ESPN is attempting to bring this year’s WWE Royal Rumble to more of their viewers, airing a condensed version of the annual event this weekend.
First reported by Wrestlevotes on Fightful Select, a three-hour episode is listed for this Sunday, February 22 at 8 pm Eastern on ESPN’s main channel. As of now, there is no match listing.
From Wrestlevotes: “The decision is part of a broader effort to promote upcoming WWE PLEs and allows ESPN to evaluate viewership data for an over air presentation of the product.”
WWE and ESPN launched a five-year domestic deal last September for all WWE premium live events to air live on their new ESPN Unlimited subscriber streaming service.
The first-ever Rumble event from Saudi Arabia featured Roman Reigns winning the men’s Rumble match, Liv Morgan winning the women’s Rumble match, Gunther retiring AJ Styles, surprise returns and debuts from Royce Keys, Brie Bella, El Gable Americano and several NXT and AAA wrestlers.
He leads off with a full recap and ratings from last weekend’s WWE Royal Rumble from Saudi Arabia that put WrestleMania 42 into motion and also raised questions as to whether AJ Styles is actually retiring from the ring.
Dave also looks at how another Nielsen ratings measurement adjustment has benefited wrestling in a big way.
He also writes the obituaries for The Great Mephisto and Bob Lueck, the latter of which got Superstar Billy Graham into the business.
All that plus the usual news roundup and scoops from WWE, AEW, CMLL, AAA, TNA, NJPW and the UFC/MMA world.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site right now. Some of the key stories being covered:
Royal Rumble thoughts, odds and direction
The business of UFC to Paramount, the numbers that were released, what they mean, and how much revenue does this mean vs. how much they paid for rights
Coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event
UFC 324 coverage, the fights, the future and the business
The life and times of Kim Wood, football, weightlifting, perception of people, Ken Shamrock and Brian Pillman
How Smackdown and NXT did throughout 2025 on Netflix, the ups and the downs
The most complete look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling TV shows over the past week, demos, comparisons, drops from last year factoring out why it would and should drop with big data
A new record set for most sellouts by a main eventer in a given month
Huge CMLL business week and great matches
Major shows upcoming
Big events coming for New Japan
Fantastica Mania coming
Mayu Iwatani’s 15th anniversary show
Jesse Ventura suggest Minnesota should leave the U.S.
Chris Jericho on TV show
Jimmy Jacobs talks working for Vince McMahon
Mick Foey on his mother’s death
Controversial independent angle makes mainstream attention and gets wrestler fired
Former WWE champion in talks to become a weekly TV character elsewhere
Former WCW attitude era announcer about to come back to wrestling
A new men’s Speed tournament will start on tonight’s NXT. Elio LeFleur will battle Charlie Dempsey, while Josh Briggs will face Eli Knight. The winners will move on to the finals, with that winner facing champion Jasper Troy.
Sol Ruca noted on TikTok that she came up with her gear for the Royal Rumble at the last minute: “Had some miscommunication with the whole gear situation so I had to make this in a rush. But I ended up getting basically everything from Amazon except for the pants I got from Fashion Nova.”
TKO announced that Mark Shapiro will participate in the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference on March 3.
Debuting for WWE in the Royal Rumble was a dream come true for the former Powerhouse Hobbs.
Now known as Royce Keys, Hobbs arrived in WWE as a surprise entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match last Saturday. He signed with WWE after finishing up with AEW last month, ending a nearly six-year run that included TNT and Trios Championship reigns.
WWE uploaded a behind-the-scenes video today documenting Hobbs’ debut. It includes comments from him before the match, along with interactions he had with Cody Rhodes and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
“This is wild. This is like something out of a movie, man,” Hobbs said while taking a look at the Rumble stage. “This whole setup. Walking down this aisle and into the ring and background. It’s pretty amazing, man. I’m getting goosebumps under this sweatshirt. It’s crazy. It feels real. Looking at the ring, the seats, the stage setup — it’s real. Never thought I would be part of something this big. This is huge. Leading to the Grandaddy of Them All, you know? WrestleMania. This starts tonight.”
Hobbs then caught up with another former AEW wrestler in Cody Rhodes — and Hobbs took a moment to explain how much Rhodes means to him.
“He’s probably going to get mad, but this dude doesn’t know how special he is to me. Thank you for everything. That dude’s been there for me, like, toughest time of my life when my mom passed away. But if I gotta kick his ass, then I gotta kick his ass [laughs]. This is special, man. It’s just like, seeing familiar faces. It’s real. You know, I’m home, I’m moved in. So it’s time to collect.”
WWE included brief footage of the talk Hobbs had with Levesque before the Rumble. Hobbs said Levesque helped ease his nerves by telling him that he was in WWE for a reason.
“We’re going to get rolling and get some good sh*t started,” Levesque told Hobbs. “We’ll be in a good place.”
Hobbs entered the Rumble at number 14 and eliminated Damian Priest during his time in the match. It was Bronson Reed who ended up eliminating Hobbs from the match.
“Eliminating a former World Champion. Ah, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,” Hobbs said after competing. “I’m going to take everything I want. Everything.”
A main roster name was considered for the Royal Rumble, but was ultimately passed on.
On Sunday, Fightful Select reported that Kit Wilson’s name was discussed for a spot in the men’s Royal Rumble match. He ended up not appearing at all during WWE’s time in Saudi Arabia this past week.
Wilson has been seen more on television as of late establishing himself as a singles wrestler and debuting a new theme song. The song has seen some success on online streaming charts. He has appeared on recent episodes of SmackDown losing to the likes of Carmelo Hayes and Matt Cardona.
Elton Prince, Wilson’s tag team partner, recently revealed that he had undergone neck fusion surgery following an injury that took place last May, putting him out of action indefinitely.
Notable surprises from the men’s Royal Rumble match include La Parka and Mr. Iguana from AAA. Chad Gable returned from injury, portraying himself as the Original El Grande Americano, seemingly starting a feud between himself and the second El Grande Americano who started appearing on screen once Gable was injured.
Dave Meltzer reported in Sunday’s Daily Update that, at least for the moment, Bella is back in the WWE with her twin sister Nikki.
“Brie Bella’s return last night was not a one-night thing,” he wrote. “She’s going to be back for at least the time being.”
On social media, Bella seemed to imply this by saying The Bella Twins were back.
“I can’t even express the gratitude I’m feeling right now,” she wrote. “It’s been a journey to get here but I’m back and it feels good!!! Love you Bella Army for always standing with your girl and thank you Riyadh for the very warm welcome, your chants and love meant everything. BRIEMODE IS ACTIVATED. And the Bella Twins are back!!!! YES! YES! YES!”
Bella entered at number 29 on Saturday and lasted around seven minutes before eventually being tossed out by Lash Legend. It was her first pro wrestling match since competing in the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Nikki made her return to the ring last year, starting a feud with Liv Morgan before turning against Stephanie Vaquer and going heel. Her last appearance was losing to Vaquer and Raquel Rodriguez in a three-way match on an episode of Raw back in December.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site right now. Some of the key stories being covered:
Royal Rumble thoughts, odds and direction
The business of UFC to Paramount, the numbers that were released, what they mean, and how much revenue does this mean vs. how much they paid for rights
Coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event
UFC 324 coverage, the fights, the future and the business
The life and times of Kim Wood, football, weightlifting, perception of people, Ken Shamrock and Brian Pillman
How Smackdown and NXT did throughout 2025 on Netflix, the ups and the downs
The most complete look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling TV shows over the past week, demos, comparisons, drops from last year factoring out why it would and should drop with big data
A new record set for most sellouts by a main eventer in a given month
Huge CMLL business week and great matches
Major shows upcoming
Big events coming for New Japan
Fantastica Mania coming
Mayu Iwatani’s 15th anniversary show
Jesse Ventura suggest Minnesota should leave the U.S.
Chris Jericho on TV show
Jimmy Jacobs talks working for Vince McMahon
Mick Foey on his mother’s death
Controversial independent angle makes mainstream attention and gets wrestler fired
Former WWE champion in talks to become a weekly TV character elsewhere
Former WCW attitude era announcer about to come back to wrestling
— We did our weekend show last night talking about the Royal Rumble, UFC, Collision, Hobbs, Ava and lots of other subjects. Our Friday show was one of the best we’ve done of late with Alex Marvez as guest talking about the life and times of Kim Wood.
–Brie Bella’s return last night was not a one-night thing. She’s going to be back for at least the time being.
— As most would expect, right now the plan for WrestleMania is Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre. Jacob Fatu could be added to that match.
— Dynamite in Las Vegas on Wednesday:
Kenny Omega vs. Andrade
Adam Page vs. Mark Davis – winners of these matches face off no 2/14 with the winner facing the AEW champion on the 3/15 PPV show
Ricochet vs. Jack Perry for the National title
MJF vs. Brody King – if King wins he gets an AEW title shot on 2/14
They will also be taping Eddie Kingston & Ortiz & Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Big Bill & Bryan Keith & Grizzled Young Veterans in a parking lot brawl for Collision.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s Royal Rumble,thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
— UFC’s show yesterday was the No. 2 show in the world on Paramount +. It was No. 3 in the U.S.
— Royal Rumble was No. 3 in the world yesterday for television shows on Netflix and SmackDown was No. 7. What makes that impressive is that it doesn’t include U.S. viewing. First day viewing of Smackdown was No. 2 in Australia, No. 2 in Canada, No. 4 in India, No. 5 in France, No. 2 in New Zealand,No. 2 in Saudi Arabia and No. 3 in the U.K. That’s for the day, not the week. Rumble for yesterday was No. 2 in Canada, No. 2 in France, No. 2 in Mexico and No. 1 in Saudi Arabia.
— UFC last night did about 1.6 million searches, Alexander Volkanovski, Tai Tuivasa, Mauricio Ruffy, Benoit Saint-Denis, and Quillan Salikilld were all among the top 60 searches for the weekend. Royal Rumble did 305,000 with the top individual searches in order going to AJ Styles (by a wide margin and was No. 53 for the weekend when we last checked), Powerhouse Hobbs, Brie Bella, Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar. Ashley Massaro, whose rape accusation and how it was handled by the miliarty came up in the Epstein files, was also on the list.
— Diego Lopes was hospitalized after the show in Sydney last night and said that it looks like he broke both of his feet in his loss to Alexander Volkanovski.
— In the scoring of the Volkanovski vs. Lopes fight, judge Ron Cartlidge gave Lopes round two and Sal D’Amato gave him round three. Clemens Werner gave him no rounds. Among media scores it was 65 percent giving him a 49-46 win and 35 percent at 50-45. There were close rounds so it was not as one-sided as those scores sound, but Volkanovski clearly won the fight.
— Parade Magazine listed the top 14 WWE wrestlers of all-time. I have no idea how they came up with this list:
1. Flair
2. Hogan
3. Austin
4. Undertaker
5. The Rock
6. Reigns
7. Michaels
8. Bret Hart
9. Sammartino
10. Cena
11. Savage
12. Andre
13. HHH
14. Piper
The argument for Flair at No. 1 is that when wrestling experts do all-time rankings, Flair is No. 1 on more lists than anyone.
— I didn’t hear much about great weekend matches, pretty much just AJ Styles vs. Gunther, Mark Briscoe vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Friday’s Claudio Castagnoli vs. Xelhua matches.
–Looking for reports on these shows:
*NXT in Nashville and Birmingham over the weekend
*AEW last night in Arlington, TX with any matches not airing live.
— Thaddeus Bullard, the former Titus O’Neil, received the 2026 Horatio Alger award for leaders who have overcome adversity and support young people in furthering their education. Bullard will be one of 11 people being honored.
— Dory Dixon, who was just elected into the Hall of Fame last year, turned 92 today. Dennis Condrey of the Midnight Express turned 74. Sean Royal turned 65. Ronda Rousey turned 39 and Saxon Huxley turned 38. Another Hall of Famer, Masa Saito, would have turned 84 today. Luis Hernandez, the stepfather of Gino Hernandez, was 33 when he died 54 years ago today. Jack Brisco was 68 when he died 16 years ago. Brisco was one of the all-time greats. (thanks to Tony Richards)
Entering numbers 20 and 22 in the WWE Royal Rumble, IYO Sky and Rhea Ripley enjoyed their moment of togetherness at the PLE in a unique way.
While Ripley sported an all-black gear at the Rumble, her tag team partner, IYO Sky, was in a more cheerful, bright yellow attire. While contrasting, they shared a bond that was later revealed by Ripley on social media.
On her Instagram stories, Ripley shared that the idea behind their gear was inspired by iconic cartoon characters, Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird. Ripley sported an uncanny similarity with Sylvester the Cat, where she even had her nose tip painted red.
While Sky was able to eliminate only one participant, she was thrown out of the match by Lash Legend. Ripley later avenged Sky by eliminating Legend. Ripley spent a significant amount of time in this year’s Rumble and earned three eliminations to her name before getting thrown over the top rope by Raquel Rodriguez.
John Cena has nothing but praise for AJ Styles following his final match at the Royal Rumble.
Shortly after Styles lost to Gunther, Cena took to social media to thank Styles for his contributions to professional wrestling.
“Phenomenal is an understatement. Respect is earned and few are more worthy of universal industry wide respect than @AJStylesOrg. Thank you AJ for all you’ve done for wrestling. From anyone who’s seen you and those lucky enough to share canvas with you,” he wrote.
Phenomenal is an understatement. Respect is earned and few are more worthy of universal industry wide respect than @AJStylesOrg. Thank you AJ for all you’ve done for wrestling. From anyone who’s seen you and those lucky enough to share canvas with you.
Styles lost to Gunther at the Royal Rumble on Saturday, passing out after being locked in a sleeper. It is somewhat similar to John Cena’s final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event last month where Cena tapped out to Gunther’s sleeper hold. That finish proved to be more controversial given Cena’s motto of never giving up.
Cena and Styles feuded with one another shortly after the latter joined WWE, wrestling each other multiple times from 2016 through 2018. They faced off for the final time last October, with Cena picking up the win in a match filled with tributes to previous opponents from their past.
Triple H is saying that AJ Styles was done as an in-ring wrestler.
During the Royal Rumble post-show, WWE’s COO said that based on conversations he had with Styles, he had made it clear the Royal Rumble was it for him when it came to being an in-ring competitor.
“Obviously, we expected it later in the year. We had a lot of conversations about it. AJ is one of those people that absolutely wants to give back and be a part of this business,” he said. “I don’t want to speak for him but the conversations that he had with me, he made it very clear that he was just done with the in-ring. There’s a point where you just reach in your career where you say ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ And when your heart goes, no matter how good you are, he hasn’t lost a step…but when you say ‘I’m just at a place where I don’t want to do this anymore,’ it’s time before you get hurt, before you get told you’re not allowed to do this anymore. I think he was there.”
Triple H also hoped that Styles would continue to contribute to the business in a non-wrestling capacity.
“I’m hoping that he will contribute because again, he’s one of the most influential people in the business and one of the greatest minds in the business and I think when you see somebody like what Shawn Michaels is doing in NXT, I think that’s a path and career for AJ Styles, beyond this period that he’s in.” he said.
Styles wrestled his final match on Saturday, losing to Gunther at the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Although it was a competitive back-and-forth encounter, Gunther once again was able to take credit for another career after Styles passed out while in a sleeper hold.
Chad Gable returned at the Royal Rumble right where he left off.
Gable entered at number 13 and was billed as the Original El Grande Americano, confronting the current Americano who entered before him. The two had a staredown and soon fought, with the original Americano eliminating the current one. The original was then eliminated by Trick Williams.
Ludwig Kaiser took over the role of El Grande Americano when Gable was injured last June with a shoulder injury that required surgery. Shortly after, Kaiser began making appearances as El Grande Americano in AAA and became a babyface star there, appearing regularly. On Raw, he is a heel with Rayo and Bravo Americano, the former Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.
Another returning star during Saturday’s Rumble match was LA Knight, who was taken out by The Vision in December. He returned and targeted Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, and Austin Theory, managing to eliminate the latter two.
Aside from Gable, the only other surprise in the men’s Rumble match was the former Powerhouse Hobbs. Royce Keys made his debut, eliminating Damian Priest early and stayed on for a while before ultimately being eliminated by The Vision.
At WrestleMania, Roman Reigns has the chance to ascend back to the summit of WWE.
Reigns will challenge for either the World Heavyweight Championship or WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42 this April. He earned the title shot by winning the 2026 men’s Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, entering at number 22 and outlasting the rest of the field to win the Rumble for the second time in his career.
The final four left at the end were Reigns, Gunther, Randy Orton, and Logan Paul. It came down to Reigns and Gunther after their respective eliminations of Paul and Orton. Reigns hit a spear on Gunther — who was pulling double duty after having already defeated AJ Styles earlier in the night — and then threw him over the top rope for the victory.
WWE has not yet confirmed which champion Reigns will be challenging at WrestleMania. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre are the current title holders.
The last time Reigns held WWE gold was his record-breaking World Championship run that was ended by Cody Rhodes in 2024. In today’s Rumble, Reigns and Rhodes were positioned among the biggest threats to win. But Rhodes ended up being eliminated in an angle where McIntyre interfered and blindsided him with a Claymore.
On commentary during the Rumble, WWE briefly mentioned the “controversial” comments Reigns made on The Pat McAfee Show this week. Reigns cut a promo during that appearance where he challenged the rest of the roster to get over — and he said WWE needs to be able to keep up creatively during the times that he’s not around. Though he’s shifted more toward a part-time schedule in recent years, the 40-year-old Reigns said he still feels like he is 25 and is physically good to go.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is hosting WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. Liv Morgan will also be challenging for gold at Mania after winning the women’s Royal Rumble.
Weeks after departing AEW and signing with WWE, the former Powerhouse Hobbs made his debut at Saturday’s Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
The newly-named Royce Keys appeared during the men’s Rumble match at number 14, immediately squaring off with Damian Priest and eliminating him. He also tangled with former AEW roster mate Cody Rhodes which was alluded to on commentary. He was eventually eliminated by members of The Vision.
When Hobbs/Keys came out, his entrance video flashed the name ‘Powerhouse Hobbs’ before transitioning to his new name to signal the transition. It was later reported that Royce is the name of his youngest son while Keys was the maiden name of his late mother.
After five years, Hobbs/Keys finished up with AEW in mid-January, dropping the Trios titles on the January 17 AEW Collision episode that was taped the night news broke that his deal was expiring and he was expected to be heading to WWE.
Our Dave Meltzer reported that AEW made a push to re-sign the 35-year-old Hobbs to a substantial new contract, but Hobbs/Keys wanted to go to WWE instead — a place that had wanted him for quite some time according to reports.
The career of Hobbs/Keys began in 2009 on the California indie scene with his big break coming in the summer of July 2020 during the pandemic era of AEW at Daily’s Place.
The in-ring career of AJ Styles appears to have come to an end at WWE Royal Rumble 2026.
At Saturday’s PLE in Saudi Arabia, Styles lost to Gunther in a career-threatening match. The bout went nearly 25 minutes before Styles passed out in a sleeper, giving Gunther the win and seemingly ending Styles’ time in the ring. However, a moment that took place after the match raised some questions over whether this is really it for Styles.
Styles took in the support from a shocked Riyadh crowd after the bell rang. He then removed his gloves and went to leave them in the ring, but Styles instead put the gloves back on and posed for the fans. It was not clarified what Styles meant by the gesture.
It’s been known for months that the 48-year-old Styles would be retiring at some point in 2026. If this is the end, his final match came rather abruptly. Gunther used underhanded tactics to beat Styles when they faced off on the January 12 episode of Raw. WWE then ran an angle where Gunther forced Styles to put his career on the line in order to get a rematch.
On January 28, Styles made a couple of trademark filings that have led to speculation about his next move and whether he could potentially continue his career in some form outside of WWE. He applied to trademark the term “The Phenomenal AJ Styles,” along with the “P1” logo that he’s used dating back to at least 2012.
