WWE Royal Rumble 2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

11 years after his first win, another edition of WWE's annual Royal Rumble came to a close with Roman Reigns on top. Though the reaction to this win was quite different from the first, it's still safe to say not everyone is thrilled that the Tribal Chief is headed to the WWE WrestleMania 42 main event.

That's not the only moment from today's Royal Rumble that drew a reaction from the Wrestling Inc. crew, either! Below, in the latest edition of our regular column, you can find out what we loved and hated about the latest of the "big four" WWE PLEs. With only four matches on the card, you'll find an opinion on each bout, along with some specific standouts from the two Rumbles.

If you're looking for a more detailed breakdown of everything that happened, take a look at our Royal Rumble results. Otherwise, feel free to argue or agree with us down in the comments after you read all about our thoughts on the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble.

That's all she wrote for AJ Styles in WWE, with Gunther retiring him at the Royal Rumble 10 years after he made his debut in the eponymous match. A two-time WWE Champion and Grand Slam winner, Styles broke the mold by being a smaller "indie darling" who came into a company known to chew and spit out wrestlers like him to great success. Whether or not he continues to wrestle throughout the year with another company (here's hoping), his last match with Gunther was the perfect send off this weekend.

A key aspect of Styles' desire to hang up the boots has been the idea that he wants to bow out at his best. A key aspect of Gunther's character arc over the past few years has been his career-killing dominance; already a man with less losses than there are fingers on the average human body, he put Goldberg out to pasture before submitting John Cena for the first time in over 20 years to send him off into retirement with a knowing smile. Styles took issue with the way that Gunther had celebrated his victory over Cena, thus spurring the events that led to this career threatening match.

Unlike the previous two, however, this was a match billed with a way out of retirement for Styles. He need only beat Gunther, and he gave it his best shot when all was said and done. Ultimately, it was time that caught up with him. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough, or durable enough to survive the barrage, drop his opponent, and keep him down for the count. Even still, it was the hope that he could do it that drove the energy of the match, even as he was fading in the sleeper and clawed for the ropes.

Cena went out with a smile on his face, Styles went out after passing out. His arm dropped and even the referee hesitated, aware that he was about to end Styles' WWE career without him even being aware of the decision.

Gunther got what he wanted and left Styles in the ring to reckon with the loss and wave goodbye to the crowd in Riyadh. What a run it has been for the "Phenomenal One" over the past 10 years, what a way to sign off, and what a man to inherit the distinction of sending him off into the sunset. It was perfect. Perfect. Down to the last, minute detail.

Written by Max Everett

Until tonight, Sami Zayn had quite a win streak building across all of his matches in Saudi Arabia. That all came to an end at the hands of Drew McIntyre, and I can't say that I'm thrilled about it.

Now, it should be said that the viewer being upset about a heel winning is usually the entire point of a heel winning. From that perspective, WWE knocked it out of the park here, because I very much wanted to see Sami win.

The real issue here is the fact that Zayn has been with WWE for well over a decade by this point and has yet to win a world title. For much of the time, it didn't seem like he'd ever even get close, though that has seemed to change under the control of Paul "Triple H" Levesque. Still, the story of Zayn possibly working his way up to a world title win has been years in the making, and it looks like it isn't coming to a close any time soon.

Tonight didn't really feel like the right time for Zayn to win the title, and that's kind of my whole problem. The storyline was constructed in a way that would've made it seem fairly anti-climactic if Zayn won, but it didn't have to be that way. This tale is starting to drag on for too long, like many storylines have under Levesque. I think it's more likely than not that Zayn wins one of the two world titles at some point, but I wish it didn't take over a decade to get there.

Written by Nick Miller

With every big performance Lash Legend has, I take back my initial assessment of her being an "NXT" call-up failure in the making more and more emphatically.

Legend has had an extraordinary time on the main roster. Yes, she's Nia Jax's lap dog right now, but she has been outshining her mentor in every event she's been placed in. From WarGames to episodes of "WWE SmackDown," Legend has shown time and time again that she is not one to be trifled with. She brought that same electric energy to WWE's Royal Rumble, and even though she was not the woman to outlast 29 others to secure her spot at WrestleMania, I don't think she'll have a hard time making her way to Vegas after that standout performance.

Legend continues to improve more and more, week in and week out. I remember really wanting to like her when she was coming up in "NXT," because, aside from her in-ring work, she was the full package. She has great charisma, a distinct brand, and she's absolutely stunning. However, her in-ring work always held me back from enjoying her — and Shawn Michaels might have felt similarly, considering she never earned gold in "NXT." However, she has been vastly improving, and that showed in Saturday's Royal Rumble. She looked like a complete powerhouse in that ring, and while her technique is far from perfect, she has grown into another ring wherewithal to supplement her natural charisma and athletic background. Her wrestling has improved so much, to the point that she was more entertaining to watch over other, more established veterans. Legend was a bright spot in what was otherwise a snoozefest of a match.

That's not even counting the amount of eliminations she scored, but let's add that statistic to the mix. Legend scored eliminations against some huge names, like first entrant Charlotte Flair and WWE Women's World Tag Team Champion IYO SKY. Legend was the right woman to give those eliminations to — especially over Jax, who always threatens to overshadow her, as her mentor. It seems that WWE has learned from the woes of Carmelo Hayes and other disappointing "NXT" call-ups, because they are doing all the right things to make Legend a star on her own.

I will never forgive the Saudi Arabia crowd for completely airing her (dramatic, but my point remains). I know she eliminated your favorites, but people laud GUNTHER for doing the same thing. Legend has worked hard to become the next big thing, and I can only anticipate she skyrockets to the upper- and main event card from here. We're on the ground floor of something great, and I can't to see how Legend builds her legacy.

Written by Angeline Phu

The Women's Royal Rumble was just fine.

"Fine" isn't typically a death sentence in and of itself, but for a match as big as the Royal freaking Rumble, that is a strong evaluation. Saturday, 30 of WWE's finest took to the ring to see who will remain the last woman standing, with a world title shot in the main event of WrestleMania 42 waiting for the winner. It's no secret that WWE's women's division is the most stacked in the industry — so why, then, couldn't the likes of IYO SKY, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and others pull this match from the dumps?

This Women's Royal Rumble was so nothingburger because of two things: odd elimination pacing and an utter lack of engaging surprises. Of course, these things don't kill a Rumble on their own, but when they happen simultaneously, it kills the stakes of your Rumble match. When you save nearly all eliminations for the end and give the crowd nothing to look forward to with a lack of surprises, any excitement of the unknown dies. Sure, it's fun that Liv Morgan won, but that can only be so exciting when her road to that Rumble win was so boring. Any cheers we might have had in the office after this Rumble were more of a "thank God that's over" nature — not ones deservingly celebratory of our Judgement Day leader.

I do not wanna hear the Brie Bella and Tiffany Stratton arguments. I'm not saying their WWE presence wasn't sorely missed — it was, especially with Stratton's absence from "WWE SmackDown's" women's division — but when those are the only two "surprises" in the Royal Rumble, you can't blame me for losing complete interest in this Rumble by the time Stratton was revealed at number 30. I know that legends can't always come back — being in the ring is no simple task, especially Divas past — but I just needed more from the Royal Rumble's participants. "NXT's" exports were nice, especially Jacy Jayne and Sol Ruca, but I needed more. Where's Blake Monroe? Is WWE not scouting out any free agents on the plentiful open market right now? No TNA Knockouts? The Royal Rumble's allure lies in its unpredictability: if I can anticipate who the next entrant will be, I don't want to watch.

My grievances are not unique to this year's Royal Rumble. My colleagues have held similar criticisms to mine following the Rumbles of recent years past, and yet my grievances today are ones that still hold true. Why is that? Why is WWE so hesitant to give the Women's Royal Rumble the same attention as they do the men's? Why can the Women's Royal Rumble only ever be just fine?

Written by Angeline Phu

I think we were all, especially those of us who are big "WWE NXT" fans, expecting Oba Femi to have a big showing in the Rumble match. I wasn't a major fan of how his elimination went down, as it felt rather unceremonious, but overall, I really loved how WWE presented "The Ruler" today. While it doesn't seem to have been the plan to have Femi come out in the first spot, as it was spoiled on "WWE SmackDown" that #1 was meant to go to Bron Breakker, I think this worked out in the best way possible. If Breakker was going to get taken out anywhere else but #2, it wouldn't have made much sense.

Femi was impressive throughout the first portion of the match, especially, scoring five total eliminations, and I think four of them might have been back-to-back. While the Breakker one didn't exactly count for much visually, thanks to yet another masked intruder in a black hoodie interfering and weakening Breakker, it still added to Femi's overall Rumble elimination statistic.

There were plenty of fans who wanted to see "The Ruler" go face-to-face with "The Beast Incarnate," which we got to see a little of tonight. I'm no real fan of Brock Lesnar, but even I have to admit he'd make a perfect WrestleMania opponent for Femi, especially if Femi is the one going over. The way WWE went about their confrontation in the ring was excellent, as well, and perfectly timed. The first few times they went to square up to each other, the buzzer rang, and in came another opponent in the forms of The Miz and Rey Fenix. By that time, the others in the ring were also back on their feet and attempted to take the bigger men down.

They got a little physical, with Femi first hitting Lesnar with a clothesline to knock him off his feet, but in the end, it was Lesnar to throw Femi over the top rope. I don't love that, but it certainly sets up the must-see match between them, hopefully at WrestleMania. Lesnar was also the next person eliminated, so it doesn't hurt Femi too much there.

We know that Femi is now going to be on the main roster fully moving forward, and he has stories going in to his run on "Raw" or "SmackDown." That includes what may happen next with Lesnar, and the fact he had such an impressive showing in the Rumble, that all others on whatever brand he lands on need to watch out.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Imagine being someone like Je'Von Evans, or LA Knight, or Penta, or Randy Orton, who is looking for his 15th championship victory before he calls it a career, or even GUNTHER who has been put over strong by being involved in the retirement matches of top talent. And then, you get to the Royal Rumble, looking to punch your ticket to WrestleMania 41, and Roman Reigns, who declared himself for the match in a video package instead of showing up for work, waltzes in at #26, after not being on WWE TV since Survivor Series, and just wins the match. Oh, and this all happens after he ran down WWE creative and the company's younger stars just the day before on "The Pat McAfee Show." I can't imagine it feels too great.

Maybe those were worked comments, and Reigns is going to dive into that all further in storyline now that he might be back in the fold, for now, but it's still, in my humble opinion, awful booking on WWE's part. It's not an interesting story whatsoever, as there are plenty of young guys, like Evans, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and more, who are busting their butts doing well in the company. There are plenty of older guys, like Penta and Knight, who are plenty over with fans, looking for their first championship. And there's of course Orton, who has a story built in right now.

It just doesn't feel like a landscape where Reigns needed to win the Rumble. He's still a mega star and a huge draw, and I don't think he needs to be in the main event scene at WrestleMania anymore. Have him open the show to get crowds excited, but maybe that's not what WWE wants to do with him if they're paying him the big bucks.

Reigns also doesn't exactly look too strong coming in the match at #26, and he won by throwing an exhausted GUNTHER, who had already fought an incredible match earlier in the night, over the top rope.

With his part time schedule, it also doesn't seem like Reigns is winning another big title anytime soon. I don't want to say it feels like a waste of a 'Mania match, and I could be wrong, but there just isn't much thrilling about this. And, if Reigns plays off the "I gave you guys a chance, and you couldn't do it and still needed me" thing, it's really going to feel like he's burying all of the talent who are there week in and week out. I obviously was not a fan of Reigns' win at all, and I'm not looking forward to what this means for WrestleMania.

Written by Daisy Ruth