WWE’s most important season of the year, the road to WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, has begun with the end of the holidays. Star-studded matches will dominate The Grandest Stage of Them All as the biggest storylines are being set up over the ensuing months.
The road starts with the Royal Rumble premium live event, taking place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Featuring the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches, as talent battles to participate in main event-worthy championship matches at WrestleMania and create their own moment in this event’s illustrious history.
Rhea Ripley won the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble match and took home the SmackDown Women’s Championship (now the Women’s World Championship) from Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. Ever since, the Eradicator has held the title, so if she enters WrestleMania 40 with the belt, she will aim to complete a full calendar year of premium live events as the titleholder.
Cody Rhodes won the Men’s Royal Rumble last January, and he challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39. However, he lost to Reigns and has not received another title opportunity since.
Despite this, Rhodes has entered the 2024 Royal Rumble for another chance at the championship, potentially against either Reigns or Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, but odds are that if he wins, fans will see the long-awaited rematch against the Tribal Chief himself.
Those matches aside, two title bouts have been set for Royal Rumble.
AJ Styles, Randy Orton and LA Knight battled in a No. 1 Contenders match to face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the Jan. 5 episode of SmackDown, but after the Bloodline interfered to annihilate the challengers, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis told Paul Heyman the match will now be a Fatal Four-Way in just over three weeks at the premium live event.
After winning the belt at Crown Jewel in November, Logan Paul will finally defend his United States Championship in a match against Kevin Owens, the winner of the No. 1 Contenders Tournament. Will Paul, who has had a stagnant title run, lose his championship after holding it for almost three months?
Royal Rumble goes down on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Latest update: Jan. 5, 2025, 10:03 p.m. ET.
WWE Royal Rumble card:
- Women’s Royal Rumble match
- Men’s Royal Rumble match
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match
- Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens – WWE United States Championship match