Sports
2026 WWE Royal Rumble — Matches, date, entrants, rumors, card for annual event
It’s time to kick off one of the best times of year for wrestling fans. The Road to WrestleMania gets underway on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia when WWE takes the Royal Rumble to Riyadh.
One of the promotion’s tentpole events, the Royal Rumble began running annually in 1988. It presents the 30 participants with the opportunity to be in a championship match at WrestleMania. Last year saw an incredible bit of theater in the men’s match as it came down to Jey Uso and John Cena, who was participating in his final Royal Rumble amid his retirement tour. Uso managed to finish things off by tossing Cena over the top rope and he capped it off by besting Gunther for the world heavyweight title in April.
While there are some superstars who have declared their entry into the over-the-top-rope elimination match, there’s always a handful of surprises fans don’t see coming between both the men’s and women’s matches.
Two other matches are booked for the cornerstone event. Undisputed WWE champion McIntyre makes his first title defense against Sami Zayn, who won a tournament to earn the title shot. Also on the card, Gunther attempts to retire AJ Styles.
Take a look below at the confirmed matches for the Royal Rumble as well as our staff picks and predictions for each match. The event streams live on ESPN Unlimited with the main card starting at 2 p.m. ET.
2026 WWE Royal Rumble matches
Men’s Royal Rumble match — Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Gunther, Jey Uso, Rey Mysterio, Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, Dragon Lee, Penta, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, Austin Theory, Je’Von Evans, Oba Femi, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and 13 more: The match already has a who’s who of entrants that we know. There’s five surefire Hall of Famers, former world champions and plenty of upstart talent set to participate. Be on the look out for The Vision and the four members who are set to enter. They could pose a united front and take out much of the field.
Undisputed WWE Championship — Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn: McIntyre learned the identity of his first title challenger at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Randy Orton, Trick Williams, Damian Priest and Zayn met in a No. 1 contender’s match after winning their qualifying matches. Zayn stood tall in Montreal, catching Priest with a Helluva Kick to punch his ticket to the Rumble. Zayn has never won a world title in WWE, and has made it his mission to change his fortunes this year.
Women’s Royal Rumble match — Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, Asuka, Chelsea Green, Jordynne Grace, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Giulia, Maxxine Dupri, Becky Lynch and 13 more: The women’s Rumble is stacked. Eight former women’s world champions are among the 15 superstars currently announced for the match. Expect more stars to throw their names into the hat before the Rumble begins.
AJ Styles vs. Gunther: Gunther is turning into a new age Legend Killer. Last year, “The Ring General” retired both John Cena and Goldberg. He wants to do the same to Styles. “The Phenomenal” one previously announced he’d retire in 2026, but Gunther hopes to expedite the process. Gunther stole a victory from Styles on Monday Night Raw, and only granted him a rematch under the condition that Styles retires if he loses at the Rumble.