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Who will be the star that main-events WrestleMania?
The road to WrestleMania is officially underway with the 2024 Royal Rumble taking place Saturday. WWE’s first premium live event of the year is highlighted by the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble match, where the winner of each match will get a championship shot at WrestleMania.
Also taking place will be Roman Reigns putting his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line in a fatal four-way match against Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight. Also, Logan Paul defends his United States Championship for the first time.
Follow USA TODAY Sports for all the action from Royal Rumble:
Women’s Royal Rumble match
All entrants for the women’s Royal Rumble match will be listed, as well as when/if they are eliminated.
No. 22: Alba Fyre
No. 21: Becky Lynch
No. 20: Shotzi
No. 19: Nia Jax
No. 18: Maxxine Dupri
Eliminated by Bayley.
No. 17: Zelina Vega
No. 16: Xia Li
Eliminated by Nia Jax.
No. 15: Piper Niven
Eliminated by Nia Jax.
No. 14: Chelsea Green
Eliminated by Becky Lynch.
No. 13: Kayden Carter
Eliminated by Piper Niven.
No. 12: Tegan Nox
Eliminated by Bayley.
No. 11: Kairi Sane
Eliminated by Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.
No. 10: Bianca Belair
No. 9: Katana Chance
Eliminated by Nia Jax.
No. 8: Ivy Nile
Eliminated by Nia Jax.
No. 7: Asuka
Eliminated by Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.
No. 6: Indi Hartwell
Eliminated by Bayley.
No. 5: Jordynne Grace
Another surprise, Grace is currently TNA Knockouts Champion.
Eliminated by Bianca Belair.
No. 4: Candice LeRae
Eliminated by Damage CTRL.
No. 3: Bayley
No. 2: Naomi
The first surprise of the Royal Rumble is Naomi, making her return to WWE after departing the company in May 2022.
No. 1: Natalya
Eliminated by Tegan Nox.
Pat McAfee returns
The ESPN star is back in WWE.
Just like last year, Pat McAfee showed up to the Royal Rumble to serve as a special commentator for Saturday’s event. He previously was a commentator on “Smackdown” in 2022.
What time is Royal Rumble 2024?
The 2024 Royal Rumble is Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. ET.
Where is Royal Rumble 2024?
The 2024 Royal Rumble will be at Tropicana Field − home of the Tampa Bay Rays − in St. Petersburg, Florida.
How to watch Royal Rumble 2024
The event can be streamed on Peacock, but you must have their premium or premium-plus subscription to watch. Internationally, it will be available on WWE Network.
Royal Rumble 2024 match card
Matches not in order
- Men’s Royal Rumble match
- Women’s Royal Rumble match
- United States Championship match: Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens
- Fatal four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
Royal Rumble 2024 predictions
- Men’s Royal Rumble match winner: CM Punk
- Women’s Royal Rumble match winner: Bayley
- United States Championship match: Logan Paul (c) defeats Kevin Owens
- Fatal four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) defeats Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight
Who’s in the men’s Royal Rumble match?
Heading into Saturday, 21 of the 30 participants have been announced. They are:
- Cody Rhodes
- CM Punk
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Bobby Lashley
- Drew McIntyre
- Gunther
- Damian Priest
- Kofi Kingston
- Chad Gable
- Otis
- Akira Tozawa
- Santos Escobar
- R-Truth
- Carlito
- Grayson Waller
- Austin Theory
- Jimmy Uso
- Dominik Mysterio
- Finn Bálor
- JD McDonagh
- Ivar
Who’s in the women’s Royal Rumble match?
Going into Saturday, 11 women have been confirmed to be in the match. They are:
- Bayley
- Nia Jax
- Becky Lynch
- Bianca Belair
- Maxxine Dupri
- Ivy Nile
- Alba Fyre
- Shotzi
- Zelina Vega
- Michin
- Valhalla
How does the Royal Rumble match work?
The 30-person match starts off with two entrants, and every 90 seconds, another competitor enters the match.
The only way to be eliminated from the match is to be thrown over the top rope of the ring and both feet hit the floor. If only one foot hits the floor, the competitor may re-enter the ring. The match goes until there is one person remaining in the ring that hasn’t been eliminated. The winner of the match then gets a guaranteed championship match at WrestleMania.
Men’s Royal Rumble history
The match first took place in 1988 – with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan winning the inaugural event – and it’s been held every year since. Here are the list of winners:
- 1988: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
- 1989: Big John Studd
- 1990: Hulk Hogan
- 1991: Hulk Hogan (second win)
- 1992: Ric Flair
- 1993: Yokozuna
- 1994: Lex Luger and Bret Hart
- 1995: Shawn Michaels
- 1996: Shawn Michaels (second win)
- 1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin
- 1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin (second win)
- 1999: Vince McMahon
- 2000: The Rock
- 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin (third win)
- 2002: Triple H
- 2003: Brock Lesnar
- 2004: Chris Benoit
- 2005: Batista
- 2006: Rey Mysterio
- 2007: The Undertaker
- 2008: John Cena
- 2009: Randy Orton
- 2010: Edge
- 2011: Alberto Del Rio
- 2012: Sheamus
- 2013: John Cena (second win)
- 2014: Batista (second win)
- 2015: Roman Reigns
- 2016: Triple H (second win)
- 2017: Randy Orton (second win)
- 2018: Shinsuke Nakamura
- 2019: Seth Rollins
- 2020: Drew McIntyre
- 2021: Edge (second win)
- 2022: Brock Lesnar (second win)
- 2023: Cody Rhodes
Women’s Royal Rumble history
The women’s Royal Rumble match was introduced in 2018, with Asuka winning the first edition. Here are the list of winners:
- 2018: Asuka
- 2019: Becky Lynch
- 2020: Charlotte Flair
- 2021: Bianca Belair
- 2022: Ronda Rousey
- 2023: Rhea Ripley
Best number to enter the Royal Rumble?
Save the best for last when it comes to the men’s match; five winners have come in at No. 30, the most of any entry number. All of the wins have happened since 2007. The second most is No. 27 with four wins and No. 1 and No. 24 with three wins. Nos. 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 20, 21 and 26 have never been winners.
The later numbers have been most successful, with 22 of the 37 winners (59.4%) coming in at least No. 22 or later.
On the women’s side, No. 28 has been the most successful with it being the only entrant number with two wins (2019, 2022).
How successful are Royal Rumble winners at WrestleMania?
The concept of the Royal Rumble winner earning a title shot at WrestleMania wasn’t introduced until the 1993 event.
Since then, the winner in the men’s match has mostly been successful in capturing a title at the flagship event, going 16-14 in those matches for a 53.3% success rate. However, the winners are on a losing streak, with the past three – Edge, Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes – all losing to Roman Reigns.
The women winners have been very successful in the short match history. Royal Rumble victors are 4-2 in WrestleMania matches, including Rhea Ripley last year.
Royal Rumble surprises: Who will return?
The Royal Rumble is known for being the event where surprise entrants happen, usually stars of the past or newly signed talent. WWE has gone through great lengths to keep its surprise entrants from being spoiled, so the public doesn’t know who could show up Saturday. But here are popular candidates to possibly enter the match:
- The Rock
- Sasha Banks
- Naomi
- Jade Cargill
- Liv Morgan
- Gable Steveson
- Andrade
WrestleMania 40 sign goes up
The road to WrestleMania wouldn’t officially begin until the WrestleMania 40 sign was put up, and it’ll be hanging inside Tropicana Field, where the winner of the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble match will point to signal their upcoming championship opportunity.
Bayley, Damage CTRL continue to rise
When WWE star Bayley returned from injury at SummerSlam 2022, she brought back Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky to form Damage CTRL, hoping to help the former NXT talents make a name for themselves on the main roster.
A year and a half later, even with some bumps on the road, the faction has continued to elevate themselves into a dominant stable, capturing tag team gold twice. And Sky is the current WWE Women’s Champion. As if the group needed more firepower, it now features some decorated stars with the addition Asuka and Kairi Sane, who captured the Women’s Tag Team Championship on Friday.
It’s been a long journey for the now five-women group, and there were even times when Bayley, the de facto leader of Damage CTRL, wondered if success was on the horizon. But now, the three-time women’s champion is “very proud” of what the group has accomplished heading into Saturday’s big Royal Rumble.
“There was rough times where we were just like, alright, maybe this isn’t gonna be exactly all we hoped for,” Bayley told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m proud of what Damage CTRL has brought to the women’s division.”
− Read more about Bayley and Damage CTRLhere.
Bianca Belair continues to break barriers
Being on the cover of WWE 2K24 isn’t the only thing Bianca Belair has achieved as a groundbreaking wrestling star.
When she defeated Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37, it marked the first time two Black women headlined WWE’s flagship event. A three-time champion and previous Royal Rumble winner, Belair also has one of the longest women’s title reigns in the past 20 years.
And if her star power in the ring wasn’t enough, her and husband Montez Ford have become such major celebrities they will be starring in their own reality show, airing next month. She also mentioned her husband had spent the past two years speaking it into existence that she’d appear on the cover of the video game.
With all that’s going right for Belair, she’s hoping the high she’s on right now will translate into a successful road to WrestleMania, which begins with Royal Rumble on Saturday.
“I think I’ve set the tone that I am a history maker, that I’m breaking barriers, so I will love to become the first woman to ever win the Royal Rumble twice and go to WrestleMania,” Belair said.
− Read more about Bianca Belairhere.
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