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The WWE is going international, and the 2026 Royal Rumble emanates from Saudi Arabia this year.
The first-ever Royal Rumble was held in Ontario, Canada, but the 37 subsequent events have been held in the United States. This will be the first Royal Rumble event held outside North America, and that presents an interesting challenge for U.S. fans, with a much earlier start time on Saturday than they are used to at 2 p.m. ET.
The Royal Rumble will once again have a small card with only four matches, but that shouldn’t hinder any of the action. The two rumble matches will help kick off the annual Road to WrestleMania and set the stage for the biggest storylines to play out over the next two-and-a-half months.
Outside of those two matches, Sami Zayn will face Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship. The other match on the card could also be a big one. Fresh off retiring John Cena, Gunther is in another career match, this time against AJ Styles. If Styles loses, he must retire, and if Gunther loses, well, he just keeps wrestling and takes a big hit to his ego.
The Sporting News is tracking live results and highlights for the 2026 Royal Rumble. Follow along for updates for the two rumble matches and more.
STREAM: Watch WWE Royal Rumble LIVE with the ESPN App
WWE Royal Rumble results
WWE Royal Rumble live updates, highlights from 2026 full matches
All times ET.
Pre-Show
12:24 p.m. — The Royal Rumble begins the Road to WrestleMania. The 2026 WrestleMania event will be on April 18 and April 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahead of the 2026 Royal Rumble, Triple H announced that Backlash this year will be on May 9 in Tampa, Florida.
Triple H has officially announced ‘BACKLASH’ 2026 will take place on Saturday May 9, in Tampa, Florida. pic.twitter.com/TjjpFRYqzn
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 31, 2026
12:19 p.m. — Adam Pearce joined the panel, but then Paul Heyman accused him of putting Breakker into the No. 2 spot. So it sounds like they are going to move Breakker back a spot.
12:16 p.m. — Producing a show takes a lot of skill, and sometimes mistakes happen. During Friday’s episode of SmackDown, the wrong placard was used for an entrance, and it showed that Bron Breakker was the No. 1 entrant. It was deleted in the U.S. re-air. Even if they do change the order, and bump him back a few spots, he is the favorite to win, so it would be interesting to see him do pull off the win from the first spot.
WWE accidentally spoils Bron Breakker being the #1 entrant in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/toXvgXtICR
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 30, 2026
12:11 p.m. — CM Punk joined the kickoff show to a raucous applause. If they keep this energy all night, it could be an amazing crowd for the event.
12:05 p.m. — Michael Cole commented about how he holds the record for the announcer to come off the desk and enter the Royal Rumble for most time in the match. Wade Barrett joked that Cole may only have that record for a few more hours.
12:00 p.m. — The 2026 Royal Rumble Pre-Show is live on the ESPN App.
Men’s Royal Rumble
This section will be updated when the match begins.
AJ Styles vs. Gunther
This section will be updated when the match begins.
Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre
This section will be updated when the match begins.
Women’s Royal Rumble
This section will be updated when the match begins.
How to watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026
WWE Royal Rumble start time
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 31
- Time: 2 p.m. ET
The 2026 Royal Rumble will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Due to the location, there will be some wonky time differences at play for viewers in the United States.
The 2026 Royal Rumble will begin at 2 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. CT, noon MT and 11 a.m. PT on Saturday. This is significantly earlier than the typical WWE PLE start time.
What channel is WWE Royal Rumble on?
- Live stream (U.S.): ESPN App
- Live stream (Global): Netflix
WWE PLEs do not air on typical television and can only be live-streamed. The 2026 Royal Rumble will air on the ESPN App in the United States and will be available on Netflix globally outside of the U.S.
How much does it cost to watch WWE Royal Rumble?
ESPN Unlimited, a.k.a the revamped ESPN app, can be purchased for $29.99 per month as a standalone service. There is a bundle available where you can get Disney+, Hulu and ESPN for $29.99 per month for 12 months, but it will auto-renew after a year at $35.99 per month with ads, or $44.99 a month without ads.
Does ESPN have a free trial for WWE Royal Rumble 2026?
No, ESPN is not currently offering a free trial for WWE Royal Rumble 2026.
WWE Royal Rumble card details
Men’s Royal Rumble
The men’s Royal Rumble match should be the finale of the night. Given the various stipulations of the night, any of the four matches could be the final match, but the PLE tends to end with a rumble winner standing on the top turnbuckle and pointing at the WrestleMania sign with fireworks aplenty.
The fun part about this year is that while there is a favorite in Bronn Breaker, it does feel like the WWE could pull the trigger on so many different guys. Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Gunther, the loser of Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre, and many more could make sense as the winner of this match.
The hope will be the same as every year: an entertaining match with fun surprises and a winner that makes sense.
AJ Styles vs. Gunther (Styles’ career on the line)
Gunther is gunning for the careers of the WWE Universe’s favorites. He beat Goldberg in his final match, and he retired John Cena last December. Now, Gunther has the chance to put away AJ Styles.
In a real-life moment, Styles has been open about how 2026 will be his last year wrestling as he wants to focus on his family. His contract is reportedly set to expire with WWE in February, leading many to believe he will lose this match before going back to New Japan Pro Wrestling for a stint. Styles and the WWE could have signed a contract to keep him through WrestleMania, but there are many unknowns about this match. Hopefully, the ending is better received if Gunter does, in fact, retire Styles on Saturday.
Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre (Undisputed WWE Championship)
Zayn is known for being from Canada, but he is of Syrian heritage and speaks fluent Arabic. He and McIntyre are set to duke it out in Saudi Arabia. McIntyre had been so close to winning the WWE Championship several times since carrying the company through the ThunderDome era during the COVID-19 pandemic. He finally got the win over Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match on the Jan. 9, 2026, episode of SmackDown. He hasn’t defended the title yet, and there is speculation that, given Zayn’s heritage, he may win the belt in front of the Saudi Arabian crowd.
Women’s Royal Rumble
Since the WWE began implementing a men’s and women’s rumble match, one has typically opened the PLE and one has closed. This gives fans a little bit of a breather as each match tends to last around an hour. Like the men’s match, there isn’t a clear and obvious choice to win this year. Many expect it to be Liv Morgan, but the WWE can go in a variety of directions here, especially if Bianca Belair is able to return in time for the event. Other top contenders include Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka and more.
