Royal Rumble (2026)

Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event that is traditionally held in January by the American company WWE since 1988. It is one of the company's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".^[3][4] The concept of the event is based around the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.^[5][6]

From 1988 up through the 2025 event, the Royal Rumble was held annually in North America, with the inaugural 1988 event in Canada and the rest in the United States. In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. The first event in this partnership was the one-off Greatest Royal Rumble, which featured a 50-man Royal Rumble match.^[7][8] In May 2024, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, announced that the country was in talks with WWE to bring either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania to the country in 2026 or 2027.^[9] On January 3, 2025, PWInsider reported that WWE would be holding the 2026 Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, with Fightful later confirming an official announcement would come during the Raw premiere on Netflix.^[10]

Ahead of the Netflix debut, WWE officially confirmed that the 39th Royal Rumble, and 14th event in the Saudi Arabian partnership, would be happening in Riyadh in January 2026 as part of the 2025–2026 Riyadh Season, an annual series of entertainment events that previously hosted WWE's Crown Jewel; the 2025 Crown Jewel was moved to Perth, Australia, as a result.^[11] It was later confirmed that it would be held on Saturday, January 31 at a purpose-built temporary outdoor stadium called Riyadh Season Stadium in the King Abdullah Financial District. With the 2026 Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, the 2026 calendar year will host three events in the country instead of two, as 2025 only had one (Night of Champions). This also returned the Royal Rumble to its traditional January slot as the 2025 event was held in February. The event primarily featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.^[12][1] The January 30 episode of Friday Night SmackDown was also held at the same venue.^[13] The main theme song was "Heavy Is the Crown" by Linkin Park.^[14]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2026, the men and women could choose which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 42; the men could choose Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, while the women had the choice between Raw's Women's World Championship and SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship.^[5][6]

Broadcast outlets

The event was available to livestream on ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, the WWE Network in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Abema in Japan.^[15] This was the first Royal Rumble to livestream on ESPN in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming events expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August 2025.^[16][17]

Storylines

The event included four matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown WWE brands,^[18][19] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[20]

On the January 9 episode of SmackDown, the brand's General Manager Nick Aldis announced that a tournament would begin the following week, with eight wrestlers competing against each other in four singles matches, with the winners advancing to a fatal four-way match at Saturday Night's Main Event XLIII, and the winner of that bout would earn an Undisputed WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble. Later that night, Drew McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes to win the title, confirming his status as the defending champion.^[21] At Saturday Night's Main Event XLIII on January 24, Sami Zayn won the fatal four-way.^[22] Additionally, as McIntyre's win over Rhodes had an extra stipulation in that Rhodes would not receive an automatic rematch for the title and would instead have to earn one, Rhodes became the first to declare himself for the men's Royal Rumble match.^[23]

At Saturday Night's Main Event XLII on December 13, 2025, Gunther defeated John Cena in the latter's retirement match by making Cena tap out.^[24] Over the following episodes of Raw, Gunther continuously gloated about making Cena tap out. Several wrestlers took issue with this, including AJ Styles, who confronted Gunther several times. During the Raw on Netflix Anniversary Show on January 5, 2026, Styles interrupted Gunther; however, Gunther did not allow Styles to speak, resulting in Styles slapping Gunther.^[25] They faced each other on the next episode where during the match, Gunther feigned a tap out during a Calf Crusher by Styles out of sight of the referee. Styles released the hold thinking he had won and during the distraction, Gunther delivered a low blow and a Powerbomb on Styles to win the match.^[26] The following week, Styles interrupted Gunther and challenged him to a rematch at the Royal Rumble. Gunther initially declined but later proposed that he would accept if Styles put his career on the line, as during the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show in October 2025, Styles stated that he would retire in 2026. Later that night after consulting his wife, Styles accepted, with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce making the match official.^[27]

Preliminary matches

The event began with the women's Royal Rumble match. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss began the match as the first and second entrants, respectively, and rather than fight each other, decided to wait for Kiana James, who entered third. Nia Jax entered fourth and dominated all three. Lola Vice entered sixth but was taken out before long by Jax. James performed a Samoan Drop on Jax and the remaining competitors tried to eliminate Jax. Candice LeRae entered seventh and formed a brief alliance with Jax, her former tag team partner. Jordynne Grace entered eighth and eliminated LeRae, Vice, and Ivy Nile (who entered fifth). Flair and Bliss attempted to eliminate Jax; Flair knocked Jax off the ring apron, inadvertently eliminating Bliss. Becky Lynch entered ninth, immediately reigniting an historic rivalry with Flair. Both rolled out of the ring and brawled at ringside. Nattie entered 13th and was targeted by Maxxine Dupri who entered 12th. When Lynch eliminated Dupri, Nattie eliminated Lynch.^[28]

Liv Morgan entered 14th. Lash Legend entered 15th and eliminated Grace after a struggle on the ring apron. Raquel Rodriguez entered 17th and aligned with her Judgment Day stablemates, Morgan and Roxanne Perez (who entered 11th), to eliminate Kiana James. Chelsea Green entered 18th, accompanied by Alba Fyre (who was not in the match), and targeted Morgan, Perez, and Rodriguez. Fyre intervened to help Green and Rodriguez clotheslined Fyre, putting her out of the ring. Giulia (19th), Iyo Sky (20th), and Asuka (21st) followed, leading to a confrontation between the three. Rhea Ripley entered 22nd, and quickly eliminated Green and Perez. Bayley (23rd) and Jacy Jayne (24th) targeted Sol Ruca, who was the 10th entrant. Nikki Bella entered 25th. Lyra Valkyria entered 26th and worked with her tag team partner, Bayley, to eliminate Giulia. A miscommunication between Kairi Sane (28th) and Asuka led to Sane eliminating Asuka, after which Sky immediately eliminated Sane. A returning Brie Bella, entering 29th, reunited with her sister, Nikki Bella, to eliminate Bayley and Valkyria. Tiffany Stratton was the final entrant. When Lash Legend eliminated both Bellas, eight competitors remained in the ring.^[28]

After eliminating Charlotte Flair and then Iyo Sky, Legend was herself immediately dispatched by Rhea Ripley, who in turn fell to Raquel Rodriguez. Rodriguez was then eliminated by her stablemate, Liv Morgan, leaving only Morgan, Ruca, and Stratton in the match. In the closing moments, Stratton. Rica, and Morgan were on the ring apron. Stratton then eliminated Ruca, and Morgan eliminated Stratton to win the match and earn a women's championship match at WrestleMania 42.^[28]

Next, AJ Styles faced Gunther in a Career Threatening match, where Styles would be forced to retire if he lost. Gunther dominated early with a suplex to Styles onto the announce table and a Boston Crab. Styles responded with an Ushigoroshi and locked in the Calf Crusher. Styles attempted a pinfall after a springboard 450 splash and the Styles Clash on Gunther for a nearfall. Amid a referee distraction, Gunther performed the low blow, a powerbomb, and brutally attacked Styles with chops and kicks that prompted the referee to check on Styles' condition. After Styles failed to connect with a Phenomenal Forearm, in the end, Gunther applied the sleeper hold on Styles who lost consciousness, leading the referee to award the technical submission victory to Gunther. Following the match, a visibly emotional Styles received a standing ovation from the crowd. Styles then removed his gloves, however, he chose to keep his gloves on and posed for the crowd.^[28]

In the penultimate match, Drew McIntyre defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn. During the match, McIntyre focused on Zayn's lower back early in the match, and performed a backbreaker and an avalanche White Noise in Zayn for a near-fall. Zayn countered a superplex into a sunset flip powerbomb and performed the Blue Thunder Bomb on McIntyre for a nearfall. McIntyre performed three consecutive Future Shock DDTs on Zayn for a nearfall. McIntyre performed the Claymore on Zayn who placed his foot on the bottom rope to void the pin. Zayn performed a Helluva Kick on McIntyre for a nearfall. At ringside, McIntyre performed a powerbomb on Zayn through the announce table. After the referee and medical personnel checked on Zayn, McIntyre threw Zayn back into the ring, and taunted McIntyre. As Zayn attempted a Helluva Kick on McIntyre, McIntyre performed a Claymore on Zayn. In the end, McIntyre performed another Claymore on Zayn to retain the title.^[28]

Main event

The main event was the men's Royal Rumble match which began with Oba Femi and Bron Breakker (the latter accompanied by Paul Heyman) as the first and second entrants. Before Breakker could enter the ring, a masked assailant, purportedly Seth Rollins, attacked Breakker. The masked assailant threw Breakker in the ring and escaped into the crowd, and Femi eliminated Breakker. Femi dominated the early stages, eliminating Solo Sikoa (who entered at #3), Rey Mysterio (who entered at #4) and Rusev (who entered at #5), and Matt Cardona (who entered at #6). Trick Williams entered 10th and eliminated Mr. Iguana (who entered #8) from sister promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide and had a staredown with Femi and Je'Von Evans (who entered at #9). A conflict between two versions of El Grande Americano (who entered #12) occurred (one portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser and the other by the returning Chad Gable who portrayed The Original El Grande Americano), resulting in Kaiser's elimination by Gable; Gable was then eliminated by Williams and Cody Rhodes (who entered at #11) eliminated Williams. Royce Keys, formerly Powerhouse Hobbs in All Elite Wrestling, made his WWE debut and entered #14 and eliminated Damian Priest (who entered at #7). The Vision's Austin Theory and Bronson Reed entered at #15 and #16 respectively. Fellow Vision member, Logan Paul, entered #20 to eliminate Keys, AAA's La Parka (who entered at #18), and Dragon Lee (who entered at #19).^[28]

LA Knight returned at number 21 and ended The Vision's domination of the match by eliminating Austin Theory and Bronson Reed. Brock Lesnar entered 22nd and eliminated Ilja Dragunov, Rey Fénix, and Femi. Cody Rhodes and LA Knight teamed up to eliminate Lesnar as Jey Uso came in. When Roman Reigns entered 26th, he turned on his cousin (Uso) and eliminated The Miz. Jacob Fatu arrived 27th and attacked Rhodes. Penta and Randy Orton were the next two in the ring, and the final entrant, Gunther, eliminated Penta. Orton eliminated Je'Von Evans after countering a cutter with the RKO. Miscommunication between Orton and Rhodes allowed Drew McIntyre, who was not a participant, to hit Rhodes with the Claymore on the ring apron, eliminating him.^[28]

Reigns eliminated Fatu and Uso, leaving Reigns, Gunther, Orton, and Paul the final four. Reigns eliminated Paul; Gunther eliminated Orton. Gunther attempted to lock in a sleeper hold, but Reigns countered by driving him into the turnbuckle. Reigns followed with a spear and then eliminated Gunther, securing a world championship match at WrestleMania 42. Aside from the only three-time winner, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Reigns became the eleventh man, and twelfth wrestler overall, to win twice, joining Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes and Charlotte Flair.^[28]

Raw

On the following episode of Raw, an enraged Bron Breakker came out and destroyed the ringside area, furious over his sudden elimination at the start of the men's Royal Rumble match. Breakker's Vision members (Bronson Reed, Austin Theory, Logan Paul, and Paul Heyman) then came down to console Breakker while Breakker demanded for Raw General Manager Adam Pearce to come out to reveal the identity of the masked assailant that attacked Breakker. LA Knight then attacked The Vision before departing.^[29] The mysterious masked man would continue to attack the members of The Vision over the following weeks, before finally revealing his identity at Elimination Chamber to be a returning Seth Rollins, The Vision's former leader who had been turned on and excommunicated by the stable.^[30]

Also on Raw, SmackDown's Roman Reigns appeared and discussed his history in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then considered which title he would challenge for at WrestleMania 42. Raw's World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk interrupted, and stated that Reigns could choose the easy path with Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre or the hard one with Punk. Following a heated exchange of words, Reigns expressed his hatred towards Punk and chose to challenge him for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. This subsequently confirmed that the men's Elimination Chamber match winner would challenge for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania.^[29]

On the February 23 episode of Raw, AJ Styles made an appearance in Atlanta, Georgia, near his home town, to give a farewell address to the fans, before leaving his trademark gloves and jacket in the ring, officially concluding his 28-year long career. Styles was then met by The Undertaker who announced that he would be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026.^[31]

Also on February 23, after weeks of delaying her choice, Liv Morgan decided that she would challenge Stephanie Vaquer for her own brand's Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 42. This subsequently confirmed that the women's Elimination Chamber match winner would challenge for SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania.^[31]

SmackDown

On the following episode of SmackDown, as Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was heading to the ring, he was attacked by Cody Rhodes in an act of revenge from the Royal Rumble. Rhodes then cut a promo about his frustrations with McIntyre before concluding that McIntyre would not make it to WrestleMania. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis later added Rhodes to an Elimination Chamber qualifying match for the next episode, which should he win would add him to the men's Elimination Chamber match, but on the condition that Rhodes left the building so as to not cause any more issues and Rhodes reluctantly agreed. Jacob Fatu, who had also been feuding with both Rhodes and McIntyre and was the one who accidentally caused Rhodes to lose the championship to McIntyre, was also added to a qualifying match under the same condition as Rhodes.^[32]

Women's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  – Raw

  – SmackDown

  – NXT

  – Hall of Famer (HOF)

  – Winner

Men's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  – Raw

  – SmackDown

  – AAA

  – Unaffiliated

  – Hall of Famer (HOF)

  – Winner

WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament