The 39th annual Royal Rumble was held in Saudi Arabia, giving the country its first major PLE since WWE began its partnership in early 2018. In fact, the first major show in the deal with Riyadh produced the “Greatest Royal Rumble” event, which was a 50-man match as opposed to the typical 30 superstars entering every 2 minutes, but the event famously produced only one memorable moment: Titus O’Neil sliding under the ring after tripping down the ramp upon his entrance.
With an early start time for the Rumble’s first non-North American show, fans online have had plenty of time for speculation and predictions ahead of the 2 pm Eastern start time. The four-match PLE card sandwiched by each Rumble match featured both WWE and AAA superstars alike.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE
The men’s Royal Rumble did not waste time as Oba Femi entered at 1 with Bron Breakker right behind him at 2, but before Breakker could get to the ring, a hooded figure popped out and attacked him. The hooded figure has been a long-running narrative for ‘The Vision,’ but until now, it ‘worked’ in their favor.
Breakker was eliminated by Oba Femi, who would then go on to ‘run the gauntlet’ in a manner that left him standing tall for the early part of the Rumble. We have seen superstars like Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns in past Rumbles dominate in the fashion we saw from Femi, so it speaks volumes to see him given this booking.
The Rumble is always a grind, and that includes the producers in the truck, and they missed Brock Lesnar’s elimination as Jey Uso’s typical crowd entrance ate up most of the time in between entrances—it was the encore that did it. By the time the next entrant, Roman Reigns, made his way out, he convinced Jey to run it back-to-back-to-back, and then Roman caught Jey with a right hand mid Yeet.
By the time the 30th participant was entered—Gunther came out noticeably beat up after his very physical match with AJ—Je’Von Evans was at the 40min plus mark before being eliminated—it was a terrific showing from him and Femi. Cody was eliminated after Drew McIntyre nailed him with a Claymore Kick as Rhodes attempted to ‘schoolboy’ his way back into the ring
The final four came down to Roman, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, and Gunther, but both Paul and Orton were eliminated quickly, leaving Gunther and Roman to battle it out. Roman eliminated Gunther in an underwhelming finish.
No Jericho or Jeff Hardy, but Mr. Iguana was able to shine, and Power House Hobbs made his debut under his new name (Royce Keys), leaving this year’s Rumble a bit flat as most surprises were either expected or unwanted—though seeing Chad Gable’s Grande Americano character face off with the new version (Ludwig Kaiser).
ORDER OF ENTRANTS:
Oba Femi
Bron Breakker
Solo Sikoa
Rey Mysterio
Rusev
Matt Cardona
Damien Priest
Je’Von Evans
Mr. Iguana
Trick Williams
11 Cody Rhodes
El Grande Americano
“Original” El Grande Americano
Royce Keys
Theory
Bronson Reed
Ilja Dragunov
La Parka
Dragon Lee
Logan Paul
LA Knight
Brock Lesnar
The Miz
Rey Fenix
Jey Uso
Roman Reigns
Jacob Fatu
Penta
Randy Orton
Gunther
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE
This year’s women’s Royal Rumble wasn’t promoted or pushed the same way as the men’s, and it gave the match an ‘open vibe’ that really felt like anyone could win. Former tag champs Flair and Bliss started off the match, and Flair would end up eliminating her tag partner ‘on accident.’
We got the reuniting of the Bella Twins as Brie made her entrance to a ‘Yes Chant’ from the crowd. Lola Vice and Sol Ruca made great impressions in this year’s Royal Rumble, but we could’ve gotten more from Jordynn Grace—the former TNA knockouts champion. Grace was well received in her entrance, and she has been beefing with the champ Jade Cargill.
The final four was not to be, and instead, the final three of Sol Ruca, Liv Morgan, and Tiffany Stratton got the ‘video game’ shot as the drone flew around the ring to showcase the match’s finale. All three women were on the ring apron after Ruca hit her finisher on both women inside the ring.
They all were on the ring’s edge after going over the top rope, so they were all eligible for elimination. Ruca barely escaped the elimination only to get dropped by Stratton, who was then quickly eliminated by Morgan.
Liv won the 2026 Royal Rumble, but the most interesting aspect to her win was when she eliminated her own stablemate in Raquel Rodriguez—though it was weird Raquel even being in the match considering she has a world title match against Stephaine Vaquer on RAW this Monday.
ORDER OF ENTRANTS:
Charlotte Flair
Alexa Bliss
Kiana James
Nia Jakks
Ivy Nile
Lola Vice
Candice LeRae
Jordynn Grace
Becky Lynch
Sol Ruca
Roxanne Perez
Maxxine Dupri
Natty
Liv Morgan
Lash Legend
Zelina Vega
Raquel Rodriguez
Chelsea Green
Giulia
Iyo Sky
Aska
Rhea Ripley
Bayley
Jacy Jayne
Nikki Bella
Lyra Valkyria
Kelani Jordan
Kairi Sane
Brie Bella
Tiffany Stratton
GUNTHER VS AJ STYLES – AJ Styles Career on the Line
As we entered fight week, AJ Styles and Gunther were positioned as the most significant storyline on a PLE that includes two Rumble matches. Gunther is just over a month removed from his December 13th win over John Cena in the ‘GOAT’s’ final match in WWE. The uber heel forced Cena to quit on Saturday Night’s Main Event, which led to the most heat we have seen directed towards a heel in a while.
The match was very physical, and AJ dug deep to match the size advantage Gunther carried into the ring. Styles and Gunther faced off a couple of weeks ago on RAW when Gunther defeated AJ despite tapping out of the ref’s vision—leading to the rematch only accepted by Gunther with AJ’s career as stakes.
Styles reversed out of a Gunther powerbomb only to deliver his own powerbomb to his opponent, enjoying a hefty size advantage. There was a sequence of offense from Styles that led to a near-fall, and in that moment, it seemed clear that AJ is still competing at the top level. What added to AJ’s momentum and story was a fairly deep gash on his forearm, smearing spots of blood all over the mat.
The match’s finale came when Gunther locked on a chokehold, the same maneuver that finished Cena’s career, and as AJ fought to get to the ropes, you could see him physically go limp. The ref checked his arm, and it was clear he was out, and that is when the official called the match. The ref was selling his concern for AJ throughout the match, so the stoppage was fair without giving AJ the benefit of the ‘three arm check.’
In the post-match, AJ took his gloves off and started to place them in the center of the ring—marking his retirement in a similar fashion to Cena and The Undertaker—before stopping and putting them back onto his hands in a move that hyped the fans. It was not clear what AJ was saying in that moment, but hopefully he gets a proper send-off on RAW.
DREW McIntyre(c) VS SAMI ZAYN—WWE World Title
Sami was the ‘sweetheart story’ of this year’s Rumble despite not being entered in the match. Zayn made it clear at the start of this year that he was on the hunt for his first major world title in WWE, and he earned his shot at Drew’s world title after winning the right in a fatal four-wayy on Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Few believed that Sami could win, and he ended up losing to Drew in the champ’s first successful title defense since winning it off Cody on SmackDown in their ‘3 Stages of Hell’ match. Still, Sami and Drew put on a banger and while it never quite felt like Zayn would pull it off, he certainly brought out the hopes in every Saudi fan in attendance.
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