WWE For Dummies: What You Need To Know For Royal Rumble

The pro wrestling world will descend on Indianapolis this week with WWE making the Circle City its home base heading into Saturday’s Royal Rumble premium live event at Lucas Oil Stadium.  The men and women of WWE will be all over town, whether it’s press junkets, meet and greets with fans, Friday Night Smackdown at Gainbridge Fieldhouse or on Saturday itself at the Rumble.  Been out of the loop on WWE or have no idea what is even happening on Saturday?  Allow me to be of some assistance, jabroni.

What is the Royal Rumble?

A great place to start.  The Royal Rumble is one of WWE’s premiere annual events on the calendar.  It first debuted back in 1988 and the concept is pretty simple: an over-the-top battle royale featuring thirty men and thirty women competing to be the last one standing.  The order of entry is randomly assigned so you never know who is going to come out at any given time, which is one of the big draws of the match itself.  The first two entrants in the match start the Rumble off and every 90 seconds a new entrant joins them.  Obviously, the later you enter the match the better your chances to win it.  You eliminate your opponents by throwing them over the top rope and both of their feet hitting the floor.  There are two Royal Rumble matches, one featuring the men and one featuring the women. The last person standing in each Rumble match gets the grand prize: a guaranteed world championship match at Wrestlemania, the WWE’s version of the Super Bowl.

Who Are The Big Name Wrestlers These Days?

You may have grown up with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock.  Maybe you’ve never watched wrestling and have no idea who any of those guys are.  That’s a sad state of affairs if that’s the case but that’s okay.  The big-name wrestlers these days are the likes of “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes (the current Undisputed WWE Champion and the real-life son of pro wrestling legend “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes), Roman Reigns aka the “Original Tribal Chief”, CM Punk, reigning Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley to name a few.  Others include John Cena, who is entering the final Royal Rumble of his career as he plans to retire from in-ring competition at the end of 2025.  Fan favorites also include: “Main Event” Jey Uso, L.A. Knight, Drew McIntyre, “The Viper” Randy Orton, Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Liv Morgan.  The WWE roster is one of the deepest it’s ever been.  It’s important to note that world champions do not compete in the Rumble match and with multiple championships it means the winner of the Rumble matches get to select their opponents at Wrestlemania.

Are There Other Matches At The Royal Rumble?

Yes. The two Rumble matches usually run around an hour each, so the rest of the card does not feature as many matches as a normal WWE premium live event.  A typical PLE has 6-8 matches, but the Rumble will feature only two other matches as of this writing.  A two out of three falls match for the WWE Tag Team Championship between current champions DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) and challengers Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin).  The other match is a Ladder Match between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Championship.  The goal in a ladder match is to retrieve the championship hanging above the ring and the only way to reach it is by climbing a ladder.  There’s a chance that another match could be added to the card after either Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown, but usually four matches on the card is the standard for the Royal Rumble.

Will There Be Surprises?

Absolutely.  The Royal Rumble is my favorite annual event on the WWE calendar and a big reason is because of the surprises.  I mentioned earlier that the order is randomized, and you never know who is going to come out next when the clock hits zero and that’s because it could be ANYBODY.  A current wrestler on the roster, a wrestler returning from injury, a wrestler from another promotion, a wrestler making their debut with WWE, a legendary wrestler, a celebrity or athlete.  We’ve seen the likes of Johnny Knoxville (2022), Drew Carey (2001), TNA’s Jordynne Grace (2024), AJ Styles (2016) or my personal favorite, Edge (2020).  Nothing is out of the realm of possibility.  Could we see the likes of Pat McAfee, WWE superfan and Pacer Tyrese Haliburton or a member of the Colts step between the ropes?  It’s certainly possible!

We already know Charlotte Flair will be making her return to this year’s Royal Rumble.  The daughter of Ric Flair has been sidelined with a lengthy leg injury but is ready to return.  Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss could be some other returning faces for the women’s Rumble while a legend or two is certain to make a surprise appearance.  For the men, could we see former WWE guys that are currently with other promotions make appearances?  Matt Cardona fka Zack Ryder has made a name for himself in GCW and other promotions is a prime candidate considering his real-life wife is current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Chelsea Green.  TNA Wrestling’s Nic Nemeth just lost his World Championship, but the man formerly called Dolph Ziggler spent over a decade in WWE.  Social media star Logan Paul is likely to make a return on Saturday and could “The Final Boss” himself, The Rock, make a surprise appearance?  Never say never.

The road to Wrestlemania officially starts in Indianapolis on Saturday.  It should be a hell of a start.

 

WWE For Dummies: What You Need To Know For Royal Rumble  was originally published on 1075thefan.com