Dubbed "the biggest Royal Rumble yet" by WWE CCO Triple H, this year's massive pro wrestling event delivered in a lot of ways and laid out the path to Wrestlemania for many of the top stars of the company.
Keeping with tradition, there were a lot of surprises, plenty of twists and turns, and, as to be expected, tons of online discourse about the results of the matches. This Complex writer enjoyed the show overall and, along with the rest of the WWE Universe, is firmly invested in what’s to come on the road to Wrestlemania Las Vegas in April. (Special shoutout to Jordynne Grace, who debuted as an official part of the WWE roster and truly shined.)
With all of that being said, here are 10 of the best moments from this year's WWE Royal Rumble, where superstars big and small really did their thing.
10.Lucha Libre’s Past Meets Its Future
It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it was a welcome opener to the Men’s Royal Rumble by having Rey Mysterio and the newcomer Penta face off as entrants one and two. It was by no means a classic in terms of ring work, but it was cool to see these two Lucha Legends go at it and give the fans a preview of what an actual match between them would be like. Penta is garnering a lot of momentum right now, and he was given ample time to shine.
9.Roxanna Perez Shows Her Potential
Every Royal Rumble has what is called the Iron Man or Woman, which is given to the superstar that lasts the longest in the match, regardless of whether they win or lose. This year’s title of Iron Woman went to NXT standout Roxanna Perez, who broke the record for the longest time a woman has spent in a Royal Rumble match by sticking around for one hour and seven minutes. There are reportedly huge plans for Perez on the main roster, and many saw this as her coming out party to the big time.
8.Three Future Hall Of Famers Square Off
While one could argue whether or not this was the biggest Royal Rumble so far, it definitely had a huge amount of star power, especially in the Men’s Royal Rumble. This was evident near the end of the match when three first-ballot Hall of Famers—CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and John Cena—squared off in front of over 60,000 screaming fans. Each of these three could be argued as the greatest of this generation, and the aura this gave off was special.
7.Three Sure Things Come Up Short
What might have been as equally shocking as who actually won the Men’s Royal Rumble was who didn’t win.
A lot of people had their money on three superstars: Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins. When all three were eliminated, to the shock of many, this caused wrestling fans' heads to explode. If not these three, then who was going to win? Punk’s journey to Wrestlemania was sent on a detour, Roman Reigns' attempt to recapture the title he held for so long was thrown to the wayside, and Seth Rollins' quest for redemption was denied. After all three hit the arena floor, they immediately turned their frustrations to each other and left the groundwork for a potential confrontation in the very near future—possibly at Wrestlemania itself.
But will it be for a title or not? We'll have to wait and see.
6.Creator Beef: Logan Paul And Kai Cenat Shout It Out
AMP superstar Kai Cenat made an appearance at this year's Royal Rumble, livestreaming the entire event from both backstage and in the crowd. While backstage, Cenat ran into several wrestling superstars, including creator-turned-wrestler Logan Paul, whom Cenat gave Paul his flowers for "[paving] the way a lot" for creators like Cenat. How cute.
Things went from cute to ugly as the event got underway, though, particularly after Paul was eliminated by John Cena. This boiled Cenat's nerves, leading him to scream at Paul from the sidelines. "You f*cking lost, man," Cenat said to a panting Paul. "Don't you f*cking [inaudible]," Paul rebuttaled, leading the two into an unexpected shouting match for a few seconds before Paul walked off. Who knew Cenat versus Paul was on the cards? I guess Triple H had that one in his back pocket. — Levi Winslow
5.Alexa Bliss Comes Home
After what felt like a very long time, Alexa Bliss returned to the WWE in the Women’s Rumble following a two-year hiatus. Clad in her usual goth gear, with some much-appreciated references to her dearly departed friend Bray Wyatt, Bliss showed the world why she will always be a mainstay in the World Wrestling Entertainment pantheon. Putting on a strong performance and eliciting one of the biggest reactions of the night, it is safe to say the WWE Universe missed her and can't wait to see what’s next for Miss Bliss.
4.iShowSpeed Fills In And Gets Rekt
It was telegraphed very early on that there would be at least one celebrity entrant in the Royal Rumble. While names such as Kai Cenat and Tyrese Haliburton were thrown around, popular streamer iShowSpeed ended up entering the fray, filling in for Akira Tozawa. Speed got a huge reaction from the crowd and raced to the ring to make his mark on the event. But after helping Bron Breakker eliminate Otis and pulling off an impressive celebratory backflip, Speed’s soul was sent into orbit as Breakker hit him with an extremely brutal spear. Pray for the boy; he was hurt pretty badly.
3.John Cena Gives Us All The Hits While Investing In The Future
In case you're unaware by now, this is the last Royal Rumble John Cena will compete in. As part of his farewell tour, Cena is hitting all the big events before finally hanging up his jorts and sweatbands. He showed up with his A-game and had no intention of phoning it in, giving us all the moves and feats of strength the Doctor of Thuganomics is known for.
It came down to just Cena and Uso for the final two, and although fans would've loved for Cena to win his final Royal Rumble match (myself included), Cena did what he’s always been known for while doing what’s best for business and investing in the future that seems to be Uso.
At least to the WWE brass. We'll see what Uso's got going forward.
2.Cody Rhodes And Kevin Owens Bring The Violence
There were only two matches that weren’t Royal Rumble matches on the card of this year’s event, and while the two-out-of-three falls match between DIY and The Motor City Machine Guns was extremely solid, the ladder match for the Undisputed Championship between the reigning champ Cody Rhodes and the challenger, Kevin Owens, was the match that everyone was left talking about.
Cody has had a fantastic run as the champ, going well over 300 days since winning the belt at last year’s Wrestlemania, and Kevin Owens has become an excellent foil to his reign. Kevin is known for throwing caution to the wind in his matches, and Cody always leaves it all in the ring, especially on big stages, and this match was no exception.
Full of brutal bumps, blood, and excellent storytelling, Cody and Kevin delivered where it counted and put a pin on a pretty stellar feud.
1.Jey Uso Punches His Ticket, But Are We Along For The Ride?
When the dust settled, it was Jey Uso who punched his ticket to the main event at Wrestlemania. Winning the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble, it is now clear that WWE higher-ups see Jey as a main event caliber contender, but will the WWE Universe agree with this decision? That remains to be seen.
Has Jey put in the work? Absolutely. Is he talented? Extremely! But is he going to be the guy going forward? Your guess is as good as mine. Jey Uso hasn’t officially cemented who he will challenge at Wrestlemania this year (either World Champion Gunther or Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes), but he did hint that it will more than likely be Gunther for the World Title. If the plan goes the way the rest of the world believes it will, we will likely get a Jey Uso and Gunther main event on night one of Wrestlemania. While Jey winning the Royal Rumble is huge for his career, no doubt about it, was it the right call to have this win go to him if he's going to challenge the second-best championship? Let’s see how this plays out on the road to Wrestlemania. All in all, congrats to Jey Uso!