I used to do this all the time, so let’s get back into it. 

Welcome to my post in which I try to guess what will happen on a wrestling event not based off of what I want to happen, but where I think the story is going. Today is the Royal Rumble, and the winner of the men’s and women’s Rumbles will go on to face the champion of his/her choosing at WrestleMania. It’s time to start building up matches for the biggest wrestling show of the year, and that begins today. With two Rumbles and two matches on the card it might seem like there’s not enough to write about but we’ll get multiple matches for Mania set up tonight. Let’s get into it. 

AJ Styles vs. Gunther. (If AJ loses he must retire.)

Gunther is doing a legend killing gimmick and has already defeated Goldberg and John Cena. It would make sense for him to conquer AJ as well. But AJ said 2026 will be his last year wrestling and I don’t think it ends in January. I also don’t think he defeats Gunther. This will be a blood thirsty Gunther, excited to take out another legend. At some point he goes too far and loses the match. Maybe a disqualification or a count out. But AJ wins the match, however not by pinfall. This sends Gunther into a rage. He inserts himself into the Rumble match, possibly by taking out another legend and taking their place. (Rey Mysterio would make sense here.) Then he wins the Rumble and goes on to challenge a legend with a world title, CM Punk. 

Men’s Royal Rumble match. 

As said earlier, Gunther will win this match and continue to defeat legends throughout the year. He’ll defeat Punk for the title at Mania and I would like to see him face Brock, Roman, and Orton throughout 2026. 

We know Oba Femi will debut on the main roster in the Rumble. I expect him to eliminate some big names to establish him as a threat. Most NXT talent I would expect to be in the Rumble have already been called up to the main roster or were on NXT this Tuesday after the flight to Saudi already left. I think Moose from TNA and Mr. Iguana from AAA appear in the Rumble. We all expect Chris Jericho to return during the Rumble and I wouldn’t be surprised if his first feud is against whoever eliminates him. 

Women’s Royal Rumble match. 

I don’t think this person is an odds on favorite, but all of my future ideas to go to Mania make more sense with one person winning. Liv Morgan. Judgment Day will probably split up soon. Stephanie Vaquer seems to be protected lately and it wouldn’t shock me if she’s working around an injury. Which means I could see Raquel Rodriguez winning the women’s title from Vaquer at any point soon. Thus Raquel has the title, Liv as the opportunity, and this is what causes the Judgment Day break leading to Liv vs. Raquel at WrestleMania and Roxanne Perez having to choose a side. Yes, this story has been done before but it’s a story that works sometimes so let’s run it again. 

Jacey Jayne, Sol Ruca, and Lola Vice from NXT were not on the show Tuesday but have matches hyped up for next week which is why I expect all three of them to show up in the Rumble. I’m not expecting surprises here. Not a lot of previous names, TNA, or AAA talent. Maybe a quick Kelly Kelly appearance or someone of similar level. I don’t think it’s a surprise, because she has already made her return, but I do expect AJ Lee to appear and eliminate Becky Lynch. Maybe even a double elimination. Mostly to set up their inevitable one on one match at Mania. 

Drew McIntyre (champion) vs. Sami Zayn. 

This might be my most controversial pick here. I think Sami wins the title. The title was quickly given from Cody to Drew to set up Sami the face to defeat a monster heel for the title on this first of the big 4 pay per views to be held in Saudi Arabia. It would not surprise me if Sami is given a title win for the local audience much like the infamous Jinder Mahal title run. 

Tune in starting at 2PM EST to see if I’m right about any of this. ESPN app in the United States or Netflix everywhere else in the world, or if your account thinks you’re in another country.