“Will be a fan favorite”- Corey Graves backs record-setting Champion to emerge as a prohibitive fan-favorite by next year’s Royal Rumble

Corey Graves believes that the record-breaking WWE Champion will be a fan-favorite by the Royal Rumble.

“Will be a fan favorite”- Corey Graves backs record-setting Champion to emerge as a prohibitive fan-favorite by next year’s Royal Rumble

Corey Graves [via- The Sun on X]

There’s not much time left until The Road to WrestleMania takes center stage. It begins when Royal Rumble rolls through the Tropicana Field next year. There are already a few names popping into the minds of fans about who could cash in on that opportunity and go to the main event of WrestleMania. Well, Corey Graves does have his theory on this one.

Speaking on his After the Bell podcast, the SmackDown commentator gave high remarks to Gunther. Going by his recent trajectory, Graves affirmed that by the time the Royal Rumble arrives, fans will start rooting for the reigning Intercontinental Champion. He also iterated that Gunther doesn’t need to change anything in his presentation.

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This is what Graves said:

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By the time the Royal Rumble rolls around, GUNTHER will be a fan favorite and wildly popular amongst the WWE Universe without changing a damn thing about what he does.
Cory Graves via After the Bell podcast

Later on during the episode, Corey took this week’s example of Raw when Gunther took on Bronson Reed. For what it’s worth, that superheavyweight clash was breathtaking. For the first time in his record-setting title reign, the leader of Imperium felt like his back was against the wall.

Despite Bronson’s menacing tactics, Gunther avoided an upset and retained his title. However, Corey Graves specifically pointed out the amount of cheers Gunther received once he pinned Reed.

Who are current favorites for next year’s Royal Rumble?

It’s quite usual that the early betting odds for the Royal Rumble end up being true. At least, that’s been the case of late. For 2024, four names have been released. As for men, LA Knight and The Rock are the top bets for the moment. On the women’s side, Raquel Rodriguez and Nia Jax are the favorites to win the coveted women’s Royal Rumble match.

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble [via- Wrestling News on X]

Though there’s little to no surprise on the men’s side of things, their female counterparts will upset many if they are true. Nia Jax gets constant hate due to her history of being a dangerous worker. Recently, when she made her WWE return, there was massive fan outrage. While Raquel Rodriguez is a much better prospect than Nia, it’s not certain whether the fans will be happy to see her get that spot either.


Coming back to the business end, LA Knight is a pretty obvious choice to emerge victorious. That being so, The Rock currently has no plans to compete at WrestleMania 40. If that does anything to Knight’s Royal Rumble chances, it just gets brighter for The Megastar. He’s currently slated to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship at Crown Jewel next month.

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