Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the death of Ken Hamblin, Royal Rumble Saudi ticket sales, Saturday Night’s Main Event, New Japan Tag League, full results of an awesome AEW Dynamite and a poor edition of NXT, and tons more.
A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Ken Hamblin passes away, huge Royal Rumble 2026 ticket queue, Saturday Night’s Main Event notes
9:57: Kyle Fletcher vs. Speeball Mike Bailey was awesome
12:44: WWE’s taping schedule for next week
15:14: 50th anniversary of Jack Brisco/Terry Funk NWA title match, anniversary of Bruno Sammartino’s second WWE title win
22:43: NJPW World Tag League finals, Arena Mexico notes, Yuriyan Retriever nominated for award for Dump Matsumoto role, Bad Bunny attends CMLL show
34:22: Steven Borden works AEW dark match, ratings
On social media today, Paul “Triple H” Levesque unveiled the official poster for WWE Royal Rumble 2026.
The PLE is taking place from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, January 31, making this the first time the Rumble has ever been held outside of North America. It will stream live on the ESPN app in the United States and on Netflix internationally.
The countdown starts… and the Road to #WrestleMania begins again.
WWE released the poster to promote that Royal Rumble tickets are going on sale tomorrow (December 10). The following wrestlers are featured on the poster:
Brock Lesnar
Roman Reigns
Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer
WWE Champion Cody Rhodes
Rhea Ripley
Charlotte Flair
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk
Becky Lynch
Tiffany Stratton
Drew McIntyre
Penta
Jade Cargill
Dominik Mysterio
Jey Uso
IYO SKY
The PLE will kick off the road to WrestleMania 42, with Bron Breakker rumored to be the favorite to win the men’s Royal Rumble match. The card will feature a men’s Rumble, a women’s Rumble, and two more matches to be determined.
“The current plan for Royal Rumble is a four-match show with two title matches and the two Rumble matches,” Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “The two matches are not finalized even though it’s just under two months away. WrestleVotes first reported this and we confirmed that as the current plan.”
In what will be remembered as one of the greatest surprise finishes in the history of WWE PPVs, John Cena, unannounced, showed up in the No. 30 slot and won the 2008 Royal Rumble on 1/27 in Madison Square Garden, throwing out HHH in the finals.
When Cena’s music played, the crowd, which had chanted, “Cena sux” on a few occasions earlier in the show and booed his face whenever it came up on packages, exploded with a cheer that blew the roof off the building. When it came down to Cena, HHH and Batista, the place really was buzzing. After HHH eliminated Batista, which based on WWE-style booking, then made Cena the favorite to win, the crowd turned against Cena and went with HHH. It was similar to last year when you had two established superstars in at the end, but last year it was seemingly clear Undertaker would win, and this year, the way it was presented, you couldn’t see either Cena nor HHH, both as top babyfaces, lose.
In a new interview following her WWE departure, Shotzi confirmed that she was slated to appear in the 2025 women’s Royal Rumble match before being replaced by the returning Alexa Bliss.
Shotzi told Daria & Toni Unwrapped that, the day before the show, she got a last-minute call from WWE about being in the Rumble match. She flew out to Indianapolis and was all set to compete before being informed that she actually would not be participating. Shotzi was getting makeup done when she received the news.
“So I heard mixed messages. Like, a couple producers said that I was always in the Rumble. But then they just told me last minute. Yeah, I don’t know, I was very confused by it. But they didn’t relay anything to me until the day before,” Shotzi said. “It was like 3 p.m. the day before Rumble and they were like, ‘Hey, can you get on a flight in a couple hours?’ And then I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not ready for this.’ Just like packed my bags, I don’t even know what I put in the bags. Got to the airport in like an hour, and then it led to nothing.”
Bliss returned as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble, wrestling for the first time since giving birth to her daughter Hendrix in 2023. But whether Bliss was going to take part in the Rumble was legitimately up in the air until the last minute. There was a contract situation where Bliss’ new five-year deal with WWE was not completed until shortly before the match.
Shotzi noted that Bliss was gracious about the situation and apologized to her over taking her spot.
“Honestly, if you’re going to take me out for anyone, at least make it be the biggest pop of the night,” Shotzi said. “And I have to say that Alexa had no idea that someone was getting replaced. She had no idea any of that was going on. She felt so bad and she came up to me afterwards. And she was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize they were taking someone out of the Rumble to get me in there.'”
Last month, Shotzi announced that she is departing WWE with the company choosing not to renew her contract. She is taking indie bookings and has been teased for MLW’s Summer of the Beasts show that is being held in New York City on June 26.
The full episode of Daria & Toni Unwrapped is available to watch below. The podcast is hosted by former WWE wrestler Sonya Deville (Daria Berenato) and her wife Toni Cassano.
It’s another episode of We’re Live, Pal as Andrew Zarian and I talk about what’s going on in wrestling today, available in audio form or free on YouTube (below).
We talked about the F4W Convention during WrestleMania weekend before discussing the following:
Whether Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair were the right WWE Royal Rumble winners
If it were up to CM Punk, the winner of the 2025 men’s Royal Rumble would have been John Cena.
Punk and Cena both made it to the final four of the Rumble match on Saturday night. It came down to Cena and Jey Uso with Uso eliminating Cena to get the victory. Punk thinks Uso winning is a fantastic choice, but he would have done things a bit differently if he were booking the match.
While being interviewed on Good Guy/Bad Guy with Daniel Cormier & Chael Sonnen, Punk said his ideal version of the Rumble would have seen him and Cena as the final two — and Punk would have booked Cena to win. Punk said that, at this point in his own career, he believes losing is more valuable than winning.
Punk responded when asked if he was disappointed not to win the Rumble:
I think early in my career, I would say yes. I think now, I’m actually more inclined to pitch me losing things. Because I think there is a broader story to tell. Oh, 100 percent. It’s all about the chase. It’s like — the most recent example I can give you is Cody [Rhodes] losing to Roman [Reigns] at WrestleMania 39. That was Cody’s time. He loses in the main event and it’s just like — man. And he spends the entire year as like a redemption arc and he chases the title and he wins it at [WrestleMania] 40.
The Rumble didn’t go the way I would have booked it, so to speak. Since we’re just peeling back the curtain so much here: I would have had me and Cena as the last two guys. And I would’ve had Cena throw my ass over the top rope, you know? Because I think at this stage, I think losing is so much more valuable than winning. I’m almost afraid of me winning everything that I’ve ever dreamed of because what do I do then?
Punk and Cena will get another chance to face off when they both participate in the men’s Elimination Chamber match in Toronto on Saturday, March 1. It will feature six competitors in total with the winner earning a World title shot at WrestleMania 41.
With Cena set to retire from in-ring competition at the end of 2025, Punk told Cormier & Sonnen that he made sure to spend as much time as he could backstage with Cena at the Royal Rumble. Punk said he likes being around Cena and knows moments like this are fleeting.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with special guest Tom Lawlor, who is here to review the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches from this weekend. Also, Bryan fucked up his head something fierce. A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE is touting that Saturday’s event was the most financially successful Royal Rumble in history.
In a press release issued today, WWE said Royal Rumble 2025 set a new record for the largest gate in Rumble history. The exact figure was not disclosed, but it’s estimated to be around $17 million. WWE said it only trailed WrestleMania 40 night one and WrestleMania 40 night two for the biggest single-night gate the company has ever done.
The attendance number announced by WWE is 70,342. The show was held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and featured Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair winning the respective Royal Rumble matches.
This was also the most-watched Rumble ever with Peacock viewership up nearly 14 percent from last year. WWE said international viewership was up even higher year-over-year due to WWE PLEs now being broadcast on Netflix outside of the United States.
“In partnership with Fanatics, merchandise sales were up more than 95 percent versus the previous Royal Rumble record set last year in 2024, making Royal Rumble 2025 the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event of all-time,” WWE wrote.
“Sponsorship revenue was up 94 percent versus the previous record set in 2024. Royal Rumble featured 14 total partners, with 100 percent of the matches sponsored.”
WWE said this also set a new record for the most social media video views in Royal Rumble history. The most-watched clip was Bron Breakker spearing IShowSpeed, a popular streamer who has more than 35 million subscribers on YouTube and 29 million followers on Instagram.
Next up on the WWE PLE schedule is Elimination Chamber from Rogers Centre in Toronto on March 1. WrestleMania 41 will then be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19-20.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the revamped Janel Grant lawsuit and what new information has come out, what’s next, what happened with Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble, a full recap of the show, WrestleMania, upcoming line-ups, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: New allegations in Janel Grant’s amended lawsuit 26:32: WWE Royal Rumble fallout, Drew McIntyre update, Alexa Bliss return 42:21: WWE Royal Rumble recap 1:13:59: Lineups for this coming week, AEW UK ratings, WWE Evolve announced 1:23:09: Quick UFC weekend thoughts, Bryce Mitchell apologizes for Hitler comments
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with tons to talk about as we review WWE Royal Rumble 2025! Shawn and MARK join us to talk both Rumbles, Cody vs. Kevin, the most shocking moment on the show, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The biggest win of Jey Uso’s career happened at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday night.
Uso will be in one of the top spots at WrestleMania 41 after winning the 2025 men’s Royal Rumble match. Jey entered the match at number 20 and last eliminated John Cena to get the victory. His win was pushed as being the biggest upset in Royal Rumble history by Michael Cole on commentary.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is no longer just a nickname. It is no longer a moniker. Jey Uso is truly the Main Event at WrestleMania,” Cole said.
It came down to Uso and Cena at the end after Cena eliminated Logan Paul. As they were fighting on the apron, Cena went for an Attitude Adjustment but Uso was able to slip out. He pushed Cena to the floor to eliminate him.
Uso now heads to WrestleMania 41 in pursuit of his first-ever World Championship. Currently, World Heavyweight Champion Gunther and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes are the title holders. Gunther vs. Uso would be a rematch from the most recent edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, where Gunther retained his belt.
WrestleMania 41 is being held in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20.
Charlotte Flair is back — and she’s already secured a Women’s Championship shot at WrestleMania 41.
In her first match since December 2023, Charlotte won the women’s Royal Rumble on Saturday night. The final three left at the end of the match were Charlotte, NXT star Roxanne Perez, and Nia Jax. After Charlotte dumped Jax out of the ring, she followed up with a big boot on Perez to eliminate her and get the victory.
This was Charlotte’s first time competing since suffering a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus 13 months ago. Her return was advertised in advance with Charlotte being announced as one of the participants for the Rumble. She entered at number 27 and wore a brace on her left knee for the match.
With her victory, Charlotte is now the first woman to win the Royal Rumble twice. Her previous win happened in 2020.
WWE has not yet confirmed which champion Charlotte will be challenging at WrestleMania. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley of Raw and WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton of SmackDown are the current title holders.
Here are the entrants and eliminations for this year’s women’s WWE Royal Rumble match. We will be doing a similar post with the men’s Royal Rumble match later this evening.
Dave Meltzer and I are back with our Friday episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
On the new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I make our predictions and speculate on who is in the fastlane on the road to WrestleMania 41. We also go through this week’s AEW Dynamite.
