John LaRocca and Garrett Gonzales return with a brand-new Fight Game to discuss some of the most interesting topics in pro wrestling.
We gave out our thumbs up and thumbs down before focusing on the major stories of the week.
We talked about Tomasso Ciampa joining AEW, the men’s main event scene in AEW and some other AEW Dynamite thoughts, and then a preview of this weekend’s WWE Royal Rumble with thoughts on all of the matches, predictions, and some of the possible surprises.
Names from AAA and NXT are reportedly in consideration for spots in Saturday’s Royal Rumble matches, and one former WWE Women’s Champion could be making her return.
According to Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and AAA’s Mr. Iguana have been discussed for this year’s Rumble matches, although it is not confirmed they will be entered.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wednesday night’s Wrestling Observer Radio that several female wrestlers in NXT were told they would be participating in the Rumble, as special gear would need to be made for them ahead of time.
“Several of the women in NXT were told. They have to be told. They can’t spring this on them last minute because you can’t wear your gear there,” Meltzer said on the show.
Vice was also featured on a billboard at the arena location in Riyadh last week promoting the Rumble. Thea Hail, Tatum Paxley, Ethan Page, Oba Femi were as well.
Tiffany Stratton is in Saudi Arabia and planned for the Royal Rumble match, according to reports from Fightful and PWInsider. Stratton hasn’t wrestled since the November 1 Saturday Night’s Main Event when she dropped the WWE Women’s title to Jade Cargill.
Dave Meltzer reported in the January 9 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Stratton was dealing with an injury. However, the nature of her injury has not been disclosed.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm returns with tons to talk about including all of the news heading into the Royal Rumble, updates on Bron Strowman and Rey Mysterio, the NXT TV report, and more! Then, ORANGE CRUSH joins us to talk a number of upcoming big shows in New York including the Superpower Slam and Jersey J-Cup! Plus, how you can bid on some awesome auction items. A fun show as always so check it out~!
While appearing on ESPN’s Get Up this morning, Paul “Triple H” Levesque hyped that WWE has an “epic” Royal Rumble in store this weekend.
Saturday’s PLE is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and will be the first Royal Rumble since WWE’s new PLE deal with ESPN began. When asked what casual fans can expect, Levesque said there will be surprises like the Royal Rumble has always been known for. He also said both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches will feature stacked lineups of established stars.
“The Royal Rumble is one of those events that’s amazing to see, because every couple of minutes there is a new entrant that enters into the fray, right? So as this match goes on over the course of the hour that it takes or so, you’re getting constantly surprised by who is next,” Levesque said. “And the strategy of what happens when that person comes out. This year is going to be no different.
“There’s a lot of surprises in store, but also it’s one of the most star-studded Rumbles that I can recall. You’ve got Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul’s going to be in there. On the women’s side, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan. They’re just stacked cards. This one is going to be epic.”
The NFL has its Super Bowl coming up soon, and Levesque told Get Up that WWE is now starting its own playoff season with the Royal Rumble. It will begin the road to WrestleMania 42, which takes place in Las Vegas this April.
Saturday’s Rumble PLE has a 2 p.m. Eastern start time, airing live on the ESPN app in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.
Rey Mysterio is now headed to Saudi Arabia for the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble weekend.
Despite reports of an injury on the January 26th edition of Monday Night Raw, WWE Hall of Famer Mysterio has uploaded a picture of himself while traveling to the Middle-Eastern country.
An unmasked Mysterio shared a picture with Penta and Dragon Lee, also unmasked, while sitting inside an airplane on social media. All three unmasked luchadors preferred to cover their face while sharing the photo.
Mysterio, Lee, and Penta have all declared for the Royal Rumble and are scheduled to compete in the match this weekend. However, there are currently no confirmed reports on Mysterio’s fitness for the match and whether he would participate or not.
Last year at the 2025 edition of Royal Rumble, Penta and Mysterio began the match as the first two entrants. While Penta lasted over 40-minutes, Mysterio was eliminated in the 24th minute.
Mysterio, 51, spent several months out of action in 2025 after suffering a groin injury in April before WrestleMania 41. He’s been back in the ring since November.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez is back today with tons to talk about including the Royal Rumble odds which are in fact odd, RAW from Monday night, the weird Finn Balor thing, Rey Mysterio’s injury, Je’Von Evans’ injury, TNA ratings, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Seth Rollins views Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, Je’Von Evans, and Carmelo Hayes as young stars people should be watching out for at the Royal Rumble this weekend.
A shoulder injury will prevent Rollins from competing in the Rumble himself. Still, he made an appearance on ESPN First Take yesterday to promote the PLE. Rollins named Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, Je’Von Evans, and Carmelo Hayes as young stars that casual fans should be paying attention to when they watch the show.
“WWE is full of extremely incredible young talent right now,” Rollins said. “You look at NXT, which is our developmental brand, and there’s tons of guys who have come through there, myself included, who are ready to take the next step. Bron Breakker’s the first one that jumps off the page. He is one of the Steiner Brothers’ kids, so he’s got that Steiner DNA in him. You look at Logan Paul. You look at a guy like Austin Theory. There’s a cat on Raw named Je’Von Evans, the bouncy kid. I love him, I love what he’s doing. Carmelo Hayes is the United States Champion over on SmackDown, he is incredible.
“So there is a ton of young talent. And the cool thing about the Royal Rumble is: it’s meant to make stars. That’s what it’s there for. And so anything can happen when you get 30 guys in there going at it at the same time for a shot at the main event of WrestleMania.”
Of those five, Hayes is the only one who has not yet been officially confirmed as a Rumble entrant. Breakker, Paul, Theory, and Evans all declared for the match on Raw last night.
Rollins is missing out on the Rumble but hopes to be able to return to the ring in time for WrestleMania. When he does come back, it’s possible that he could be feuding with Breakker, Paul, and Theory. After Rollins suffered his shoulder injury in October, WWE ran an angle where he was betrayed by Breakker and kicked out of The Vision. Paul and Theory have now been added to the faction with Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman.
The Royal Rumble takes place from Saudi Arabia this Saturday (January 31) and will stream live on the ESPN App in the United States and Netflix everywhere else starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including Tom’s upcoming trip to MLW for the BATTLE RIOT, tons of discussion of Smackdown, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the Royal Rumble, and more, plus all the news! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Triple H promoted the official theme song for the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
On the January 12 episode of WWE Raw from Germany, WWE revealed that Linkin Park’s “Heavy Is the Crown” will be the official theme song for this year’s event.
Triple H posted to social media on Sunday, writing:
“The Road to #WrestleMania starts in less than a week…and @linkinpark brings the soundtrack. “Heavy Is The Crown” by Linkin Park is an Official Theme Song of #RoyalRumble.”
The song is from Linkin Park’s 2024 album, From Zero, and features new singer Emily Armstrong on vocals. It is the band’s first studio album since the death of singer Chester Bennington in 2017.
The 2026 WWE Royal Rumble is set for Saturday, January 31, 2026, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Four matches have been confirmed for the show as of Saturday. In addition to the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches, AJ Styles will put his career on the line against Gunther, and Drew McIntyre will defend the WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
On location from Portland, Oregon, it’s Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley.
With new talent like Trick Williams, Lash Legend and others being put in positions to learn from veterans and vets like AJ Styles preparing to exit, 2026 (maybe ’27, too) looks to be a year of transition in WWE.
It’s time to accept that Jade Cargill is who she is as an athlete. She’s been wrestling for nearly seven years.
We saw new Tag Team champions crowned and the build for Saturday Night’s Main Event on Smackdown.
The people who are criticizing Powerhouse Hobbs’s new WWE name lack creativity and vision. Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, Collision and more. Check it out.
Dave Meltzer and I are back with the Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about the big news from today’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Here were some of the things we discussed:
SNME & Royal Rumble starting the road to WrestleMania
WWE has confirmed some new Royal Rumble entrants, including the first slate of names for the women’s match.
Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, and Asuka are officially set to compete in the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match. The winner of the 30-woman battle royal earns a title shot at WrestleMania 42, which would be against either Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer or WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill if there are no title changes before then.
On the men’s side, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre are the champions heading into Mania season. The Royal Rumble will determine the WrestleMania challenger for one of those belts.
Saudi Arabia is hosting Royal Rumble 2026 on Saturday, January 31. The PLE has a start time of 2 p.m. Eastern, airing live on the ESPN app in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 —
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends against either Randy Orton, Damian Priest, Sami Zayn, or Trick Williams (will be determined at Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24)
Gunther vs. AJ Styles (Styles forced to retire if he loses)
WWE has announced that Gunther vs. Styles will take place at the Saturday, January 31 PLE in Saudi Arabia. It’s a career-threatening match where Styles will retire if he loses. He agreed to the stipulation after it was proposed by Gunther as the only way that Gunther would accept another match after how things ended on Raw last week.
The January 12 Raw episode was headlined by Gunther defeating Styles after hitting a low blow and powerbomb. Gunther had tricked Styles into thinking the match was over by tapping out in a Calf Crusher behind the referee’s back. With Styles letting go of the hold, Gunther was able to pick up the victory soon after.
A promo segment then opened Raw today with Styles attempting to goad Gunther into a rematch by calling him scared. Gunther would not give in, saying there was no incentive for him to face Styles again. But he then came up with the idea for Styles to put his career on the line. He gave Styles the rest of the show to think about his answer. After talking it over with his wife, Styles revealed his decision.
“She said exactly what I was thinking — kick his ass,” Styles said as the matchup was made official.
Gunther has already retired Goldberg and John Cena and will now be looking to do the same to Styles. In their storyline, Styles has taken exception to how Gunther has acted so disrespectfully after defeating Cena.
The Royal Rumble is being held in Riyadh on January 31 and has a start time of 2 p.m. Eastern. Gunther will be pulling double duty on the show with him also confirmed as one of the men’s Rumble entrants.
Here is the updated card:
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 —
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends against either Randy Orton, Damian Priest, Sami Zayn, or Trick Williams (will be determined at Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24)
Gunther vs. AJ Styles (Styles forced to retire if he loses)
WWE’s schedule of premium live events (formerly known as pay-per-views) and special shows are always developing throughout the year. The following is the known/announced schedule for both WWE and WWE NXT PLEs throughout 2025.
WWE has locked in a start time for its Royal Rumble 2026 PLE.
The event is taking place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, January 31. When the official poster was revealed last week, there was no start time listed. WrestleVotes has now reported that — after some back and forth internally — WWE has settled on 2 p.m. Eastern as the start time for the PLE broadcast. It’s the first time the Rumble has ever been held outside of North America, with the time zone difference being the reason for the afternoon start in the United States.
The Rumble will air live on the ESPN app in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally.
Men’s and women’s Rumble will both take place as the road to WrestleMania 42 begins. Among the advertised talent for the Rumble PLE are Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Stephanie Vaquer, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, CM Punk, Becky Lynch, Tiffany Stratton, Drew McIntyre, Penta, Jade Cargill Dominik Mysterio, Jey Uso, and IYO SKY.
WrestleMania 42 is set to be held in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.
