WWE Royal Rumble will take place today (Sat., Jan. 31, 2026) from an unnamed temporary outdoor stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Financial District. While there will a “Countdown” pre-show, the premium live event itself begins at 2 p.m. ET — streaming HERE on ESPN in the U.S., and on Netflix pretty much everywhere else.
The show marks the official start of the annual Road to WrestleMania, as two stars will win a main event title shot at April’s WrestleMania 42 in today’s battle royals.
Royal Rumble Riyadh will also feature a WWE title match, and a possible retirement bout for the Phenomenal AJ Styles.
It’s a lot to process. Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card.
Let’s get to it.
WWE ROYAL RUMBLE PREDICTIONS
Men’s Royal Rumble
Geno Mrosko: They’re really going to give Cody Rhodes his third win in four Royal Rumble matches. I’m just wondering how the fans are going to react to that. I suppose if you want to do it, Saudi Arabia is a place to do it to ensure the reaction in the arena is still great, whereas there could be some rebellion here Stateside. Closer to a heel turn, maybe. Pick: Cody Rhodes
Sean Rueter: First off, one thing (and maybe in the end the only thing) I’ll tip my hat to WWE for with regards to this show is that the outcome of all four matches feel pretty unpredictable. In this one, you could make the case for quite a few names. But I’m really hoping the men’s Rumble can make a star into a superstar. And even with The Vision supporting him and Seth Rollins lurking, I’m thinking it’s this guy. Pick: Bron Breakker
Kyle Decker: My big hope is it’s not Breakker. I’m a fan of the guy, but I’m not ready for a Breakker/Punk rematch. I think they’ll do the Drew/Fatu/Cody (+/- Sami) match for the WWE title but I don’t think that winner comes from here. I don’t actually know who Punk is going to fight so I’m going to go with a guy who may not even be healthy but would make sense for that match. Pick: Seth Rollins
Claire Elizabeth: Finn Balor declared too late. We all saw it, and we all saw Adam Pearce say “sorry bud, no room at the inn.” But, and hear me out here… what if Finn does some tomfoolery or, perhaps, skulduggery, to get a spot in the Rumble? What if he takes somebody out before their entrance and steals their spot? And what if, in the final reckoning, he wins the whole gosh-darned deal? He said it wasn’t over. He’s a man of merit, determination, skill, and so very few morals these days. It’s a wild card, but I’m going with it. Pick: Finn Balor
Cain A. Knight: Cody Rhodes will likely be in one of the world title matches at WrestleMania, but a third Royal Rumble win is overkill when he can instead get there via the Elimination Chamber. The other favorites to win this match include GUNTHER, Jacob Fatu, Roman Reigns, Bron Breakker, and Brock Lesnar, in some order. Maybe it’s time to do Punk vs. Lesnar at WrestleMania, so that GUNTHER can retire Lesnar at SummerSlam in Minnesota and win back the world title all at the same time. What I said about a third Royal Rumble win being overkill for one wrestler should also be true for The Beast, but regular rules don’t apply to Brock Lesnar in WWE / TKO. Pick: Brock Lesnar
Marcus Benjamin: There are several options WWE could go for, which usually makes for a fun Rumble. Will Cody headline another WrestleMania? Will Roman Reigns return triumphantly and prove once again the meal is in better shape when he does the cooking? Will Bron Breakker ascend to the position the territory wants him to have? These are all cool ideas but I’m with Claire on this one: Finn Balor. It’s out of the box, and there’s already a story of how he couldn’t get in while it seems like everyone and their moms is declaring at the 11th hour. Plus I’d love to see Finn get the Mania main event. Pick:Finn Balor
M. G0MEZ: I submitted my predictions on Thursday, noting that with this year’s WrestleMania being the last in North America until at least 2028, WWE was unlikely to use the men’s Royal Rumble to create a new star. History supports this conservative approach, as seven of the past 13 men’s Rumble victors have been repeat winners, underscoring WWE’s reliance on proven headliners.
That mindset, I reasoned, would determine not only who headlines the final North American WrestleMania, but also who appears on the marquee at next year’s Mania in Saudi Arabia.
Then came Roman Reigns’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, where he openly criticized WWE’s creative direction, which read like a shot at Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque. Hours later, The Rock’s daughter, Ava, announced her departure from WWE and NXT — another wrinkle following The Rock’s WrestleMania no-show last year.
My original pick was Reigns. QB1 debates aside, he’s the guy you trust with the ball when the game’s on the line. But whether something real is brewing behind the scenes or an epic work is unfolding in WWE’s Unreal era, the uncertainty is, at the very least, exciting. Pick: Should be Reigns, looking like Rhodes
Jon Velez-Jackson: Roman Reigns looks to be the favorite, but I’m going to go with another popular pick in Cody Rhodes. While a Cody win will likely set up a rematch against McIntyre, I’d prefer he go after CM Punk at WrestleMania. Roman could still lock in a WrestleMania main event spot by winning the Elimination Chamber. Pick: Cody Rhodes
Women’s Royal Rumble
Geno Mrosko: I think it’s at least possible they do something like have Tiffany Stratton return and win to go after Jade Cargill at WrestleMania, or Liv Morgan go the distance to get back to the title scene and out of the tag picture. Bianca Belair stands out as a strong return leading to a win candidate as well. I’m just going to go with what I would want most as a fan, because I’m a mark for her. Pick: Rhea Ripley
Sean Rueter: Also lots of ways to go here, and if I had to put money on it I’d probably bet on Liv. But they could continue cementing someone else as a superstar here, and create an interesting dynamic within her uber-popular tag team. Pick: IYO SKY
Kyle Decker: They made a point to note that Liv has been runner up two years in a row. And she’s gotten so good the last few years, I think it’s time for her to get to that finish line. Her feuding with Vaquer after Raquel fails to get it done could also be what finally leads to the long overdue Judgment Day split. Pick: Liv Morgan
Claire Elizabeth: Lot of strong arguments for Liv her and I buy every last one of them, but what really jumps out at me about this year’s women’s Rumble field is how many teams are in it, and how each of those teams is talking a big game about working together, and oh sure a win for the team is a win for everybody in the team but this is wrestling and we all know it’s every woman for herself here. Judgment Day has been defined almost since the beginning by their fractiousness, so I got to thinking… Liv sure has embraced Roxanne! Perez hasn’t she? She’s not really watching her back anymore… and that’s a perfect chance for Perez to pluck that exclamation point from her tron and jam it right between Morgan’s short ribs. Pick: Roxanne! Perez
Cain A. Knight: Looking ahead to WrestleMania 42, I think Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer and Bianca Belair vs. Jade Cargill make sense for the top two women’s championship matches. That means deciding between either Morgan or Belair for the Royal Rumble win. I don’t know if Belair is even in the Royal Rumble, so I’ll stick with the safer choice, and a top star who has yet to win one of these matches. Pick: Liv Morgan
Marcus Benjamin: I think the most obvious pick is someone from Judgment Day. Any little jealousy in that crew makes for interesting stories. In moments like this when there are at least two viable picks, I imitate Harvey Dent and flip a coin. Here’s hoping no one throws acid in my face. Pick:Liv Morgan
M. G0MEZ: Since returning from injury at Survivor Series, Liv Morgan has reestablished herself as a key figure on Raw — helping Dominik Mysterio reclaim the Intercontinental Championship while driving Judgment Day’s renewed push for championship gold.
As an ambassador for the company, Morgan was one of several wrestlers prominently featured in promotional events for Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia. While speaking to WWE’s social media channel in the Middle East, Morgan said:
“I always have good luck when I come to Saudi Arabia. I won my Women’s World Championship here, I became the first Women’s Crown Jewel Champion… And I’m going to win the Royal Rumble this year.”
With more events on the horizon in Saudi Arabia, including WrestleMania 43, Morgan’s role as an ambassador is likely to continue. Her success there could be built into a storyline, much like The Undertaker’s dominance at WrestleMania. Pick: Liv Morgan.
Jon Velez-Jackson: A returning Bianca Belair will be the last woman standing in the ring on her way to challenging Jade Cargill at WrestleMania. Pick: Bianca Belair
Undisputed WWE championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn
Geno Mrosko: I don’t need or necessarily want Zayn to win this match but after they took the title off Rhodes in the way they did and gave it to McIntyre as a reward for hard work, you can now make an argument they should do it. But it feels a bit too much like we’ve gotten away from a longer form story building to a big payoff, so if they go that route eventually I hope that’s how it would go down. Not here then. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Sean Rueter: If you’re gonna do it, you should probably do it here. But as we’ve been reminded at the last two SNMEs, Triple H likes to zag when we think he should zig. So let’s say McIntyre stomps out a thrilling Zayn comeback through nefarious means en route a win, allowing Adam Pearce to book a rematch down the road where Sami can win… after McIntyre’s reign has lasted another defense or two. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Kyle Decker: I don’t know how many times Sami can lose in a world title match and still be taken seriously in title matches. We may actually be past that point. But given they already just hot shotted the title and the Saudi crowd loves him, I’m going to go with the big upset. Pick: Sami Zayn
Claire Elizabeth: If there’s one case where I wouldn’t complain one single whit at Saudi interference in WWE booking, it’s Sami Zayn winning the title in front of a crowd that’s frenzied hot for him. The Saudi crowds love him, we love him, I love him, if not now, when? Let’s do it! Pick: Sami Zayn
Cain A. Knight: Dropping the WWE title so soon after winning it sounds like a very Drew McIntyre thing to do, but I don’t think Sami Zayn has a main event level championship match lined up for WrestleMania 42, whereas Drew has Jacob Fatu and/or Cody Rhodes as pretty obvious opponents. Pick: Drew McIntyre
Marcus Benjamin: I gotta stick to the wish I made last week. My head says it’s Drew all the way but I’m siding with my heart on this one. Pick:Sami Zayn
M. G0MEZ: The odds are stacked against Sami Zayn. He’s 0-12 in high-profile singles matches against Drew McIntyre. He’s also the first person to challenge the new champion at a PLE, which is often a bad omen for challengers.
But McIntyre’s transgressions in recent months and at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu could be his undoing. Big picture, an Elimination Chamber match seems to be brewing, with McIntyre, Fatu, Rhodes, and others fighting to headline WrestleMania 42 as the Undisputed WWE Champion. The man entering the Chamber with the title, however, will be Sami Zayn. Pick: Sami Zayn
Jon Velez-Jackson: As great as a story it would be for the underdog Zayn to come out on top, I can’t see McIntyre losing the belt so soon after winning it. Pick: Drew McIntyre
AJ Styles vs. Gunther with Styles’ career on the line
Geno Mrosko: It’s hard to pick Styles when we’ve seen so much that indicates this is indeed the end. It doesn’t feel like it should end this way, but maybe it fits and at the very least I like that they’re choosing to do this by giving GUNTHER an even bigger rub with it. This guy killing all your heroes is perfect. Pick: GUNTHER
Sean Rueter: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me… you can’t get fooled again. I quote the 43rd U.S. President to say I think WWE’s worked the sheets again. It’s not like they can’t afford to pay for some trademark filings to sell the work. Ideally, who Der Ring General is dancing with at ‘Mania will cost him this match. Maybe if it’s after the Men’s Rumble, Lesnar will be coming for payback for having been eliminated. Anyway, I’m not ready for P1 to go just yet. Pick: AJ Styles
Kyle Decker: I swore this would be a no contest, but with rumblings this is really it, and the fact they rushed to get that match with Punk prior, I have to think this is it for the Phenomenal One. Pick: GUNTHER
Claire Elizabeth: I don’t know how it goes, I don’t have the secret sauce or the inside scoop, I just know I don’t want AJ Styles to retire, and I know you can never count the Phenomenal One out. Pick: AJ Styles
Cain A. Knight: Styles plans to call it quits in 2026, so he might as well retire from WWE now in Saudi Arabia so that he can consider coming out of retirement ASAP to work matches in TNA or AEW. Pick: GUNTHER
Marcus Benjamin: The writing is on the wall with this one. Right? Unless this whole thing is part of some elaborate ruse, and I’m not ruling out that it isn’t, this is AJ’s last match in WWE. At least for a while. Pick:GUNTHER
M. G0MEZ: AJ Styles said he would retire in 2026. Like most people, I didn’t think it would happen this soon, but the signs all point to it being over.
WWE has been quietly teasing — and gradually escalating — a showdown between Gunther and CM Punk ever since Gunther made John Cena tap out in Cena’s final match.
This week, Punk reflected on the possibility of losing Cena and Styles within two months while acknowledging the grim reality that Gunther represents. The likely endgame is a world title rematch between “The Ring General” and “The Second City Saint” at WrestleMania, meaning Styles must be fed to Gunther on the way there. Pick: Gunther
Jon Velez-Jackson: I had a hard time deciding on this one, mainly because I was hoping to see Styles’ final year in wrestling actually last most of the year. Perhaps, there will be some outside interference that will negate the retirement stipulation, otherwise I’m thinking the company’s new Legend Killer comes out on top. Pick: GUNTHER
That’s how we see the card playing out. In the comments, tell us why we’re wrong, why we’re right, and what your predictions are for WWE Royal Rumble 2026!
