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Who will be the star that will star in the main events of WrestleMania?
The road to WrestleMania is officially underway with Royal Rumble 2024 taking place on Saturday. WWE’s first premium live event of the year is highlighted by the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble, where the winner of each match will have a championship opportunity at WrestleMania.
Also taking place will be Roman Reigns putting his WWE Undisputed Universal Championship on the line in a fatal four-way match against Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight. Additionally, Logan Paul defends his United States Championship for the first time.
Follow USA TODAY Sports for all the Royal Rumble action:
Women’s Royal Rumble match
All participants in the women’s Royal Rumble will be listed, as well as when and if they will be eliminated.
No. 4: Candice LeRae
No. 3: Bayley
No. 2: Naomi
The first surprise of the Royal Rumble is Naomi, making her return to WWE after Leaving the company in May 2022.
No. 1: Natalia
Pat McAfee returns
The ESPN star is back in WWE.
Just like last year, Pat McAfee showed up at the Royal Rumble to serve as a special commentator for Saturday’s event. He was previously a commentator for “Smackdown” in 2022.
What time is Royal Rumble 2024?
The Royal Rumble 2024 is Saturday, January 27 at 8 pm ET.
Where is Royal Rumble 2024?
The Royal Rumble 2024 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 its premium or premium-plus subscription to view it. 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 fight for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
Royal Rumble 2024 predictions
- Men’s Royal Rumble winner: CM Punk
- Women’s Royal Rumble winner: Bayley
- United States Championship Match: Logan Paul (c) defeats Kevin Owens
- Fatal four-way fight for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) defeats Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight
Who is in the men’s Royal Rumble?
Looking ahead to Saturday, 21 of the 30 participants have been announced. They are:
- Cody Rhodes
- CM Punk
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Bobby Lashley
- Drew McIntyre
- Gunther
- Priest Damian
- Kofi Kingston
- Chad Gable
- otis
- Akira Tozawa
- Santos Escobar
- R-Truth
- carlito
- Grayson Waller
- Austin theory
- Jimmy Uso
- Dominic Mysterio
- Finn Balor
- J.D. McDonagh
- ivar
Who is in the women’s Royal Rumble?
As of Saturday, 11 women have been confirmed to participate in the match. They are:
- bayley
- Nia Jax
- Becky Lynch
- Bianca Belair
- Maxxine Dupri
- Nile Ivy
- Alba Fyre
- Shotzi
- Zelina Vega
- Michin
- Valhalla
How does the Royal Rumble match work?
The 30-person match starts with two participants 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 with both feet touching the ground. If only one foot touches the ground, the competitor may re-enter the ring. The match continues until there is one person left in the ring who has not been eliminated. The winner of the match gets a guaranteed championship match at WrestleMania.
History of the men’s Royal Rumble
The match was first held in 1988 (with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan winning the inaugural event) and has been held every year since. Here is the list of winners:
- 1988: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
- 1989: The great John Studd
- 1990: Hulk Hogan
- 1991: Hulk Hogan (second victory)
- 1992: Ric style
- 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: Mystery King
- 2007: The Undertaker
- 2008: John Cena
- 2009: Randy Orton
- 2010: edge
- 2011: Alberto Del Río
- 2012: Sheamus
- 2013: John Cena (second victory)
- 2014: Batista (second victory)
- 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 victory)
- 2023: Cody Rhodes
History of the women’s Royal Rumble
The women’s Royal Rumble was introduced in 2018 and Asuka won the first edition. Here is the list of winners:
- 2018: Asuka
- 2019: Becky Lynch
- 2020: Charlotte Style
- 2021: Bianca Belair
- 2022: Ronda Rousey
- 2023: Rhea Ripley
Best number to enter the Royal Rumble?
Save the best for last when the men’s match comes around; five winners have reached 30th place, the most among all entry numbers. All wins have come since 2007. The second most are #27 with four wins and #1 and #24 with three wins. The numbers 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 20, 21 and 26 have never been winners.
The latest numbers have been the most successful, with 22 of the 37 winners (59.4%) taking at least 22nd place or later.
On the women’s side, number 28 has been the most successful, being the only participant with two wins (2019, 2022).
How successful are Royal Rumble winners at WrestleMania?
The concept of the Royal Rumble winner getting a title shot at WrestleMania was not introduced until the 1993 event.
Since then, the winner of the men’s match has gone on to capture a title in the main event, going 16-14 in those matches for a 53.3% success rate. However, the winners are on a losing streak, with the final three (Edge, Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes) losing to Roman Reigns.
Female winners have been very successful in the matches’ short 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 occur, usually stars from the past or newly signed talent. WWE has gone to great lengths to keep its surprise entrants from spoiling, so the public doesn’t know who might show up on Saturday. But here are popular candidates to possibly run in the party:
- The rock
- Sasha Banks
- Naomi
- Jade Cargill
- Liv Morgan
- Gable Steveson
- andrade
The WrestleMania 40 poster goes up
The road to WrestleMania wouldn’t officially begin until the WrestleMania 40 banner was up, and it will be hanging inside Tropicana Field, where the winner of the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble will signal their next championship opportunity.
Bayley, damage CTRL keeps increasing
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 former NXT talents make a name for themselves on the main roster.
A year and a half later, even with a few bumps in the road, the faction has continued to rise to become a dominant stable, capturing tag team gold twice. And Sky is the current WWE Women’s Champion. As if the group needed any more firepower, it now boasts some decorated stars with the addition of Asuka and Kairi Sane, who captured the Women’s Tag Team Championship on Friday.
It’s been a long journey for the now five-woman 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 were tough moments where we were like, okay, maybe this isn’t exactly everything we expected,” 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 breaking barriers
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. Belair, a three-time champion and previous Royal Rumble winner, also has one of the longest women’s title reigns in the last 20 years.
And if her star power in the ring wasn’t enough, she and her husband Montez Ford have become such major celebrities that they will star in their own reality show, which will air next month. She also mentioned that her husband had spent the last two years announcing that she would appear on the cover of the video game.
With everything going well for Belair, she hopes the high she’s at now will translate into a successful path to WrestleMania, which begins with the Royal Rumble on Saturday.
“I think I’ve set the tone that I’m a history maker, that I’m breaking barriers, so I would love to become the first woman to win the Royal Rumble twice and go to WrestleMania,” Belair said.
− Read more about Bianca Belairhere.
