2026 Royal Rumble Predictions

January 31, 2026 0 By Right Hook Ray

The road to WrestleMania will kick off this afternoon, and the stakes are high. The chaos of the Rumble itself makes the start of the road to Wrestlemania exciting, but here are my predictions for today’s show.

Gunther vs. AJ Styles

The “Ring General” meets “The Phenomenal One” in a rematch with massive implications. If AJ Styles loses, his legendary career comes to an end. Gunther has been an unstoppable force and career killer. But I cannot see Styles last match being in Saudi Arabia so I’m picking the ageless wonder to win and continues his retirement tour with some more fun matches ahead.

Prediction: AJ Styles wins and the last run continues.

WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (Champ) vs. Sami Zayn

McIntyre defends his newly won WWE championship against the overwhelming fan favorite Sami Zayn. While Sami will have the heart of the fans, I expect McIntyre to do whatever it takes to retain his title and deflate that usually excited crowd defeating Zayn.

Prediction: Drew McIntyre finds a shortcut to retain the WWE championship, but the night is not over for Sami.

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

This year’s field for the Women’s rumble may not have big, huge surprises, but may have some much-needed returns to make the title scene on both Raw and Smackdown very curious as we head to Wrestlemania.

Iron Woman: Liv Morgan (Expect Morgan to do this with some help Rodriguez and Perez until it gets smaller.)

Most Eliminations: Lash Legend (I wanted to go with Jordynne Grace but decided to go with a wild card in Legend who would benefit from having a Diesel-like performance in this match)

Surprise Entrants: Keep an eye for potential returns from Bianca Belair, Tiffany Stratton, as well as the surprise entrants of AJ Lee and Brie Bella.

Shocking Turns If there are any shocking changes in this match, I feel like it will come from Alexa Bliss and Bayley to reach their breaking points.

The Final Six: Roxanne Perez, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Liv Morgan, and Jordynne Grace.

Prediction: Bianca Belair (The EST returns and wins the rumble setting her sights on Jade Cargill on the WWE Women’s championship)

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

The Men’s rumble is filled with heavy hitters, major star power and surprising alliances that crumble resulting in some memorable chaos.

Iron Man: Bron Breakker (Expect Breakker to be an undeniable force in this match with some help from the vision throughout most of the match)

Most Eliminations: Oba Femi (The Ruler has a dominate performance in this where he eliminates some surprising heavy hitters, Brock Lesnar perhaps?)

Surprise Entrants: Expect the unexpected when LA Knight, Kevin Owens, and… Seth Rollins make their returns in this match. I also think and hope Finn Balor finds his way into this match, and I’m sure Joe Hendry will appear as well (sighs).

Shocking Turns: Finn Balor to finally break away from Judgement Day for long overdue face run, LA Knight or Kevin Owens will turn by throwing out either Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn or Jey Uso, and this may be a bit out there, but the vision backstabs Rollins again by attempting to eliminate him, but it goes south where Rollins survives.

The Final Six: Oba Femi, Gunther, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, and Seth Rollins.

Prediction: Sami Zayn (I am about 80% confident in my selection but if they are going to go fully with Sami Zayn as the underdog champion it is now or never probably. Zayn and Reigns are the final 2 where Sami does the unthinkable and eliminates Reigns winning the rumble, but Reigns acknowledges Zayn not just as an honorary Uce but perhaps as an equal.)