WWE Royal Rumble is one of the best PLEs of the year.
The Rumble is what kicks off the road to WrestleMania.
Surprise entrants happen each year, with major returns usually occurring.
Stone Cold Steve Austin has the record for most Royal Rumble victories with three.
Kane has the record for eliminating the most people in Royal Rumble history.
Nia Jax has the record among women for eliminating the most people.
Braun Stroman and Brock Lesnar each have the record (13) for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match.
Four superstars have won back-to-back Royal Rumbles. Hulk Hogan in 1990 and 1991, Shawn Michaels in 1995 and 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997 and 1998, and most recently Cody Rhodes in 2023 and 2024.
Last year, Jey Uso won the Royal Rumble.
This year is shaping up to be another good Royal Rumble PLE.
WWE Royal Rumble 2026: Date, Time, & How To Watch
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 will take place on January 31, 2026. The start time is 2 PM EST.
It will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
For people located in the United States, you can watch it on the ESPN app. If you are located outside of the United States, it will stream live on Netflix.
WWE Men’s Royal Rumble Odds
The winner of the 2026 men’s Royal Rumble will get to choose which title and opponent he wants to challenge at WrestleMania.
Here are the top six favorites to win the men’s Royal Rumble match:
- Roman Reigns (+165)
- Gunther (+200)
- Sami Zayn (+400)
- Bron Breakker (+500)
- LA Knight (+600)
- CM Punk (+1000)
Roman Reigns is the current favorite to win the 2026 men’s Royal Rumble match. Reigns won the Royal Rumble once, back in 2015.
Gunther is the second favorite. He is currently the biggest heel in WWE after making John Cena tap out in Cena’s final match. The heat would be tremendous if Gunther wins the Rumble.
Sami Zayn, a massive fan favorite in Saudi Arabia, is surprisingly the third favorite. This would be rather surprising, but given his popularity in Saudi Arabia, WWE could pull the trigger.
Bron Breakker feels like he should be a higher favorite. Rumors are that he will challenge CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
LA Knight is a massive fan favorite and is expected to get a major push in 2026. The push could begin at the Royal Rumble as he is a top-five favorite to win the match.
CM Punk is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, so for him to win the Royal Rumble, he would have to lose the title before the PLE. This seems highly unlikely.
WWE Women’s Royal Rumble Odds
The winner of the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble will get to choose which title and opponent she wants to challenge at WrestleMania.
Here are the top six favorites to win the women’s Royal Rumble match:
- Liv Morgan (+100)
- Bianca Belair (+200)
- Rhea Ripley (+300)
- Charlotte Flair (+1000)
- Lyra Valkyria (+1200)
- IYO SKY (+1400)
Liv Morgan comes in as the favorite to win the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match. She is expected to get a major push in 2026, and it could begin at the rumble.
Bianca Belair has been out of action for quite some time, but returns always happen at the Royal Rumble. Belair could return at the PLE and win the match.
Rhea Ripley is another strong candidate to win the match. She is the most popular female superstar in WWE.
Charlotte Flair is a threat to win the Royal Rumble match, as she is always in the picture for a title.
Lyra Valkyria is surprisingly a top-five favorite to win the match. She does not have much momentum entering the PLE, so this feels unlikely.
IYO SKY is one of the best in the ring. She is also getting more popular with the fans as she has been teaming with Ripley recently.
Who Will Win The Men’s Royal Rumble?
For the men’s Royal Rumble match, it feels like a toss-up between Roman Reigns and Bron Breakker.
The rumored two main event matches for WrestleMania are expected to be Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns and CM Punk vs Bron Breakker.
Rhodes and Punk will enter WrestleMania each as champions.
This means Reigns and Breakker will either have to win the Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber match to earn a title shot.
WWE already set up Reigns and Rhodes at Survivor Series.
Breakker will challenge Punk on Raw on January 5, but is not expected to win the title on Raw.
It makes sense to have Reigns win the Royal Rumble match and challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Breakker will win the Elimination Chamber match and challenge Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
2026 men’s Royal Rumble prediction: Roman Reigns wins the match.
Who Will Win The Women’s Royal Rumble?
For the women, it is expected that Liv Morgan will receive a major push in 2026.
She is the favorite to win the Royal Rumble match.
Bianca Belair vs Jade Cargill is likely to occur at WrestleMania, but Belair can win the Elimination Chamber match to earn her title shot against Cargill.
Morgan vs Stephanie Vaquer is a very good WrestleMania match.
2026 women’s Royal Rumble prediction: Liv Morgan wins the match.
