Opinion: Could Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble?
The retired WWE SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan is now tied for 3rd place with Dolph Ziggler in the odds on professional betting websites, for winning the WWE 2018 men's Royal Rumble match. Bryan's popularity on the betting sites has skyrocketed over the last few days as he was previously nowhere near the top 10.
Bryan retired from professional wrestling at age 34 due to medical issues from multiple concussions. The decision was made by WWE and WWE's doctors for Bryan to never wrestle in WWE again, although an opinion from a doctor outside of WWE is that Bryan could wrestle again. That is probably something he intends on doing in 2018. So, could it happen? Yes, but not necessarily for WWE, that is until now.
Bryan has made it clear to WWE that he will wrestle again this year, and has allegedly already turned down a big money deal with WWE to remain as a non-wrestler TV character. This revelation for WWE may just convince them to let Daniel undergo WWE medical testing once again to see if he is fit enough to compete. In fact, maybe that already has happened.
Bryan has been teasing a heel turn as of late, as he has been siding with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in their feud with WWE Champion AJ Styles. Anyone in WWE knows well enough that a match pitting AJ Styles against Daniel Bryan would be an epic encounter and something that would make WrestleMania truly feel special.
It is a little bit of a stretch but Bryan receiving the go ahead from WWE to compete, knowing that they will lose him from the company if they don't, and getting the Royal Rumble win he has always deserved doesn't seem that impossible under the current circumstances. As of right now the popular choices for the Rumble winner are Roman Reigns, John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura, and that is how it has been for months now.
Online betting rumors or not, Daniel coming out of retirement and winning the Royal Rumble would be a huge shock to everyone and a shocking Royal Rumble winner is something we need since the Rumble hasn't had a surprising winner that wasn't leaked to the internet, since 2012 with Sheamus.
Could Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble 2018? YES! If WWE allows his return.