WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This is a fan-favorite event, not only because of the men's and women's Rumble matches but also because WWE usually plans several surprises throughout the night.

This year's show also saw Sami Zayn attempt to win the Undisputed WWE Championship from Drew McIntyre, while AJ Styles put his career on the line against Gunther.

Rumors were swirling ahead of the event about possible debuts and call-ups as surprise Rumble entrants. Let's take a look at what went down at this year's show.

Royal Rumble Card

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Here is the rundown of this year's Royal Rumble match card.

Men's Royal Rumble

Women's Royal Rumble

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn (Undisputed WWE Championship)

AJ Styles vs. Gunther (If Styles loses, he retires)

Women's Royal Rumble Entrants

Joe Maher/WWE via Getty Images

Here is the order of entry for every competitor:

Charlotte Flair - Most time in the ring (59:50)

Alexa Bliss

Kiana James

Nia Jax

Ivy Nile

Lola Vice - Eliminated first

Candice LeRae

Jordynne Grace

Becky Lynch

Sol Ruca - Final Four

Roxanne Perez

Maxxine Dupri

Nattie

Liv Morgan - Final Four, WINNER

Lash Legend

Zelina Vega

Raquel Rodriguez - Final Four

Chelsea Green

Giulia

Iyo Sky

Asuka

Rhea Ripley 

Bayley

Jacy Jayne

Nikki Bella

Lyra Valkyria

Kelani Jordan

Kairi Sane

Brie Bella

Tiffany Stratton - Final Four

Women's Royal Rumble

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The women's Royal Rumble match kicked off the show. Charlotte Flair made her way to the ring as the first entrant. Her tag team partner, Alexa Bliss, drew No. 2.

It took until there were eight competitors in the ring for the first elimination to take place, but the second and third followed quickly.

Several feuds, past and present, were addressed throughout the match. Eliminations started coming at regular intervals, but they kept a healthy number of competitors in the ring at any given time.

This match included some fun moments, but if there is one major complaint to be had, it's that everything felt a little too rehearsed. It followed a repeating pattern of each new entrant having a short sequence of dominance before meshing with the rest of the competitors. 

It sounded like the crowd was enjoying themselves, but it was hard not to notice how choreographed everything was while watching on TV.

It wasn't a bad Rumble match, but it was nowhere near the best we have seen from the women's division. It was also a little disappointing that we didn't get any surprises from AAA or TNA stars.

It came down to a final three of Morgan, Stratton and Ruca at the end. They fought on the apron until Morgan was the last woman standing.

Result: Morgan won

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

The intro to the show when various people were shown arriving at the arena was a little different than usual with how it was shot.

Bliss wanted to wait for the third entrant and work as a team with Flair. They teased hitting their finishers on each other before hugging.

James looked fired up when she got to the ring. She hits a few nice moves, too.

Jax did the DX crotch chop to the crowd when they chanted "You can't wrestle."

Flair looked like she was actually trying to save Bliss when the elimination happened.

Lynch being petty about handing the title to Jessika Carr was funny.

Vega's entrance gear was huge, and she ended up ditching it after about five seconds.

The way Alba Fyre saved Green from elimination was pretty creative.

The way Sane accidentally eliminated Asuka was way too contrived.

Michael Cole did everything in his power not to say Bryan Danielson's name when Brie did the Yes Kicks.

AJ Styles vs. Gunther

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Last time in action: Gunther defeated Styles (Raw, Jan. 12)

One of the most anticipated matches of the weekend saw Styles put his career on the line against Gunther. The Ring General won their encounter a few weeks ago, but Styles technically made him tap out first, so he was looking to make sure he put Gunther down for good this time.

They started with a headlock sequence that saw Styles trying to wear Gunther down. He also began to work on The Ring General's leg with some kicks to soften him up for the Calf Crusher.

They paced themselves and used a lot of holds between short bursts of quicker moves. Styles was bleeding from a cut on his arm after being slammed on the announce table.

From a technical standpoint, this was a fantastic match. However, there were times when it felt like they were taking it a little too slow, and it kept the bout from reaching its peak until later than expected. It didn't make a big difference, but it was noticeable.

Gunther may be one of the more dominant stars on the roster, but he did a good job making Styles look like a dangerous competitor by selling for him at the right times. The longer they worked, the better the match was.

They had some convincing false finishes before it finally ended with Styles passing out in a sleeper hold. It's official. The career of The Phenomenal One has come to an end. The arena was almost silent because the fans couldn't believe it.

While this was not the ending we were hoping for, they still put on a stellar performance. It may have been a bit long for some, but they filled that last 10 minutes with a lot of drama.

Result: Gunther defeated Styles

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

It was hard not to notice how many empty seats were in the upper area of the stadium.

It was nice to hear Cole mention Styles' time in TNA as being important to his career.

Styles still has one of the best dropkicks in the business. It's just as good now as it was 15 years ago.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

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Last time in action: Zayn won an eight-man tag match (SD, Jan. 30), McIntyre defeated Rhodes (SD, Jan. 9)

The Undisputed WWE Championship was on the line in the next match when McIntyre defended the belt against Zayn.

Going into this bout, the champ had an 11-0 record against the challenger, so Zayn was an even bigger underdog than usual.

As expected, The Underdog from the Underground was the overwhelming fan favorite. McIntyre tried to assert his dominance right away, but Zayn didn't let him have the upper hand for too long.

Much like Styles and Gunther, they paced themselves and took their time working up to the big stuff, but they didn't take it quite as slow. They were getting near-falls much earlier in the match than expected.

These two always work well together, so there was never any doubt this would be an entertaining match. Zayn kicked out of a few of the Scot's finishers, which helped keep the outcome from being as predictable as it may have appeared at first.

McIntyre won, as expected, but there were moments when it felt like Zayn might actually get the victory, which always helps make a match more enjoyable.

Result: McIntyre defeated Zayn

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

This show had so much filler between matches that you could chop out at least half an hour from the replay and no one would notice.

The announcers noted Zayn was undefeated in Saudi Arabia heading into this bout.

Zayn is great at selling with facial expressions.

The powerbomb through the table looked really good. Zayn sold it perfectly.

Men's Royal Rumble Entrants

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Here is the entry order for everyone in the men's Rumble.

Oba Femi

Bron Breakker - First eliminated

Solo Sikoa

Rey Mysterio

Rusev

Matt Cardona

Damian Priest

Je'Von Evans

Mr. Iguana

Trick Williams

Cody Rhodes

El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser)

Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable)

Powerhouse Hobbs, now known as Royce Keys

Austin Theory

Bronson Reed

Ilja Dragunov

La Parka

Dragon Lee

Logan Paul - Final Four

LA Knight

Brock Lesnar

The Miz

Rey Fenix

Jey Uso

Roman Reigns - Final Four, WINNER

Jacob Fatu

Penta

Randy Orton - Final Four

Gunther - Final Four

Men's Royal Rumble

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

The main event of the night was the men's Royal Rumble. We started with Paul Heyman and Adam Pearce arguing earlier in the day about who had to start the match. Oba Femi ended up drawing the No. 1 spot.

As Breakker was about to enter the ring at No. 2, he was attacked by a man in a hood. The attacker hit a Stomp, which made everyone assume it was Seth Rollins. Femi easily sent Breakker over the top rope for the first elimination.

The Ruler eliminated the first five people before Priest showed up and offered him a real fight. The ring started filling up, and by the time we got to 20 men having entered the ring, 11 were still active.

Rhodes was close to saving himself from elimination when McIntyre showed up out of nowhere to deliver a Claymore that eliminated him from the match. Fatu was distracted by this and it allowed Reigns to eliminate him.

Femi and Evans both had strong performances in this match, but neither made it to the final four. The Ruler lasted longer than most of the others and tied Reigns for the most eliminations, so he is looking strong heading into his main roster push.

Paul, Reigns, Gunther and Orton took a moment to reset when it came down to just them in the ring. They paired off, and Paul was the first to get tossed out.

The Tribal Chief and The Ring General were the final two and when it was all said and done, Reigns threw out Gunther to win and earn a title shot at WrestleMania.

Having Reigns win wasn't the most exciting decision, but the match as a whole was fun. A lot of deserving Superstars got some time to shine, and several storylines were referenced or advanced.

This might not have been the ending we wanted, but it could have been much worse.

Result: Reigns won

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

Nobody has a meltdown quite like Heyman.

Booking Femi to look so strong in what was his main roster debut was smart. He could be a top star if he continues to look this good.

Williams got a nice reaction for his entrance.

The Americanos were eliminated back to back.

WWE introducing Keys as Hobbs before revealing the name change is kind of interesting, but it's mostly a weird decision.

Cole was trying to avoid mentioning AEW when Rhodes and Keys interacted.

Keys didn't spend as much time in the ring as expected for his debut.

The standoff between Femi and Lesnar was a fun moment.

Jey's entrance took so long that by the time his music stopped, Reigns was ready to come out next.

The Final Word

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The 2026 Royal Rumble might not go down in history as a bad show, but it won't be considered one of the top 10 Rumbles, either.

Morgan winning the women's match was probably the least predictable outcome of the night, but even that pick wasn't out of left field.

Having Styles end his WWE career in Saudi Arabia was a strange choice, and while the match was good, it's hard to believe this farewell will be looked upon fondly.

McIntyre retaining against Zayn was the most obvious outcome of the night even if the challenger winning would have been unexpected and a career-making moment for him.

Reigns is still one of the top draws in WWE, but his inconsistent schedule makes it hard to get invested in his Road to WrestleMania journey unless he is going to be here most weeks.

This show had plenty of fun moments and gave a handful of Superstars a spotlight they can carry forward into their main roster pushes, so it had its positives, too.

Grade: B-