WWE Royal Rumble 2026, which emanated from Ridayh, Saudi Arabia, is now officially in the books. As expected, the night was vintage WWE — it was an absolute spectacle with mind-blowing sets, big entrances, surprises and a myriad of decisions that raised pulses, eyebrows and spirits.
Now, if you’ve ever read my wrestling work before you’ll know two very distinct and contradicting facts — this writer is not a fan of WWE, but the Royal Rumble is legit my all-time favorite pay-per-view event. So yeah, this column is going to be a rollercoaster.
AJ Styles Can’t Retire After That Match: “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles wrestled his last match in WWE on Saturday, losing to “The Ring General” Gunther.
On paper, this match had the potential to be an all-timer. Gunther was fresh off a terrific, albeit controversial retirement match with John Cena in December. And with ol’ Uncle Alan being an exponentially better wrestler than Big Match John, the hype for this match was through the roof. Sadly, what we got instead was a very methodical match dominated by chops, punch-kick barrages and sleeper holds. The crowd responded in kind, sitting on their hands for the majority of it, until it came time to pay Styles his much-deserved respect.
This was not a bad match, but it felt like a pedestrian PPV match rather than an attraction match. It felt more on par with Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin than Cena vs. Gunther. Obviously, the quality was much better than Angle/Corbin, but both these matches were such massive letdowns because the matches were constructed blandly.
Styles not taking his gloves off seems to indicate that unlike John Cena, his time is not now. And him going out on a match of his caliber, when he obviously has so much more in the tank would be an absolute crime.
And for the record, this writer does not believe what either Triple H or Peter Rosenberg said after the PPV. AJ Styles is not going to be done wrestling.
So where does Uncle Alan go from here? Common sense says TNA. He had moments on the AMC premiere where he was eyeing the world title and trading barbs with his old nemesis Frankie Kazarian. If Styles truly is calling it quits soon, then he should do it in the national promotion where he got his big break. AJ Styles is synonymous with TNA, so actually leaving his boots in the center of a TNA is the most poetic way of doing things.
Styles heading to AEW would be the move this writer wants to see, and for very selfish reasons. Styles tangling with Kenny Omega, Okada and Samoa Joe one last time, wrestling Will Ospreay at All In London, and getting in the ring with the likes of Kyle Fletcher, Takeshita, Hangman Page, MJF, etc. would be … well … phenomenal.
Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn: A perfectly solid non-Rumble match. Remember last year when they did #DIY vs. The Motor City Machine Guns, and the crowd was silent as church mice? Well, thankfully none of that happened here. Drew needed this very bad ass win to solidify him as the incumbent champion heading into Wrestlemania. For far too long, Drew has been in the chase with both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The WWE Universe needed a little slap in the teeth to remember Drew is the man, and is a great champion. Sami Zayn was a perfect babyface in this match, and the local crowd was way behind him. The result of this match was a foregone conclusion the moment it was announced, but they still did a good job of delivering an entertaining match.
The Women’s Royal Rumble Match: As per usual, The Women’s Royal Rumble Match outshined the Men’s Royal Rumble Match.
There are two very simple reasons why this year’s match stood above the men’s.
1. New Names Got a Push: On the BCP+ Podcast I joked that Kianna James would enter the Rumble, because every year someone random on the roster gets put in the match, and people scratch their heads. And that’s exactly what happened when James entered at #3. However, instead of getting bounced immediately, the woman known for being Giulia’s second lasted nearly 30 minutes (27:30 according to Wikipedia). That’s nearly double her partner, who is the current WWE Women’s US Champion.
Lash Legend, who had a nice showing last year, was in Beast Mode this year lasting nearly 40 minutes and racking up five eliminations including The Bellas, Charlotte Flair, Jordynne Grace and Iyo Sky. Those aren’t some ham and eggers she tossed about all willy nilly. Nor did she do any of this sneakily. She ran roughshod over the match, and she looked strong doing it.
Sol Ruca ended up as one of the final three in the match, and was in it for over 50 minutes (second longest to Charlotte Flair). While she only had one elimination (Jacy Jayne – who also looked good), she was able to showcase her agility quite often, and won the crowd over pretty handily. The rocket pack was placed firmly on her back during this match.
Raquel Rodriguez is a pushed commodity on WWE television but was allowed to shine throughout as a solo act. She definitely “wrestled big” as Kevin Nash advised her, and the seeds of a babyface turn are right there. When Liv dumped her out, you could see the hurt and betrayal, and when those two collide for the title at Summerslam, it’ll be something else.
2. Big Name Eliminations That Were Shocking: The final four of this match did not involve Charlotte Flair, Iyo Sky or Rhea Ripley to the shock of many. All three of them were eliminated in rather shocking fashion. No one could believe when Lash Legend eliminated either Flair or Sky. However, it was Ripley taking a hellacious chokeslam onto the ring apron that had people jump out of their site in a “holy shit” moment (both due to the shock of the elimination and the brutality of the spot). These were genuinely shocking, and allowed for new, fresh faces to be put in the spotlight, unlike the stuffy, been there done that of the men’s Final 4.
What didn’t work here? The Maxxine Dupri, Nattie, Becky Lynch stuff did not work at all. They are obviously working towards a triple threat match, potentially at Mania, but there’s something missing here. Nattie has yet to capture that essence of danger and violence she has on the indies. Maxxine and Becky feel stuck in this feud, and need to move away from each other. Also, Jordynne Grace not getting more eliminations and big spots felt like a missed opportunity. Giulia felt completely inconsequential in this match, despite holding a belt.
The Men’s Royal Rumble Match: The Men’s Royal Rumble had a much more steady choice as its winner as opposed to last year. Yet, it does show a bit of creative bankruptcy within the Paul Levesque Era. Roman himself pointed this out on The Pat McAfee Show, stating that he’s been out of the main event scene for nearly two years — and who have the built to replace him, or at least enter the main event scene.
The answer screamed loudly when we looked at the Final Four of The Men’s Royal Rumble. We had part-timer Roman Reigns, part-timer Randy Orton, Gunther, and celebrity part-timer Logan Paul. So that’s one full-time WWE wrestler, who’s nearly 40.
Meanwhile in the Women’s Rumble you had Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Sol Ruca and Raquel Rodriguez — all of them full-time WWE wrestlers with Rodriguez being the oldest having just turned 35.
This fact is indicative of what Roman Reigns was talking about. WWE has done little to get newer, younger, and fresher full-time wrestling talent ready for the main event picture. For those ready to raise their hand in protest, let’s talk about it.
Oba Femi did get a sizable push in the Rumble as he was firmly in the “Diesel” spot, but let’s not forget Brock Lesnar eliminated him in a way that made him look like an absolute dork. But hey, keep near 50-year-old Brock Lesnar strong, right? And if you didn’t see Oba being eliminated by Brock in this fashion, you have not been paying attention to the last 20 years of WWE.
Je’Von Evans was the Iron Man of the Rumble, edging out Oba by nearly two minutes. However, instead of allowing the perennial underdog “The Young OG” get a spot in the Final 4, maybe allowing him to do something incredible, or giving the audience someone new to root for, he ate an RKO and was tossed by Randy Orton. But hey, keep 45-year-old Randy Orton strong, right? Same song they’ve been playing for over 20 years.
Trick Williams. The crowd went bananas for Big Trick. They chanted his theme song. They were so into him … and do you remember what he did? Oh, that’s right he tossed out Mr. Iguana and one of the El Grande Americanos. Remember that? Bet you didn’t. And instead of allowing Trick — someone who’s held both the NXT and TNA World Titles — to hang in the ring with big dogs, he gets unceremoniously dumped by Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes, who was eliminated before The Final 4, and completely shocked the audience. A good move, by the way.
None of these guys needed to win the Royal Rumble (although it would’ve been an audacious, unexpected and potentially smart move depending on the match), but outside of Oba, none of them were made to look like gods. Je’Von being an Iron Man means nothing. You know who was last year’s Iron Man? Penta. He lasted all of six minutes this year and has gone from hot commodity to lost amongst the mid card. Trick sitting at home would have the same effect.
And the rest of the future of WWE?
Bronn Breakker got tossed first after yet another “masked man in black” attack. What a tired trope for WWE. This will likely lead to Breakker/Rollins at Mania, and they better have Breakker win, or what are we doing here?
Jacob Fatu got a huge entrance and a stare down with Roman. Then he stood and watched Drew McIntyre eliminate Cody then get dumped by Roman after being in the ring less than 10 minutes in. Remember his first Rumble when he was this dangerous wild man? Yeah, not so much here.
LA Knight, while not young, got one of the biggest and most consistent reactions of the night. He actually did get some spots in, and helped dump Brock out (during the run it back segment of Jey Uso’s insufferable entrance, so no one would see it). But ultimately took a light-as-a-feather Disaster Kick and slunk to the outside. Not sure who he pissed off, but this man is insanely over, and should be towards the top of the card, not stuck in midcard purgatory.
Also, can we talk about how WWE opted to put La Parka in the Rumble, and not literally dozens of other people. Are you telling me they couldn’t find a spot for Kit Wilson to come in? Listen, he’s not going to win, nor is going to hit a flurry of spots, but he would have been fun, and gotten an actual reaction instead of the crickets this poor guy got.
The Men’s side of things in WWE is currently a log jam at the top of the same full-time and part-time dudes that have been there for years. It is in the same position, but with different names where they were in 2019. Doesn’t matter who’s “era” it is, the booking in WWE men’s division has not changed … at all.
