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What's the story?
Odds Checker, a betting site odds collation website sent a press release to Wrestlezone detailing the extraordinary shift in Daniel Bryan's Royal Rumble odds from 66/1 to 4/1, explaining that the change is the result of 'inside sources' confirming Daniel Bryan's in-ring return.
In case you didn't know...
Before Monday Night RAW, Daniel Bryan was as likely to win the Royal Rumble as CM Punk, NXT Superstar Roderick Strong and currently suspended 205 LIVE Superstar Rich Swann. But sometime during or after RAW, his odds plummeted and as of the time of this writing, he currently sits as the third favourite to win the whole thing.
The heart of the matter
As part of the press release to Wrestlezone from the betting site, a spokesperson for the Odds Checker, George Elek offered his statement on the dramatic change in Bryan's odds, and interestingly confirmed the reason why the change seems have happened.
“There may be something in this story, however, with our sources claiming that the storyline between Bryan and Shane O Mac coming to fruition and resulting in a fairy-tale return win, for the constantly over superstar."
That's right, Odds Checker have confirmed that the upswing in Bryan's likelihood of winning the Royal Rumble has indeed been caused by insider information suggesting that the current storyline between SmackDown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan is leading to his in-ring return.
What's next?
There are still some problems with this narrative. If Daniel Bryan was going to return to the ring as part of the storyline with Shane McMahon, why would he do so by entering the Royal Rumble, and what would winning it actually achieve?
Also, why would Odds Checker, a website that aggregates all of the odds from several betting sites, deliberately send a press release to a wrestling news website about Daniel Bryan's odds? To gain exposure, or to deliberately influence the market. There's a very real chance the betting industry is trying to work wrestling fans into a shoot in order to profit.
Author's take
My personal opinion is that everyone should assume, as we've been told, that Daniel Bryan cannot wrestle in the WWE. If it happens it'll be amazing, if it happens at the Rumble I'd expect the reaction to be monumental.
That being said, I struggle to see what the payoff would be for the Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan storyline, if it doesn't involve Bryan wrestling again. Even using a surrogate in Bryan's place would just remind people that it should be Bryan in the match.
