WWE Royal Rumble 2013: Odds, Wants, & Predictions

By Carson Koschik

The Royal Rumble, arguably WWE's most anticipated PPV behind WrestleMania, is mere hours away and it is slated to be one hell of an event. The WWE Championship and the Royal Rumble are the two matches that are the most anticipated, but the other matches on the card have still managed to remain relevant and intriguing. Well, it's time for me to tell you the odds for each match, what I want to happen, and what I predict will happen for each match. Here we go!

Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz

Odds: The United States Champion Antonio Cesaro only has a 1-7 chance of retaining his title, while the Miz has a 1-2 chance of winning his third United States Championship.

Want: I am a fan of both men. I have been a Miz fan since day one (of him wrestling in actual trunks, that is) and I have followed Cesaro from his ROH days. Therefore, it doesn't really matter to me who wins too much, but if I was suddenly a part of the WWE Creative team, I would choose Cesaro to go over in this match. Although he's been a pretty good champion, successfully defending the title against Santino Marella, R-Truth, and Zack Ryder isn't really that impressive. Defeating the newly turned babyface Miz would add credibility to the United States Championship and Cesaro himself.

Prediction: The Miz just turned face and Ric Flair handed him the Figure Four Leglock to use for himself. If that isn't an indication that he's walking away with the United States Championship, I don't know what is. Miz wins after making Cesaro tap out to the Figure Four.

---

Team Hell No (c) vs. The Rhodes Scholars

Odds: Team Hell No have a huge edge, going into the match with a 1-2 chance of retaining their title. Rhodes Scholars on the other hand, only have a 1-11 chance on winning. Maybe it's because they've pretty much lost every match they've been in this year.

Want: Once again, I am a fan of both teams, but it's time for Team Hell No to drop the belts. They've been very entertaining, and were a big part in rebuilding the tag division, but with Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania approaching, it's time for them to split and get back into singles competition, and let the Rhodes Scholars be the main focus of the tag division.

Prediction: Team Hell No will be no more after the Royal Rumble. Expect one of them (most likely Daniel Bryan) to get pinned and lose the titles, causing his partner to leave the team. But don't worry, they'll be settling their new feud in the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber matches, not one on one. Rhodes Scholars win after a Cross Rhodes on Daniel Bryan.

---

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Big Show

Odds: Well this is embarrassing. The newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio has a 1-2 chance of retaining his championship while Big Show has the very, very small odds of 1-19 of recapturing the gold.

Want: Do you know what would be the worst idea? Having your new latin babyface hero drop the title to Big Show after holding it for three weeks. So ya, Del Rio should really win here.

Prediction: Del Rio defeats the Big Show after using one of the non-submission finishing moves he's been using lately. Moonsault or Enzuigiri. He'll count also to ten in Spanish.

---

CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock

Odds: Although Rock is most people's favorite to win the match, the fact that he hasn't competed since WrestleMania 28 really hurt his odds. Punk has a 1-2 chance of continuing his title streak while Rock only has a 1-9 chance of winning the WWE Championship.

Want: Here's the thing, I want CM Punk vs. Undertaker to happen. I don't just want it to happen, I want it to be the main event of WrestleMania. But if Rock vs. Cena 2 happens to be for the WWE Championship, I can guarantee you it will be the main event. So, the only way Punk vs. Taker is main eventing WrestleMania is if it is for the WWE Championship. So, I want Punk to hold the belt until WrestleMania where he will drop it to the Deadman.

Prediction: Last week, I was 100% sure that Rock was going to win. Then the Shield attacked Rock. Mr. McMahon, who was suspicious of CM Punk's involvement with the Shield, said that if the Shield get involved in the WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble on Punk's behalf, Punk will be stripped of the title. This pretty much guarantees that the Shield will be a factor at the Royal Rumble. But what role can they play if they can't attack the Rock? They can attack Punk. On Smackdown, Punk confronted the Shield and told them to stay out of his way. The Shield said nothing and just left the arena. I think this was foreshadowing things to come. At the Royal Rumble, just as Punk hits the GTS on Rock, the Shield will storm the ring and attack none other than CM Punk himself. CM Punk will retain his championship via DQ, and the Rock will set his sights on the Shield.

---

30-Man Royal Rumble Match

Odds: This may not come as a huge shocker for you, but Ryback is the odds on favorite to win his first ever Royal Rumble.

Want: This may seem far fetched, but I want Christian to return and win the Royal Rumble. We all know that Captain Charisma is very capable of being a main event guy (as evident by his 2011 feud with Orton), and returning and winning the Royal Rumble would be one hell of a way to get the very under rated Christian back into the main event where he belongs. This would all of course lead to Ziggler vs. Christian at WrestleMania, a match that would be phenomenal.

Prediction: John Cena is going to win the Royal Rumble. There's not much more I can say than that. He will win the Royal Rumble, go on to face Rock at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship, and we will all complain on the internet.

Disagree? Tell me why in the comments or on Twitter @SmarkInProgress, where I will be live tweeting the Royal Rumble this Sunday at 7pm central time. Don't miss it!

WOI BARRUH!

---