The Royal Rumble is one of the highlights of the wrestling calendar – but who’ll win it in Riyadh? We took to WWE 2K25 to try and find out ahead of the huge event
The Royal Rumble is being held outside the US for the first time ever – and it promises to be as huge an event as always.
WWE superstars are gearing up for the first major event of 2026, as it takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia tonight (Saturday, January 31). The likes of Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton have all declared their participation in the men’s Royal Rumble match, which is as stacked with big names as ever.
But with Rhodes dropping the WWE Universal Championship to Drew McIntyre earlier this year, the result is far from predictable. So we saw what WWE 2K25 could predict for us ahead of this year’s Rumble.
We ensured the simulation included all of the entrants who were officially declared for the matches at the time of writing, and left room for some surprises as per Royal Rumble tradition. Thanks to the excellent Community Creations, anything is possible, right?
Men’s Royal Rumble 2026 simulated on WWE 2K26
The match began with Damian Priest and Trick Williams drawn at numbers 1 and 2 respectively. The pair traded blows following their recent number one contenders’ match before being joined in the ring by The Miz.
Trick then dumped out Priest, much to the Archer of Infamy’s frustration, before entrant number four, Ilja Dragunov joined, the fray and made a beeline for current rival The Miz, Recently-returned Matt Cardona entered the Rumble at number five, followed by Rey Mysterio.
The ring began to get crowded at this point but it would have felt claustrophobic for El Grande Americano, who came in next, only to be followed by a returning Chad Gable. A truly bizarre sight seeing the two men battle in the same ring gear.
Another luchador – this time, a real one – joined the action, as Dragon Lee entered the Rumble. But his time was short lived as he ended up the second man eliminated, courtesy of Dragunov.
The Russian was next out, eliminated by El Grande Americano, before Cardona dumped out the Miz. Bronson Reed then entered at number 10, eliminating Cardona.
Reed’s stablemate Logan Paul followed, and the YouTuber made light work of Gable. But he couldn’t help the Auszilla from being removed from the match by Mysterio. Next out was Austin Theory, nearly completing The Vision’s entry into the match, But he was quickly followed by Mexican sensation Penta, who would go on to have a big part in the match.
Paul then removed Trick from the equation, before he was himself eliminated at the hands of Penta. Je’Von Evans entered his first ever Rumble, but any levity was short-lived thanks to an ill-tempered entrance from Bron Breakker.
The final member of the Vision had arrived and laid waste to Evans, quickly making him the next man out. Meanwhile, Penta dumped out El Grande Americano before two-time winner Cody Rhodes, Solo Sikoa and a returning LA Knight joined the match.
Back from injury with a point to prove, Knight kept Breakker busy while Solo eliminated Mysterio. Next out was Theory in what was Penta’s third elimination of the match.
Jacob Fatu and Gunther, two heavy hitters, were next out, and the pair traded blows for some time before the Ring General got the better of Fatu and eliminated him. Gunther took another huge scalp in seeing off Rhodes, ending his hopes of making it a third Rumble win in 2026.
Then came the biggest shock of the night so far. Another miraculous return from injury – although this time, it seems real – meant Seth Rollins came back to face the man that betrayed him. The former World Heavyweight champion immediately set after Breakker, eventually eliminating him from the Rumble in the ultimate payback.
Gunther continued his ruthless streak by seeing off Solo Sikoa, before another surprise return from injury shocked the crowd. Intercontinental champion Dominik Mysterio was back, and was followed by Roman Reigns.
The Original Tribal Chief then set upon his former friend and long-time rival, Rollins, eliminating him. But two massive men arrived in the Rumble to shake things up further.
The most recent NXT champion, Oba Femi, and none other than Brock Lesnar, entered back-to-back at 24 and 25 respectively. Lesnar quickly eliminated Penta, before Femi staked his claim for a place on the main roster by seeing Gunther over the top rope.
A showdown between the two man mountains followed, with the veteran Lesnar eliminating the newcomer. But Lesnar had no time to turn his back as he was then quick dispatched by Reigns.
Meanwhile, ‘Dirty’ Dom was working on getting rid of LA Knight as more and more superstars entered the ring. Randy Orton, 2025 winner Jey Uso, Joe Hendy and two more surprise entrants came through before th next elimination.
Powerhouse Hobbs, widely expected to debut at the Rumble in real life, did so in the virtual world. And WWE legend Chris Jericho made his long-expected return to WWE action as the 30th and final entrant in the rumble.
However, the elder statesman of pro wrestling didn’t last long – Hobbs, his former AEW locker room buddy, unceremoniously dumped him out. Hobbs then took Reigns and threw him out of the match to end any hopes of a WrestleMania main event for the Tribal Chief.
Dom then saw off Randy Orton to narrow the field to the final four of him, Hobbs, Uso and Hendry. An unlikely last four, undoubtedly – don’t expect it to play out like this in Saudi Arabia tonight.
Mysterio then saw Uso out to leave Hendry and Hobbs fighting it out, with the Scotsman eventually eliminating Hobbs. Could Hendry be about to book a place at the main event of WrestleMania 42?
The answer, of course, was no – and by this point, it was the least surprising part of the Rumble.
Mysterio came after Hendry as soon as he’d finished dealing with Hobbs, taking full advantage of Hendry’s tiredness.
So, after an hour of simulated wrestling, Dominik Mysterio had secured a number 1 contender’s spot for a title of his choosing.
Imagine the noise from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas if Dom were to lift the World Heavyweight Championship come WrestleMania? It’d be almost unbearable as Dom himself.