Royal Rumble 2012: Randy Orton and More Favorites to Win Main Event

There is no shortage of contenders to walk away from Sunday night's Royal Rumble broadcast with a WrestleMania championship match under their belt. Over the past couple of weeks, however, a couple big names have emerged as the favorites to win the main event.

One of the best things about the January pay-per-view is how it's basically impossible to tell who's going to win the 30-man battle royal. Since there are so many different people who would benefit greatly from the push that comes along with a main event triumph, the outcome is normally a surprise.

That said, here are the three most likely candidates to win the Rumble.

Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho's return to WWE has helped build some anticipation for the year's first marquee PPV. His gimmick of getting fans riled up only to let them down is Jericho at his finest, and most people have assumed his comeback plan will end by winning the Rumble, asserting that he's back for good.

It's the result that would make the most sense. The company needs a way for him to enter a feud with CM Punk for the title to keep ratings up while everybody waits for the return of The Rock. Both Jericho and Punk would love to prove their match is more important than Rock and Cena's hyped bout.

Y2J wouldn't have returned unless Vince McMahon had huge plans for him. There are few things bigger than winning the Rumble. So, as of right now, the odds-on favorite to be the last man standing has to be Jericho. Maybe that will finally lead to his first actual promo.

Randy Orton

It doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together on Orton. He's billed from St. Louis, Mo., which is where Royal Rumble is taking place, and he's been held off television for the last few weeks as if WWE is attempting to build him into a surprise entrant.

Since Mark Henry began inducting wrestlers into his Hall of Pain, Orton has been kind of floating around without a general direction. His feud with Wade Barrett has been entertaining, but it seemingly hasn't led to anything bigger for either guy quite yet.

A Rumble victory would get Orton back on track toward being the face of SmackDown. Daniel Bryan's title reign hasn't been bad, but it's yet to be seen if he can maintain his momentum. A feud with Orton, which makes sense because of Bryan's heel-like recent actions, would provide him with a boost.

Sheamus

The case of Sheamus is an interesting one. He was given a push almost immediately upon arriving in WWE, but has been stuck in neutral ever since.

It's going to take a major win, like the Rumble, to get him back in the main event picture for the long haul, which is where he belongs.

He's handled his transition to becoming a face well, although he should still have a little bit more of an edge. It's tough for a monster like him to be a complete babyface, but I think WWE has realized that and is getting closer to perfecting his character for a big push.

It's not hard to imagine the Great White having a dominant run through the Rumble, perhaps even approaching the record for most eliminations by one wrestler (Kane—11). That would finally get him out of his current mid-card malaise.