WWE
The WWE Universe could have plenty of counting to do on the Royal Rumble. The beloved battle royal occasion returns for its thirty fifth iteration when WWE units up on the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 28.
The fashionable model of the Royal Rumble options two matches: a males’s and ladies’s match, every that includes 30 members. Two superstars start the match with entrants arriving one after the other in timed intervals. Superstars are eradicated as soon as thrown excessive rope and each ft contact the ground. The winner is said solely as soon as their 29 opponents have all been eradicated. Generally, the winners of the Rumbles are assured a world championship match towards the champion of their selecting on the upcoming WrestleMania. The matches typically characteristic shock entrants: returning superstars, debutants, one-off appearances from retired wrestlers and superstar visitor spots.
Expectations are comparatively excessive for this 12 months’s occasion following an abysmal males’s Royal Rumble final 12 months that ranked among the many worst within the firm’s historical past. WWE has undergone a change in inventive management since final 12 months’s match, however the future is unpredictable following information of Vince McMahon’s return from a quick retirement.
Take a glance under on the confirmed matches for the 2023 Royal Rumble. Check again for updates and predictions.
2023 WWE Royal Rumble matches
Undisputed WWE common championship — Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens: Owens’ interjection into Survivor Series WarGames set him on a path with Reigns. Owens was moments away from defeating The Bloodline at Survivor Series, however Sami Zayn betrayed his friendship with Owens in favor of absolutely aligning with the faction. Owens additional positioned himself as Reigns’ largest menace on the ultimate SmackDown of 2022. Owens enlisted John Cena in a successful effort towards Reigns and Zayn in a tag group match. Owens goaded an emotional Reigns right into a title match the next week.
Men’s Royal Rumble: 30 male superstars will compete for the correct to problem for the world championships at present held by Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. Kofi Kingston was the primary celebrity to formally declare himself as a participant. Ricochet defeated Top Dolla on the Jan. 6 episode of SmackDown to safe his spot within the Rumble.
Women’s Royal Rumble: 30 girls will compete to problem for the Raw girls’s championship or the SmackDown girls’s champion at WrestleMania 39. Reigning titleholders — at present Raw girls’s champion Bianca Belair and SmackDown girls’s champion Charlotte Flair — are normally omitted from the match. Occasionally, a championship shall be on the road or a champion might embrace themselves within the match like Flair did final 12 months. Liv Morgan was the primary celebrity to announce her participation within the match.
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight (Pitch Black match): Wyatt and Knight have traded barbs on the microphone ever since Wyatt’s return to WWE programming at Extreme Rules in October. The braggadocious Knight was repeatedly assaulted backstage in current weeks, suspecting Wyatt because the offender. Wyatt’s steadfast denial led to the revelation that Uncle Howdy shouldn’t be Wyatt’s alter-ego, however a separate entity fully. Knight challenged Wyatt to a match on the Royal Rumble. Wyatt accepted and selected an uncommon Pitch Black match because the stipulation.
