WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Expected To Have Lack Of Surprises

One of the major appeals behind the Royal Rumble matches is the expectation of surprises, which occur when the entrants are revealed. Surprises from the 2025 Rumbles included the likes of Joe Hendry, IShowSpeed, Alexa Bliss, Jordynne Grace, and Trish Stratus.

There may be a dearth of surprises at the 2026 Royal Rumble, however, due to the pay-per-view taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, there is a feeling there may not be any Royal Rumble surprises due to the difficulty of sneaking planned surprises into Saudi Arabia without them being discovered ahead of time.

Instead, any Rumble surprises would most likely be revealed at Saturday Night's Main Event one week before the Saudi Arabia show, Alvarez noted. SNME will emanate from Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 24, one week before the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on January 31.

2026 will be the first time WWE have held the Royal Rumble outside of North America. The company have continued to expand their partnership with Saudi Arabia to the point the country will host WrestleMania 43 in 2027.