On Saturday, WWE had its annual premium live event, the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble kicks off the road to WrestleMania, which is the WWE equivalent of the Super Bowl.
Think of the Royal Rumble as the beginning of the playoffs, superstars compete for their chance to main event WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble match. The Royal Rumble match is a 30-person over-the-top-rope elimination match. Two people start in the ring, and every 90 seconds, another entrant joins the match until entrant number 30. The last person remaining in the ring after all superstars enter the match is the winner and punches their ticket to WrestleMania.
This was the first time the “official” Royal Rumble was held in Saudi Arabia. Back in 2018, a 50-man “Greatest Royal Rumble” was held in Saudi Arabia, but the regular Royal Rumble that year was in Philadelphia. Saudi Arabia will host WrestleMania 43 next year, which will be the first time that WrestleMania will leave North America.
For most fans, the only real difference was the time that the event started. Typically, PLEs begin at approximately 8 p.m. EST. But this was the earliest time the Royal Rumble has ever started at 2 p.m. EST. The PLE began around 10 p.m. local time and ended at approximately 2 a.m. However, the WWE faithful in Saudi Arabia didn’t seem to mind, as they still showed up in big numbers.
As far as the event itself, it was a bit underwhelming.
Women’s Royal Rumble: 8/10
The opening match was the women’s Royal Rumble match. Several big names were in this match, such as Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tiffany Stratton and Rhea Ripley. One of the biggest surprises of the night was the performance of Sol Ruca. Ruca was one of the final three superstars in the match before No. 14 Liv Morgan went on to win the match. Overall, the match was well-paced and kept you guessing right until the very end. The decision to have Liv Morgan win is one that I support. Morgan has never won the Royal Rumble and is one of the biggest names in the women’s division right now. This push was well deserved. She competed in true Liv Morgan fashion by stabbing Raquel Rodriguez, her Judgement Day partner, in the back, eliminating her.
Gunther vs. AJ Styles (retirement match): 8.5/10
AJ Styles put his career on the line vs. Gunther. The Ring General was looking to retire his third WWE legend; he previously sent 17-time champion John Cena packing back in December 2025 and also retired WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg. Gunther stated that he specifically wanted to make Styles tap out. Styles had publicly said that 2026 would be his last year in professional wrestling, but wanted to go out on his terms. Both superstars left literal blood, sweat and tears in the match, leaving it all on the line. Both Styles and Gunther had multiple close calls, nearly being pinned or tapped out multiple times. But in the end, Gunther came through on his promise and put Styles to sleep with his signature sleeper hold and ended the career of the Phenomenal One. While I don’t necessarily agree with the decision to end AJ Styles’ retirement tour before it could even begin, it was a great match and now puts Gunther into an all-time great discussion after retiring another legend from the squared circle.
Sami Zayn vs Drew McIntyre (Undisputed WWE Championship): 6.5/10
Drew McIntyre defended his Undisputed WWE Championship vs. Sami Zayn. McIntyre won the title from Cody Rhodes on Jan. 9 in a Three Stages of Hell match on SmackDown. The 6’5”, 275-pound Scotsman put Zayn through a hell of his own when he put him through the announcer’s table ringside. Zayn put up a valiant effort, but McIntyre landed back-to-back Claymore kicks to retain his title. Zayn has always been known as someone who is scrappy, hard to keep down and has the heart of a champion, but this match never really felt like Zayn had a chance to pull off the upset as he was dominated by McIntyre. I think Drew retaining his championship was the right call, but I thought that this match had no purpose being on the card.
Men’s Royal Rumble: 7/10
The “big three” of NXT were represented in the Royal Rumble with Je’von Evans, Trick Williams and Oba Femi all in the rumble. Femi had a strong performance with five eliminations. Evans had the longest time in the ring and was the ironman of the match. The final two superstars of the match were Gunther and Roman Reigns. Reigns landed his iconic spear on Gunther and tossed him over the top rope to win his third Royal Rumble. The issue I have with this match isn’t the fact that Reigns was victorious, but the lack of shock factor.
One of the most exciting things about the Royal Rumble match is the returns; superstars from the past and even celebrities often make surprise appearances. This match lacked that; there was no real big surprise or comical moment. You have to wonder if the Rumble being in Saudi Arabia had something to do with it. Superstars from the past might have been less likely to make the trip all the way to Riyadh just for a brief cameo. However, the decision to have Reigns be the winner is a good one. It sets up a storyline that allows Reigns to get his championship title back and potentially go on another historic title reign.
