WWE Royal Rumble 2011: Predicting The Odds Of Potential Entrants

There are 40 superstars entering in the 2011 WWE Royal Rumble, but not all of them have the same odds of winning.  In fact, some of them don’t have any chance at all.

What I did was to break down all the competitors who I think could be entered into the WWE Royal Rumble.  While I realize WWE has released a list of names, it’s not complete, nor do I trust it’s entirely accurate.

The list I’ve got is a lot more than 40 names, but I’m fairly certain that the winner of this year’s Royal Rumble is in this list… or at least three of the last four competitors who will be involved in the match.

No Chance

Darren Young - he appears from time to time, but he hasn’t had a singles match in a while, nor have they really mentioned his name. Pure filler.
David Hart Smith – They didn’t care about DH Smith to give a proper ending to his feud with Tyson Kidd, why would they give him a huge win like this?
David Otunga – He can talk, but his in-ring skills are still seriously lacking. If any member of Nexus wins, it’ll be CM Punk. It’s far too soon to drop a rift between them just yet.
Goldust - He hasn’t been on television for months. Even in his prime, WWE wasn’t willing to put him in a serious main event.
Husky Harris – See “David Otunga”, only we don’t know whether he can talk yet.
Jey Uso / Jimmy Uso – WWE hasn’t even tried to establish the true character for the Usos, despite having a decent storyline setup with Santino & Kozlov. If they thought the Usos were worth baning on just yet, they would’ve had them more involved in a feud for the tag titles.
Mason Ryan – His storyline still involves loyalty to CM Punk, so he won’t take a win at the expense of Punk, and he hasn’t talked enough to show he’s deserving of a World Title shot yet.
Michael McGillicutty – He can talk, he has some in-ring skills, but he needs more time to display some character.
Michael Tarver – He just recently started showing up again, and while it looks like WWE wants to use him for something, this certainly isn’t the answer.
Primo Colon – This guy hasn’t been seen in a backstage promo in months, probably years.
Skip Sheffield – The guy might make his return, and there’s word that WWE is high on him, but he will need a bit of time to re-establish himself as a potential key player before he should get anywhere near a title shot… and by “time”, I mean more than just a couple months.
The Great Khali – If he shows up, it’s only for WWE to help put someone over by eliminating him. I’m guessing Ezekiel Jackson.
Vladimir Kozlov – He and Santino have a great thing going right now, and if either of them is going to split up the team, it’s going to be the guy who fans pay to hear on the mic.
William Regal – He’s only working part time these days, working to help put over guys using his in-ring ability, and although at one point it would have been a great idea to have him win the Rumble, that time has long since past.
Yoshi Tatsu – At best, he’s a newer version of William Regal, but WWE likely hasn’t even decided he’s worthy of that yet. His best odds for the future would be a heel turn.
Zack Ryder – Tons of personality, definitely above average in the ring, but WWE isn’t even using him as a character foil these days.
Beth Phoenix – She likely won’t even be in the Rumble, but there’s always a chance she will be, and if they decide to put her in the match, that’s a big enough “push”. She might eliminate someone, but she definitely won’t win. Not even final four.
Chavo Guerrero – If Chavo was already showing tensions with Dolph Ziggler, there’d be a slight chance that he could win the Rumble, but only if Dolph Ziggler were going to be World Champ heading into Wrestlemania. At this point, we barely even see Chavo anymore.
Chris Masters – I can’t remember the last time he was involved in an angle.
Curt Hawkins – I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not still with the company when Wrestlemania hits.
Finlay – I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t even entered into the Rumble. I can’t remember the last time I saw him in a match.
Hornswoggle – If he’s used, it’s as filler. Comedic filler and then buried by a heel.
Joey Mercury – I only know he’s on the roster because he’s still on one of the roster pages.
JTG – He’s getting more air time lately, but he’s not even a serious threat to being a contender for the IC or US Titles.
Ricardo Rodriguez – Alberto Del Rio’s ring announcer might take a punch to help ADR advance, but that’s as far as he’d go in the Rumble.
Trent Barreta – He’s doing great against Drew McIntyre, but even that small feud might be over for him, and he was basically just a pawn.
Tyler Reks – He seemed to have some interest put in his career by the WWE brass, but nowhere near enough to consider him an actual threat. At best he might eliminate someone else from this list.

Very Very Low Odds

Evan Bourne – I’d be surprised if he was even involved in the Royal Rumble, as I think he’s still injured.
Mark Henry - He’s looking stronger on RAW, but he’s not a top-flight guy
R-Truth – He’s good at helping guys get over, using his flashy moves and his ability to speak, but he’s not going to main event Wrestlemania.  Almost ZERO chance.  He’s not booked as strongly as Mark Henry, but it’s not 100% out of the question that he could be used in a World Title match.  They haven’t done much to build him up for it, but it could happen.  He’s more likely a Money In The Bank contestant.
Santino Marella – Eventually this could happen, and while it probably won’t, if either member of the current tag team champs were to win the Rumble, it’s Santino.
Ted DiBiase – He hasn’t been pushed much at all since he and Cody Rhodes dropped the tag titles over a year ago, so I’d be shocked, but he does have some of the pieces in place which could make him a decent challenger at Wrestlemania.
Tyson Kidd – He got a bodyguard, he has been improving on the mic, he’s flashy in the ring, and while he seems extremely unlikely as a winner of the Rumble or as a potential World Champ, he’s got similar odds to what others in this list might have.  I can’t totally write off the possibility.
Heath Slater – Smackdown showed that he’s likely the weakest member of The Corre, but I’m not willing to say he has NO chance, because they haven’t dropped him from the roster yet.

Level 2 Odds

Justin Gabriel – Better odds than Heath Slater, but he’s not ready to main event Wrestlemania
Cody Rhodes – I’m not convinced he will even be in the match.  Because it seems they’re going the route of having him sit out this Rumble, that’s why I put his odds as low as I have them.  They’d be higher if I knew he were going to be competing, though I still wouldn’t bet on it.  He’ll almost definitely be feuding with Rey Mysterio going into Wrestlemania.
Kofi Kingston – He’s not a World Title guy yet.  Give him some time and he could grow into that role.  He might have a decent performance, but I’d be surprised if he made it into the final 3.

Level 3 Odds

Daniel Bryan – WWE is still in a “feeling out” process to see how they like him holding a belt, but he’s not ready to take the next step just yet.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he got some of the “young Bret Hart” treatment a year from now.
Jerry Lawler – It pains me to even put him this high, but they could very well have a match with The Miz at Wrestlemania.
Christian – WWE doesn’t seem to want him near the World Title scene, but if Edge has the belt, they could set up something there.

Level 4 Odds

Kane – His recent reign was improbable, but because it happened I won’t call another one impossible, but it’s unlikely.  Still, they could step back up with his push and give him his first Royal Rumble win.
Rey Mysterio – His main angle right now would be with Cody Rhodes or Alberto Del Rio, and the former isn’t going to be in a World Title situation, and the latter would likely only be in the World Title match at Wrestlemania IF he wins the Royal Rumble.
Ezekiel Jackson – He’s being built up strongly, but if any member of The Corre wins the Royal Rumble, it’s very likely going to be Wade Barrett.  If not Wade, Zeke would be my second option from The Corre, but I don’t really like his potential ‘Mania match ups.

There are 11 guys who I have yet to mention whose odds I ranked.  To view those names and to voice your opinion through my popular polls, view the full version of this article over at GuysNation.com!

You should also know that tonight, I will be doing a live blog of my favorite WWE event of the year, Royal Rumble!