*By Request*
“it is hard to believe that the royal rumble is coming up soon. my request to you is two related questions. who do you think is going to win the mens and womens rumble matches but also who do you think should win the mens and womens rumble matches?”
It’s a pretty easy topic to tackle, and that comes at a good time for me. I’m in the middle of a very busy holiday week, so I don’t have anywhere near as much time to write as I normally would, so having to spend a bunch of time researching a topic and things that I would normally do is out of the question.
Let’s not waste any more time. You saw the request. We’re officially two months away from the Royal Rumble, so let’s talk winners, shall we?
Who Should Win The Women’s Rumble Match: Liv Morgan. Obviously, this one was questionable up until Survivor Series because of Liv’s recovery from the shoulder injury that took her out of action back in June. We didn’t get any word on when she was scheduled to make her return, but now that she has come back, there’s no need to wildly speculate anymore.
Heel or face, Liv is one of the more over acts in WWE, and she has been placed very nicely in a spot where she can win a match like the Royal Rumble. One of the main reasons I think she should win the match is how her career has played out. Liv made her main roster debut in November 2017. The following two years saw her competing in pre-show Battle Royals at WrestleMania. In 2020, she had a pre-show singles match at WrestleMania. It wasn’t until WrestleMania 37 in 2021 that she had her first match on an official Mania card, and that was the start of a three-year trend that saw her shoehorned into tag matches at Mania, and she was on the losing end of all three matches. After not wrestling at WrestleMania 40, she made the card this year… where she was on the losing end of another tag match.
That’s unacceptable.
As I said, she is one of the more over acts in all of WWE… heel or face, man or woman… but it can be hard to tell that when you look at how she is used during the season that includes the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. She has had some impressive performances in the Rumble before, including lasting 67 minutes in this year’s edition, and is fourth on the list of cumulative time spent in women’s Rumble matches, but she’s overdue for her “moment.”
Who Should Win The Men’s Rumble Match: Sami Zayn. If you’ve been a reader of my work for a while, here’s something you’ve seen me say a bunch of times in the past… above everything else, WWE is in the “moments business.”
Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin screaming in agony with a blood-soaked face as he sits in Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s Sharpshooter at WrestleMania 13. The Undertaker throwing Mankind off of the Cell at King Of The Ring 1998. The shots of shocked fans throughout the Superdome after Brock Lesnar ended The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak.
The list goes on and on and on, but more than anything else, that is what WWE lives for and strives for with their product. Sure, a great match is… well… great, but the company’s view sees those moments as being more valuable than gold. Things you can use in video screenshots, in compilations, share on social media, and so on.
I say all that because I think Sami winning the Rumble provides the company with the best possible “moment” they could get there. First and foremost, Sami is one of the most beloved characters in the entire sport. Perhaps more importantly, though, is the little fact that the 2026 Royal Rumble will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That crowd is going to be raucously supporting Zayn, who is a devout Muslim, so just imagine what their reaction would be when Sami eliminates the final competitor to win the Rumble and punch his ticket to WrestleMania.
It’s not like I’m picking this strictly because of Sami’s connection to the people of Saudi Arabia and he’s just a lowly bum on the roster. Sami has been “ready” for a spot like this for years now. Please don’t forget that his overwhelming popularity had people calling for WWE to call an audible on Cody Rhodes finishing his “story” at WrestleMania 39, even while they were actively rooting for Cody to beat Roman Reigns.
A Sami victory at the Royal Rumble would be a magical piece of wrestling history, bringing forth deep emotion from fans all over the world. It makes too much sense not to happen, if you ask me.
Who Will Win The Women’s Rumble Match: Bianca Belair. Here’s another choice that has a lot of question marks due to an injury. Bianca has been on the shelf since breaking multiple fingers on her left hand, including one at the knuckle, at WrestleMania 41. That was over seven months ago, but the severity of the injury has kept her out for much longer than anyone initially expected, with no return information revealed whatsoever. I’m going to make the assumption that Bianca will be back in action before the end of January, or at least will be returning at the Rumble itself.
Right now, Jade Cargill is the current WWE Women’s Champion. Of course, a lot can change over the next two months, and perhaps she won’t be the champion when the Rumble rolls around. As of now, though, there is a full and logical story to be told with Jade as the champion and Bianca as the returning Royal Rumble winner. Jade’s recent heel turn only adds another layer to the story.
I really like the idea of Liv Morgan winning the Rumble, but I think her story with the likes of Dominik Mysterio, Roxanne Perez, and Raquel Rodriguez are more pressing matters in the minds of those in charge of WWE. We’re more likely to see Liv do something great at the Rumble, only to be “accidentally” eliminated by Roxanne, setting up something between the two at WrestleMania.
That’s where Bianca’s return is important. Prior to her injury, Bianca was having the best singles push that she had in a long time, after a good chunk of time spent in a tag team or wandering around with no real direction. When she returns, I fully expect that momentum to continue.
Who Will Win The Men’s Rumble Match: Bron Breakker. Honestly, this is the one I’ve been back and forth the most on. I could definitely see Bron winning the Rumble. At the same time, I could see Roman Reigns winning, simply because he’s Roman Reigns and this is WWE we’re talking about. Drew McIntyre? I could see it. Jacob Fatu? Indeed. LA Knight? Yeah. Sorry. I had to do that one.
Hell, I could even see WWE deciding to make a big splash by having Oba Femi win, especially if he’s unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the NXT Championship from Ricky Saints at Deadline. Think of the waves that would make, with a brand-new-to-the-main-roster talent… or, clutch your pearls, someone who is still on the NXT roster… coming in and immediately shocking the world by winning the Royal Rumble.
That might be a bit of a pipe dream, though, although I would mark out for it. Bron is a much more likely option. The reason I’m listing him here is because it just seems really obvious. Even before Seth Rollins injured his shoulder, it seemed crystal clear that Bron was set for something very big in the not-too-distant future. The common line of thinking was that Seth would be an overbearing dickhead as the leader of the group, and eventually, Bron would get sick of it and BOOM, he takes his shot at Rollins.
Now, with Seth’s injury, it seemed like WWE just decided to push fast forward on that scenario. Bron is still clearly positioned for something huge, but now, he doesn’t have Seth Rollins standing in front of him. The current top names in WWE, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, both have issues with Bron at the moment. A Royal Rumble win for Mr. Breakker would only further the storylines there if they continue to hold the company’s top titles until WrestleMania. Bron having the screen time with Punk during WarGames, and eventually going on to pin him to win the match for his team, only makes me further think about them being dance partners at WrestleMania.
Then, of course, you have the inevitable return of Seth Rollins, who will have a lot to say about the men that he chose to have his back, only to be stuck on the sidelines and watch as they turned on him when he was down and out. It would be a ton of fun to see Seth return… as a face this time… to go after the Royal Rumble winner, or even the brand new WWE/World Champion if it’s further down the road.
2026 looks like it’s going to be the Year Of The Breakker. Seems like a good start to that would be to have him win the Royal Rumble, no?
It’s time to turn things over to you. Who do you think will win the men’s and/or women’s Royal Rumble matches two months from now? Also, who would win the matches if you were making the decisions? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch things over to my Weekly Power Rankings before I close things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Kyle Fletcher vs Kazuchika Okada: AEW’s Continental Classic is underway once again, and of course, that means the bangers are coming. The tournament’s first banger was here, in the very first tourney match. You’re not going to see me complain about getting a bunch of really good, and even great, matches to watch. If I do have a critique, it’s about the tournament itself. We’re still running with the idea that the winner of the tournament becomes the AEW Continental Champion, but that title, currently held by Okada, is kinda sorta unified with the International Title, but still kinda sorta being kept separate. The last time the Continental Title was defended on its own was over six months ago. The title situation in AEW is absolutely ridiculous, and it seems like there’s more of them being added all the time. What is the solution? Do you have the Continental Classic winner a shot at the World Title? That seems like an easy fix, although it does render the name of the tournament pointless, but also, does it affect the Casino matches where winners earn World Title shots? I’m just rambling at this point. My bad.
Carmelo Hayes vs Gunther: It would’ve been a bold, bold decision if WWE had Melo pull off the upset and get the win here. WWE isn’t in the “bold decision” business much anymore these days, so Gunther got the win. The match was a ton of fun, though, with Melo looking great and looking like a believable threat against someone who has been booked to be almost unstoppable for the last several years. Amazing that all it took for Melo to really shine was to get the hell away from The Miz.
Men’s WarGames Match: One of the most star-studded WarGames matches ever, this one was fueled by the drama, not only with the rival teams, but also with the face squad itself. Wherever Roman Reigns goes, drama follows. It may not have been the violent affair that many hoped for, especially coming just weeks after AEW’s Blood & Guts matches, but I enjoyed it.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Pac: The Continental Classic strikes again. I say it every year, but it’s really cool to see what comes out of this tournament. Everyone seems to up their game, wrestling with more of a purpose than ever. Now, imagine what we could get if they were competing for a World Title instead.
John Cena vs Dominik Mysterio: I know some people have complained about how overbooked the match was, but that’s the Judgment Day formula, for better or worse. There are also complaints that Cena took a physical beating from two women, including one that is the size of a middle school child, but I think that was also Cena’s way of giving back. He has gotten to work with a bunch of people on his retirement tour, and he has paid tribute to dozens more along the way, but what about the women? Even if there’s no connection between Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez, and John Cena, both of those women will forever get to say that they were in the same ring at the same time as Cena, and not only that, but they got to take him out with their finishers. That’s cool. There aren’t many women in the history of the sport that can say that.
Liv Morgan: The overall WWE product is more entertaining when Liv is around, so I’m glad that she made her return from a shoulder injury that kept her out of action for over five months. Her work with Dominik Mysterio has been great, so I’m also glad that she made her return to be by his side again. There’s still plenty of time for her and Roxanne Perez to have problems, as I briefly mentioned in the column you just finished reading.
Orange Cassidy vs Claudio Castagnoli: Two super trustworthy veterans working extra hard because of the Continental Classic going on. How can you go wrong?
Darby Allin vs Kevin Knight: If you’re going to have a tournament of any kind, round robin or otherwise, it would behoove you to have some results that are a surprise to one level or another. That’s what we had here. Kevin Knight is great, don’t get me wrong. He just hasn’t been presented as being anywhere near Darby’s level, so having him pick up the win against someone who was just wrestling a pay-per-view main event a month prior was huge.
Women’s WarGames Match: I enjoyed the match itself, but as I said in my Survivor Series review, was there even a point in this being a WarGames match? I know we aren’t going to get Blood & Guts levels of violence in WWE, but this was almost comically lacking in any real brutality. This would’ve been better off suited as a traditional five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match. Also, what was the point of AJ Lee’s inclusion, other than to pop the crowd? It felt like she threw a couple of punches, handed Iyo Sky a trash can, put Becky Lynch in a Black Widow submission, and nothing more. I get that she’s being protected, and I get that she might still be shaking off some ring rust after not wrestling for over a decade, but this was silly.
Jackson Drake vs Sean Legacy: A really entertaining showcase match on NXT featuring two of the top names on the Evolve roster. I like Sean Legacy, but WWE might have something special in Jackson Drake. He’s only 22 years old, but he has been a pro for nearly eight-and-a-half years now. I’d like to see him wrestle in NXT more often, facing a bigger caliber of opponents before I proclaim him to be the future of the company or anything, but he has my attention.
Brock Lesnar: When you think of easygoing pro wrestlers with a good sense of humor, Brock Lesnar probably isn’t one of the first names to come to mind. With that said, Brock has had two very memorable bloopers in recent times, and in both instances, he handled it with huge smiles and laughs, catching me completely off-guard. First, there was two months ago when he ripped his jeans on an episode of Smackdown, nearly exposing his ass to the world after hitting R-Truth with an F5. He tried to no-sell that for a couple seconds before laughing at talking to Stu The Cameraman about it, trying to make sure that it was caught on-camera. Then, Brock slipped and fell during his entrance on Monday Night Raw, tumbling and popping back up immediately and laughing with both Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker. Two very embarrassing moments, especially for who is supposed to be the biggest, baddest, and assiest of all the big badasses, but he handled them in unexpected ways that made the moments even more entertaining and, ultimately, memorable.
This Week’s Playlist: “Meet Your Maker” by The Veer Union… “The Wedge Between Us” by Hope Kills Reality… “Infinite Hologram” by PARIAH… “Chemicals” by Cold Culture… “FYE FYE” by Tobe Nwigwe & Fat Nwigwe… “Keemy Casanova” by Akeem Ali… “A Dope Story” by Killer Mike… “MEET THE SUN” by Joseph Solomon… “Call You Home” by Kensington… “Fairytale Of New York” by Good Charlotte… “All The Small Things” by blink-182… “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” by Bone Thugs N Harmony & Shatasha… “Ride (Remix)” by Chance The Rapper, Do Or Die & Twista… “No Problem” by Chance The Rapper, Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz… “XO Tour Llif3” by Lil Uzi Vert… “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott & Drake… “Ric Flair Drip” by Offset… “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” by Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown… “Too Many Nights” by Metro Boomin, Future & Don Toliver… “Creepin” by Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage… “Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)” by Metro Boomin, 21 Savage & Mustafa… “Emergence” by Sleep Token… “Caramel” by Sleep Token… “Boogie Woogie Wu” by Insane Clown Posse… “Mmhmm” by BigXThaPlug
