Dave Meltzer Doesn't Mince Words Promotion Of On WWE Royal Rumble 2026 In Riyadh

January is always one of the most exciting times of the year for WWE fans as the Royal Rumble gets everyone interested for what could be in store on the road to WrestleMania. The 2026 edition of the Rumble event will take place on January 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first time that a "Big Five" Premium Live Event will take place in the country, but with just over one week to go before the show takes place, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter believes that there is less hype behind this year's event than ever before.

Meltzer wrote that up until this past week's episodes of "WWE Raw" and "WWE SmackDown," no one had declared themselves for the men's or women's matches, and at the time of writing less than a quarter of the field for the men's match has been confirmed, with just over a quarter in the women's bout. There have been little to no promos regarding the event, which could be to do with the hype surrounding the January 5 episode of "Raw" that was heavily promoted, as well as the Saturday Night's Main Event show that takes place on January 24, but Meltzer believes that WWE have left it a little too late to promote the show with the respect it deserves.

Due to the lack of promotion, an earlier start time due to the difference in Saudi Arabia (2pm EST and 11am PT in the United States), and an overall decline interest in the show compared to 12 months ago, Meltzer believes viewership will be way down from the 2025 event, which was the first WWE PLE to air live on Netflix. With that said, Meltzer did acknowledge that there is still two episodes of "SmackDown" and one episode of "Raw" to promote the show, and Saturday Night's Main Event might also be used to give Rumble viewership a last minute boost.