Why Fan Sentiment Hangs in the Balance at the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble

WWE is playing with fire at the 2026 Royal Rumble. 

At stake? Fan sentiment, the type that dictates how the hardcore fanbase responds to major WrestleMania angles. Fans who, by and large, drive the company's weekly numbers and the lean months of the year when there aren't casual fans invested. 

Sounds a little dramatic, but this is the bed WWE has booked for itself as the company heads for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It's hard to buy that WWE will heavily lean into the next generation of stars, as it should. There's a notable lack of concise storylines leading up to the men and women's rumble matches, which means a lack big payoffs, too. 

There's an earned stigma around PLEs in Saudi Arabia, too, in terms of those overseas shows leaning heavily on part-time talent, if not outright legends. So far, the build to the rumble hasn't done much to deter that. 

Look at the spoiling of surprise entrants so far. Roman Reigns being a competitor in the men's match hardly got a mention. Brock Lesnar called into a podcast on an iPhone to announce he'd be there. 

Chris Jericho's inevitable-feeling WWE return has always been earmarked for the rumble in the minds of fans.

And just last week, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) reported that Saudi officials are ready to throw the biggest contract ever at a wrestler to get The Rock onboard for 'Mania in 2027.

Who's to say they don't start planting seeds on that front this Saturday? 

It's easy to stand here and say Bron Breakker, Oba Femi and other next-generation stars will have big moments at the rumble. But it's even easier to see WWE remaining in its old ways, to the point it wouldn't be all that stunning if Lesnar outright won the whole thing. 

Wince at that? Apologies, but onlookers have walked this road plenty of times. Do we think WWE can resist the urge to not have a strap on Cody Rhodes or Reigns going into 'Mania? Can it hold off ever-so-slightly on a Seth Rollins return to let others like LA Knight get a shine? 

WWE has worked uber-hard in recent years to become more like a "real" sport. It's the Netflix era, which has meant even feeding a retiring John Cena to the Lesnar machine in more casual spots. 

But the problem is, if WWE truly views itself as bigger than ever, the eyeballs will be there at major events like the rumble and 'Mania either way. It would seem to only just be smart business, then, to leverage those massive audiences to fully promote the next generation. 

Consider, for a moment, if WWE has the boldness factor to have Femi smash Lesnar and eliminate him, setting up a feud for 'Mania. Or if a legend killer Gunther comes out of left field to brutalize Jericho. Or if Breakker gets the rumble win?

At some point, WWE is going to have to trust the guys it proclaims to have entrusted with its future. But going to Saudi Arabia and with buzz around Jericho-types surging, it's hard not to be skeptical that this isn't another unnecessary regression to the casual stuff. 

To WWE's credit, there's at least uncertainty over who wins the rumble matches. Names like Knight, maybe Sami Zayn, Lesnar, Rhodes, Finn Balor, Logan Paul and others are at least believable. On the women's side, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, a surprise like Bianca Belair, etc. 

But the uncertainty comes with a dose of unease here. There's unease that WWE just goes back to the same old thing, then to top it all off, chuckles about "swerving" fans on WWE Unreal. 

Odds are, WWE will try to strike a balance. But it will require fantastic rumble booking that actually sets up meaningful 'Mania storylines and investing in the future in a big way. If that means, for example, Lesnar spotlights in a major feud but Breakker wins the rumble, then so be it.

For better or worse, WWE is about to set an almost irreversible tone for 'Mania season.