WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Review

Linus O'Howell
1 day ago
5 min read

Women’s Royal Rumble

The 2026 Royal Rumble event kicked off with the women as Tag Team partners Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss entered at Number 1 and Number 2 to kick off the Women’s Royal Rumble! Things to mention from the early stages of the match include Jordynne Grace achieving 3 eliminations, Charlotte eliminating both Alexa and Nia Jax, and Becky Lynch being dumped out rather unceremoniously by Nattie! Both Kiana James and Roxanne Perez lasted a good amount of time, whilst Chelsea Green kept being saved by Alba Fyre! We then got a Japanese portion as Giulia, Asuka, and Iyo Sky all came face-to-face, whilst we got multiple NXT appearances in the form of Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Kelani Jordan! After Kairi Sane accidentally eliminated Asuka, Brie Bella arrived as the “big surprise” of the night, whilst Tiffany Stratton returned at Number 30! Lash Legend then went on an absolute tear, eliminating both The Bellas and Charlotte Flair (who lasted in this match for just under an hour), before the final 4 came down to Tiffany Stratton, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Sol Ruca! Liv quickly eliminated Raquel, something that has me very intrigued, whilst the remaining three continued to brawl on the apron! A rookie error from Sol then resulted in us being down to 2, whilst Morgan was able to eliminate Tiffany Stratton to win this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble! Overall, I enjoyed this match; I thought it flowed well, and it was nice to see strong performances from Lash Legend and Sol Ruca! However, I will say that some of the eliminations were very questionable (particularly Becky, Nia, Bayley, and Lyra)! Anyway, without a doubt, Liv Morgan is the Queen of Saudi Arabia!

Grade: B-

AJ Styles VS Gunther

Gunther looked to add another feather to his career-killer cap when he tried to end the legendary career of The Phenomenal, AJ Styles! I thought this was easily the best thing on this show; I thought all of this was great! It felt like a big deal, it came across like a big deal, and it landed as a big deal! AJ Styles fought like his career was on the line (which it was), not giving anything other than 100%, but Gunther is an absolute force of nature! Their styles gelled well, with both guys being incredible in-ring performers, and that, combined with the drama, made this a really strong spectacle! Despite his best efforts, a Styles Clash wasn’t enough for AJ to pin Gunther, but The Phenomenal One refused to give up when locked in The Ring General’s trademark sleeper hold! However, after a few minutes, Styles would eventually fade, meaning Gunther has now retired Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles! For Gunther, this was a great win that continues to build his run as the top Heel in the business! For AJ Styles, this was a strong way to go out; it was emotional, but that’s what happens when you’re arguably the greatest in-ring performer of all time!

Grade: A-

Undisputed WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre VS Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn headed down to the ring with a country behind him as he went one-on-one with Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship! I thought this match was okay, but it didn’t feel like it meant anything! Given the hype around this match had to do with the fact that this was Sami’s second home, you would’ve expected some really strong near-falls, but that didn’t happen at all! There wasn’t one part of this match where Zayn looked like he had any chance of beating Drew; in fact, he didn’t even come across as a credible threat (which is super wrong)! This didn’t work for me; the story was so simple, and yet it still didn’t land! Eventually, McIntyre was able to score the win after a pair of Claymores, and I can’t see how they can do this feud again for a long time!

Grade: C

Men’s Royal Rumble

And in the Main Event of this year’s Royal Rumble, 30 men went at it to try and book their ticket to a World Championship Match at WrestleMania! This match started off hot, with Oba Femi and Bron Breakker arriving as the first two entrants, only for Bron to get attacked during his entrance by another hooded figure! One Stomp later was enough for Femi to chuck Breakker out of the match, and fair play to WWE on this one, because this came out of nowhere! Oba was then able to eliminate a whole heap of other men, before we got an amazing moment between Oba, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans (last year’s Stand and Deliver Main Event)! We then got a fun moment where the current El Grande Americano and the original El Grande Americano came face-to-face, and that’s sort of where this match started to fall apart! Firstly, Trick Williams being chucked out like he was nothing by Cody Rhodes was a really weak decision, whilst having The Vision easily vanquished by LA Knight was also a questionable choice! Brock Lesnar coming out and having a massive stare down with Oba Femi was cool, but Brock eliminating Oba was absolutely the wrong call, whilst the worst moment of the entire night easily came during Jey Uso’s entrance, as for some reason, WWE thought this would be an ideal time for Lesnar to get dumped out of the ring like he was nothing! Seriously, what are we doing here?! After lots of teasing of a surprise entrant, the Number 30 spot was reserved for none other than Gunther, and the crowd was completely silent by this point! Thankfully, Cody Rhodes’ night was ended by Drew McIntyre (a move I pulled in my Fantasy Booking article the other day), and with Roman Reigns eliminating both Jey Uso and Jacob Fatu, the Final 4 came down to Reigns, Gunther, Randy Orton, and Logan Paul! Roman was able to eliminate Logan before Gunther eliminated Randy, meaning we came down to The Tribal Chief and The Ring General! Rather quickly, Reigns was able to just chuck Gunther out to get the win, and that in itself is something that bugs me a lot! I like Roman Reigns, but he didn’t need to win this match! However, worse than that is the fact that they had Gunther in this match when he didn’t need to be in it, and he still lost! How can you book someone so dominantly, only for them to be eliminated by their original End of Level Boss?! This made no sense, and this match as a whole was pretty poor (minus the start)!