WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Five Stars Who Won't Win It

WWE Royal Rumble 2017 will be won by The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar or Goldberg.

(Credit: WWE)

Well, at least that's what the ending to this week's Raw indicates and what the odds are hinting at as well. But both could be dead wrong come Sunday.

Consider what Triple H recently told IGN (h/t SEScoops) about the Royal Rumble, indicating that we could be getting a surprise winner inside the Alamodome:

I think that’s when the Rumble’s at its best, when you can’t really put your finger on what’s going to happen. I can see this year going a lot of different ways and I think it’s going to go in a way that nobody expects.”

If anyone would know, it's Triple H, who has as much to do with the booking of WWE programming as anyone not named Vince McMahon. Triple H's comments suggest that superstars who many fans feel have a legitimate shot of winning the Royal Rumble, well, actually don't.

But will WWE go the predictable route on Sunday? Will a surprise winner emerge? Will a favorite be eliminated early?

Here are five WWE superstars who are pretenders, not contenders, for the 2017 Royal Rumble match.

Note: Odds are from William Hill (h/tOddsShark) and are current as of January 25th.

Dean Ambrose

Betting Odds: 33/1

Dean Ambrose was the last person eliminated from the 2016 Royal Rumble, and he spent a sizable portion of the year as the WWE Champion.

But just a year after he faced Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32, Ambrose now finds himself sliding down the card at the most pivotal time of the year. He recently won the Intercontinental Championship, which is still a midcard title despite it being elevated by The Miz, and there is no obvious WrestleMania 33 match set up for him.

Ambrose, who won more TV matches than any other superstar in 2016 and wrestled more matches than any other superstar, too, may very well be one of those full-time workhorses who gets the shaft come WrestleMania time, where he's forced to work a crowded midcard match instead of a high-profile singles bout. With no real sign that he'll drop the Intercontinental title anytime soon, Ambrose is a much better candidate to defend the Intercontinental in a multi-man ladder match, which has become the custom over the last couple of years.

Although Ambrose currently has two of the top 20 selling items on WWEShop.com and is clearly one of WWE's most popular stars, there's virtually nothing to suggest that he'll be a legitimate contender this year.

Randy Orton

Betting Odds: 3/1

Since the first Royal Rumble odds were released, Randy Orton has consistently been one of the betting favorites to win the match.

But why? Unless WWE throws us a ton of curveballs, like Bray Wyatt winning the WWE title in the Elimination Chamber match, then it simply feels like Orton is a contender in name only. Orton, Wyatt and Harper have been involved in a storyline for several months, and all indications are that they're headed for some sort of WrestleMania 33 match.

Perhaps that match could involve the WWE Championship, but a lot of dominoes would have to fall the right way, including John Cena and AJ Styles leaving the title picture altogether, in order for that to happen. While Orton and Wyatt may step up to be WWE title contenders at some point in 2017, they're going to have to get rid of each other first.

Although the expectation is that Orton will eliminate Wyatt, or vice versa, that's about as far as this will go. An actual Royal Rumble win for Orton, or even Wyatt, for that matter is a long shot at best, despite what the odds say.

Fans realize that, too, as Comicbook.comreports that "Oddschecker users have steered away from backing the master of the RKO, with only 3.6% of bets placed being on Orton" as of January 24.