The 2026 Royal Rumble is set to be a historic one, as the premium live event will emanate from the Kingdom of SaudiArabia for the first time ever, and the Rumble matches themselves are always must-see, both important first steps on the road to WrestleMania. The stars who win their respective matches will get a shot at a top title of their choosing at "The Showcase of the Immortals" in Las Vegas inApril. While many years' Rumble matches have been easy to predict, the 2026 matches seem to be anyone's game.
On the men's side, the game has changed quickly, after Cody Rhodes lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre in a Three Stages of Hell match on "WWE SmackDown" on January 9. "The American Nightmare" is now set to enter his third Rumble match in recent memory. Others in the match include Jey Uso, who won last year to go on to win the World Heavyweight Championship from GUNTHER, who has also declared for the match, as well asRey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and Penta.
The women's match also does not yet have a clear favorite. Those who have declared for the match so far include Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, Asuka, Bayley, and Lyra Valkyria. There are plenty of stars, both on the main roster and still in "WWE NXT" who could enter the women's match and make it even more exciting.
We're not sure exactly how many surprises will come in this year's Rumble due to its location, but we can predict just who we think will win. Oftentimes, who we believe should win and who will go on to challenge their respective champions are two different stars, which is certainly the case this year.
Many fans expected The Vision's Bron Breakker to dethrone CM Punk during their World Heavyweight Championship match on the January 5 edition of "WWE Raw," but that wasn't the case. The best way to elevate the young star now is to give him the Royal Rumble victory, to have him go on to defeat Punk at WrestleMania, and he could then feud with Seth Rollins for the title whenever "The Architect" is ready to return from injury. If Breakker is the last man standing in the Royal Rumble, the booking options for his future are vast. WWE desperately needs to put a top title on a younger, established talent, and this absolutely is Breakker's time to shine.
It doesn't seem like The Vision is going to break up anytime soon, though the Rumble match would be a good, shocking place for that to happen. Breakker will more than likely be backed up by Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory, increasing his chance of victory.
What makes the men's match much more difficult to predict this year, is the Elimination Chamber. It's as easy to envision Breakker winning the Chamber match in Punk's hometown of Chicago, to go on to challenge for his title at 'Mania, as it is to see Breakker winning the Rumble.
Another person who we think should win the Rumble, who came in an extremely close second is Sami Zayn, though his path is even more unpredictable. Zayn is set to challenge McIntyre for the title at the event, and if the match goes on prior to the Rumble and Zayn loses, we think he has a good shot at winning this year. Giving Zayn a second shot at gold, earned through a Rumble victory in Saudi Arabia, would be good storytelling.
Rhodes losing his title to McIntyre seemingly shifted a lot of reported plans for WrestleMania, at least, what fans thought they knew, as word was getting around that it would be Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns III. That singles match now seems in doubt, with Rhodes losing and McIntyre not granting him a rematch. If the "American Nightmare" wants to get another crack at the title, he's going to have to win the Rumble, and we're thinking that's likely.
Rhodes is so obviously WWE's "guy," that him making history and winning the Rumble match three years in a row just makes sense in terms of WWE booking. There is only one other man who has won three Rumbles, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 1997, 1998, and 2001, and no star has ever won three in a row. We think it's highly likely that Rhodes is the first man to do so. While there may be some grumbling in a portion of the Internet Wrestling Community, it doesn't seem like there would be too much outrage, not like WWE officials would care, however.
If Rhodes doesn't win the Rumble, the next likely person is Reigns. If that's the case, Rhodes could win the Chamber match, as he has yet to do that in his WWE career. Or, WWE somehow gets to Rhodes vs. Reigns vs. the Undisputed WWE Champion, likely still McIntyre, at WrestleMania 42. There's no way that both Reigns and Rhodes aren't involved in the main event picture at 'Mania, it's just not 100 percent clear on how we get there. It would be a choice to have the Rumble and Chamber winners go after the same championship, and it's technicallynotthe way it's suppose to work, but in the case of Rhodes and Reigns, we can see it happening.
With the women's Royal Rumble winner so up in-the-air, it would be nice to see a recent "NXT" call-up get the victory to go on to something big very quickly into their main roster career. The perfect choice for that star would be the former TNA Knockouts Champion, Jordynne Grace. "The Juggernaut" has participated in Rumble matches already, including when she still held TNA gold. The 2026 match will be Grace's third, only her second under official WWE contract, and she really should win this year to get a big WrestleMania moment to establish her as a big deal on the main roster.
It looked like Grace was headed for a match against JadeCargill for the WWE Women's Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event, but that didn't turn out to be the case. However, it needs to be "The Juggernaut" who dethrones Cargill for the title. It was Grace to call her out in the first place for having zero defenses, as of this writing, since Cargill won the gold at the beginning of November. It's also Grace who, at this moment, is Cargill's only credible challenger. These are all good reasons to have her win the Rumble match and elevate her to stardom with a WrestleMania moment.
Grace is yet another powerhouse star, like Breakker, who we think could go on to win the Elimination Chamber match if she doesn't win the Rumble. With her impressive strength, Grace is a fantastic candidate to win either match.
Liv Morgan made her return from injury at Survivor Series: WarGames back in November, and since then, she hasn't exactly been back in the main event scene and Judgment Day's position on "WWE Raw" has been floundering a bit, due to injuries. She's been involved in the tag team championship scene alongside Roxanne Perez, and both women declared for the Rumble match. Tag team aspirations or not, we believe this is finally the year that she wins the Royal Rumble.
Many fans consider Morgan "always the bridesmaid" when it comes to the RoyalRumble, meaning, she's always done incredibly well in the match, but she has yet to emerge victorious. Morgan and Natalya are the only two women in WWE to compete in all eight women's Rumble matches. Last year, Morgan started the match at #2 and lasted a full hour and seven minutes before being eliminated, though she only scored two eliminations herself. She returned from injury in the 2024 Rumble match, entering last as a surprise to fans. Due in part to the lucky draw of where she entered the match, Morgan was in the final two, only to be eliminated by Bayley. In 2023, Morgan once again started off the match, this time, alongside Rhea Ripley, and lasted the entire match at just over an hour, only to be thrown out by Ripley.
This is Morgan's year, as she needs to be elevated back to the main event scene, as she's too big of a star not to be there. There's no better way to do that than with a Royal Rumble victory, especially with her track record. WWE is also constantly high on Morgan, as she's perpetually over with fans, whether she's a heel or babyface, so we believe this is her time.
