WWE Royal Rumble Cold Open Released Online Early

WWE has decided to release the cold open for its Royal Rumble premium live event, just one day before the show goes live Saturday night. This year's Royal Rumble will be held inside Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The stadium last played host to the event back in 2017.

The cold open for the show, which was uploaded on WWE's official YouTube channel, is narrated by American country singer Hardy. The music artist appeared on the January 2 episode of "WWE Raw." He is scheduled to give a musical performance at the Royal Rumble. The spotlight was on a slew of WWE superstars in the cold open, including Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, and the returning Cody Rhodes.

As has been the case since 2018, there will be two Rumble matches this year. Rhodes is the betting favorite to win the men's Rumble match. On the women's side, Rhea Ripley is the favorite according to oddsmakers. As of this writing, before the go-home edition of "SmackDown," 16 of the 30 men's Rumble entrants have been announced, while only seven have been revealed for the women's Rumble match.

The show will also feature an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match. Titleholder Roman Reigns puts his gold on the line against Kevin Owens. Reigns said this will be the final test of Sami Zayn's loyalty to The Bloodline. Also, "Raw" Women's Champion Bianca Belair will defend her championship against Alexa Bliss, and Bray Wyatt meets L.A. Knight in a Pitch Black match.