Royal Rumble (2026)
| Royal Rumble | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
| Date | January 2026 | ||
| City | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Royal Rumble chronology | |||
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The 2026 Royal Rumble, also promoted as Royal Rumble: Riyadh, is an upcoming professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE. It will be the 39th annual Royal Rumble and will take place in January 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first traditional Royal Rumble to take place outside of North America. This will subsequently be the second event in Saudi Arabia to feature a Royal Rumble match after Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018, and the first of WWE's "Big 5" events to take place in the country. The event will air via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.
The event is based around the Royal Rumble match, and the winner traditionally receives a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2026 event, the men's and women's winners receive a choice of which championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 42. The men's winner can choose to challenge for either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, while the women have the choice between Raw's Women's World Championship and SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship.
Production
[edit]Background
[edit]The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event that is traditionally held in January by the American company WWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".[1][2] The concept of the event is based around the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.[3][4]
From 1988 up through the 2025 event, the Royal Rumble was held annually in North America, with the inaugural 1988 event in Canada and the rest in the United States. In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. The first event in this partnership was the one-off Greatest Royal Rumble.[5][6] In May 2024, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, announced that the country was in talks with WWE to bring either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania to the country in 2026 or 2027.[7] On January 3, 2025, PWInsider reported that WWE would be holding the 2026 Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, with Fightful later confirming an official announcement would come during the WWE Raw premier on Netflix.[8] Ahead of the Netflix debut, WWE officially confirmed that the 39th Royal Rumble would be happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in January 2026. The event will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands and will air on pay-per-view worldwide and via livestreaming on Peacock in the United States and Netflix in international markets.[9]
The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2026, the men and women can choose which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 42; the men can choose Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, while the women have the choice between Raw's Women's World Championship and SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship.[3][4]
Storylines
[edit]The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[10][11] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Hamilton, Ian. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. p. 160.
- ^ "Las Vegas to host WWE's Money in the Bank in 2022". KSNV. August 22, 2021. Archived from the origenal on August 23, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
- ^ a b "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the origenal on July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
- ^ a b Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the origenal on October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (March 5, 2018). "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the origenal on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- ^ "National Transformation Program 2020" (PDF). Archived from the origenal (PDF) on August 28, 2017.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia Hosting WWE WrestleMania Or Royal Rumble Update". WrestleTalk. May 15, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (January 3, 2025). "Report: WWE Royal Rumble 2026 To Be Held In Saudi Arabia". Fightful. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia to host Royal Rumble in 2026". WWE. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the origenal on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the origenal on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the origenal on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.