Growing Sentiment that Daniel Bryan Could Win the Royal Rumble

WWE Universe, you may want to sit down, park your car, or take your phone into the work bathroom, because it’s time to get embarrassingly excited: Daniel Bryan may win the Royal Rumble.

Before we get into it, we must qualify that this is speculative, perhaps highly speculative, but here’s what we know. Several betting websites have begun handicapping the Royal Rumble, yes you can bet on wrestling.A few weeks ago, Daniel Bryan was given 66/1 odds to win the match – about the same chance President Trump has to win. However, Bryan’s odds are now 5/1(!!) according to PaddyPower.com making him one of the likeliest mathematical possibilities to win the Rumble.

The word is that WWE may be tossing around the idea of Bryan getting the bombshell victory and insiders within the company took a sack of money and placed on the SmackDown GM to win.

Bryan Alvarez said as much on a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Live:

“Here’s what I can tell you, it’s all I can tell you, okay? Because, if Daniel Bryan is going to win the Rumble they’re gonna try and keep it as secret as possible but here’s what I can tell you. Clearly, and I don’t know what it is but clearly, someone had some sort of idea that involved Daniel Bryan winning the Royal Rumble,” he said.

Alvarez humored the idea, but ultimately would throw water on the idea of Bryan winning this year’s Rumble.

“Obviously, word got out and some people in the company placed bets. But, as of right now as of this moment Daniel Bryan is not cleared. The situation has not changed one single solitary bit with Daniel Bryan. He is not cleared. I guess they could find some way for him to win the Royal Rumble but I’ll just flat out say, I don’t think Daniel Bryan’s winning the Royal Rumble,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez makes some reasonable points, but we aren’t exactly dealing with a reasonable business. It is literally in WWE’s best interest to keep fans in the dark. If Bryan is going to win the Rumble, that’s a surprise that WWE would kill people to maintain its secrecy. While this is still a long shot, Bryan’s odds moving like this are worth a deeper dive.

Let’s say this happens. WWE already has the framework aligned for Bryan to have a huge WrestleMania match. He and AJ Styles are in the early chapters of a potential feud as Bryan has buddied with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. This, on top of the fact that Bryan and Shane McMahon have been teasing a physical altercation for weeks, means that Bryan is involved in not one, but two main event storylines. These stories have been weaving since SummerSlam, and somehow, they will culminate in a WrestleMania match, but we can only guess as to who that will involve. Right now, Bryan winning the Rumble would mean he faces AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34 for, a possibility that has already blown up portions of the internet.

However, in fact, this is the biggest however, Daniel Bryan is not medically cleared. And depending on who you listen to, it appears that WWE will never budge from their rigid stance against him wrestling. So until WWE gives him the green light, something that should be considered a long shot, Bryan winning the Rumble will remain a fantasy for wrestling fans.

Fact or fiction, fans will be stuck to their screen on the night of the RUmble in hopes of hearing “The Flight of the Valkyries.”