Austin Theory. The WWE Universe can hate him all they want, and he is certainly being booked as a heel with his post-match selfies and the tutelage of Vince McMahon. Either way, no one can deny the talent that Theory has. 

Theory is +2500 to win the Royal Rumble outright and could conceivably be among the last four men standing in one of two ways. Given his relationship with McMahon, it would not come as a shock to see him be one of the late entrants into the match via a favorable draw. The other way, which would do more as far as launching Theory’s career, would be an early entry and hanging tough in the match for a prolonged period.  

Bold Prediction #5 — One of the Two Current Champions Will Win the Royal Rumble Match

Of course, the WWE Royal Rumble card also includes several title defenses prior to the 30-man main event. Thus, we will know before the Men’s Royal Rumble Match the outcome of both the Universal and WWE Championship matches. The problem for WWE right now is that the two behemoths the company reportedly wants to have face each other at WrestleMania are the current champions. Thus, one of either Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns is likely to drop their belt on Saturday.

Whichever of the two loses their title is undoubtedly going to be among the unannounced entrants into the Royal Rumble Match. The prevailing rumor mill actually disagrees with the WWE betting odds on which of the two it will be. Most wrestling rumors suggest that Reigns will lose his Universal title to Seth Rollins while Lesnar will retain in his defense against Bobby Lashley. This would make sense from a title reign perspective as Lesnar just took the belt at WWE Day 1. Reigns, on the other hand, has been champ for well over 500 days now. 

Then again, it would be fitting for an extended title run like Reigns’ to finally come to an end at WrestleMania. With Lesnar priced as a +350 co-favorite and Reigns listed at +700, the Royal Rumble odds clearly view the Beast Incarnate as the more likely winner of the two. Either way, look for one of these two to wind up spoiling the party and booking a spot in the main event at ‘Mania. As if they wouldn’t already be in a main event match anyways, right?

2022 Royal Rumble Odds

Refer to the table below which lists the latest WWE betting odds and implied win probabilities for all confirmed entrants and other possible Men’s Royal Rumble Match participants.