The Road to WrestleMania XLI Begins at the Royal Rumble
On February 1st, the WWE descends onto Indianapolis, Indiana to kickstart the road to Wrestlemania XLI. The Royal Rumble is the annual Premium Live Event that features the over-the-top-rope battle royal where 30 men and 30 women will compete in their respective matches to see who will go on to challenge for one of the world championships in the main event of WrestleMania. This year's field is so stacked that it is hard to predict who will win both rumbles, but all that does is add to the excitement. Also, Cody Rhodes will defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens in a Ladder match. Motor City Machine Guns will attempt to regain the Tag Team Championships against #DIY in a Two-Out-Of-Three Falls match. This year's event is shaping into one of the best Royal Rumbles in history.
Men’s Royal Rumble
This year’s field is loaded with perennial superstars that it is hard to predict who will win the men’s Royal Rumble. The favorites are Roman Reigns, John Cena, and CM Punk. Reigns has made his intentions known that he is looking to reclaim the Undisputed title, which he held for almost four years before Rhodes beat him at WrestleMania XL. The Tribal Chief has not been seen since regaining the Ula Fala in a Tribal Combat match on the January 6th episode of Raw. However, he is the face of the company and its new 2K25 cover star, so he is the odds-on favorite to win this match. Cena is at the beginning of his farewell tour and is looking for a chance to capture his 17th world title. However, he has not won a match in over 2,000 days and one has to wonder can the leader of the Cenation pull off a major upset by winning this match. Punk on the other hand is looking for redemption and to fulfill a dream of his. In last year’s rumble, Punk tore his triceps and it took him til August to recover. Since then Punk won his feud against Drew McIntyre but now has to deal with the threat that is Seth “Freakin” Rollins. It is Punk’s dream to main event WrestleMania and on the January 27th episode of Raw, he told Rhodes that he is planning on challenging him at WrestleMania. Other superstars in the match include: McIntyre, Rollins, Jey Uso, Penta, Logan Paul, Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight, and Sami Zayn.
Women’s Royal Rumble
This year’s field is also unpredictable and loaded with talent. Nia Jax was the first superstar to declare for the Rumble and since then the field has started to take shape. Bayley, Bianca Belair, Naomi, Iyo Sky, and Lyra Valkyria have announced that they will enter the match in the last two weeks. However, the biggest surprise was that Charlotte Flair would make her return in this match. The most decorated star in the women’s division looks to main event WrestleMania again and capture her 15th World Championship. There could be a few surprises in this match. Jordynne Grace recently signed a multi-year deal with the WWE so look for her to make her debut as a WWE superstar in this match, she was in the match last year, but she was a member of the TNA roster. Also, could we see the return of Becky Lynch? The “Man” has not been seen since she failed to regain the Women’s World Championship against Liv Morgan in a Steel Cage match last May. The women’s division is as strong as ever so it is hard to predict who will win this match.
Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens- Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship
These two have been going after each other since Owens attacked Rhodes in the parking lot after the Bad Blood PLE. Owens has been enraged with Rhodes ever since the American Nightmare teamed up with his rival Roman Reigns. Owens could not understand why Rhodes would team with Reigns after everything he did to them. Since then, Owens has been on a warpath and he even took out Randy Orton with a piledriver. Many fans feel that Owens is justified in his actions and they even cheered for him when he delivered a piledriver to Rhodes after losing to him on Saturday Night's Main Event on December 14th and taking the Winged Eagle Championship that Rhodes could use for one night only. Owens has since become a bit delusional by believing he is the WWE Champion and carrying the Winged Eagle title with him. On the January 25th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, the two superstars officially signed the contract for their ladder match where the only way to win is to grab both titles to win the match. Over the past two weeks, Owens has been trying to gain favor with his friend, Sami Zayn. Owens promised him if he helped him become WWE Champion then the two of them will main event WrestleMania against each other. Owens seems to think Zayn is on his side after accidentally hitting Rhodes with the Helluva Kick on the January 27th episode of Raw. So, what will happen in this match? Will Zayn help Owens become champion? Will a returning Orton get his revenge on Owens in this match? With so many ways that this match could go, it could plant seeds for a plethora of storylines after the conclusion of this rivalry.
#DIY vs Motor City Machine Guns- 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships
This match features two of the best tag teams in WWE. Ever since MCMG debuted on SmackDown last October the tag team division was built around them. It only took them three matches to win the tag team titles and since then they have been embroiled in a rivalry with #DIY. Tommaso Ciampa had been fixated on winning the titles since last summer after they lost them to the Bloodline, and he had wanted Johnny Gargano to embrace his dark side. That finally happened last December as Gargano hit Chris Sabin with a low blow to win the tag team titles. Since then Sabin and Alex Shelley have been looking for revenge against their former friend and they will get their shot at the Royal Rumble. This should be a great tag team match between two teams that have chemistry with one another and only adds to an exciting lineup on the card.
The Royal Rumble is always an exciting event for fans to look forward to. Being one of the “Big Four” PLE’s fans expect the WWE to meet their expectations. However, this year’s event has a chance to exceed expectations with the wide-open nature of both Rumble matches. This event lays the foundation that WrestleMania will be built on and it is exciting to see what comes next.
