WWE Royal Rumble (2025) – Match Card, Storylines and Predictions

WWE Royal Rumble (2025) is the 38th annual Royal Rumble PLE set to take place on Feb 1, 2025, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event will feature 2 annual Royal Rumble matches for both Men’s and Women’s divisions, with the winner getting a guaranteed shot at the Championship of their choice at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

WWE Royal Rumble is one of the “Big Five” WWE PLEs along with WWE WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank. Superstars from WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, and WWE NXT will appear on the show. Major athletes from TNA Wrestling would also appear on the show as part of the WWE and TNA Wrestling partnership which took place in Jan. 2025.

WWE Royal Rumble (2025) is also going to be the first-ever WWE PLE to be broadcast live on Netflix outside the USA, as part of the 10-year deal between WWE and Netflix. The event would also mark the first match of John Cena’s farewell tour which will continue till the end of 2025. “Von Dutch” by Charli XCX became the official theme song of the event.

Cody Rhodes defends his WWE Undisputed Championship against Kevin Owens in a Ladder Match

After winning the WWE Undisputed Championship at WWE WrestleMania XL with help from his friends, Cody Rhodes decided to team up with Roman Reigns at WWE Bad Blood 2024 PLE against Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in a tag team match. Kevin Owens who helped Rhodes fight against Reigns and his Bloodline felt betrayed after this alliance between Rhodes and Reigns and decided to attack Rhodes in the parking area after the Bad Blood PLE. 

Prior to this incident, Rhodes had already given Owens a shot at his WWE Undisputed Championship at Bash in Berlin PLE — saying that Owens deserves this shot after helping him so many times in the past year.

Rhodes and Owens clashed once again for the WWE Undisputed Championship at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXVII in Dec 2024. Rhodes once again defeated Owens to retain his championship. But after the match ended, Ownes attacked Rhodes with a Package piledriver in the middle of the ring. Owens decided to bring back the move which is not just dangerous but also banned in WWE and various other wrestling promotions. Owens also took the WWE Winged Eagle Championship with him, which was only brought back for just one night during that show.

Then on the Dec. 27th edition of WWE SmackDown, GM Nick Aldis gave a final ultimatum to Owens — saying that if he didn’t return the legendary WWE Winged Eagle Championship by the end of the show if he would face swear consequences that could also impact his career in WWE. Later on that show, Owens and Rhodes met in the middle of the ring where Rhodes challenged Owens to a Ladder match at the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble PLE. Before leaving the ring Owens once again attacked Rhodes with a cheap shot.

On the Jan. 3rd edition of WWE SmackDown, Owens once again decided to attack Rhodes when he kicked off the first WWE SmackDown show of 2025. Later on that night, WWE SmackDown GM Nick Aldis asked Rhodes to not engage in any fights till the WWE Royal Rumble 2025 PLE. Rhodes replied saying if he saw anyone who even looked like Owens, he would drop him on sight.

Owens and Rhodes met one more time on the following episode of WWE Raw Debut on Netflix during the Tribal combat match between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, where Owens came to help Sikoa and then Rhodes came to help Reigns as he took the fight to Owens.

Then on the following episode of WWE SmackDown on Jan. 10, Paul Heyman called Rhodes to the ring as he announced that Roman Reigns will be entering the 2025 Men’s WWE Royal Rumble Match. During that segment, Owens appeared on the show and called out Rhodes for hanging out with The Rock and helping Reigns in his Tribal Combat match.

Rhodes then went after Owens as they began brawling with each other between the WWE Universe in attendance. Rhodes also came back to help Heyman and Jimmy Uso, who were surrounded by Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga. Later on that show, Rhodes teamed with Jimmy to take on Fatu and Tonga in a tag team match. During that match, Owens once again appeared on the show and Rhodes then left the ringside and went after him. The two then crashed through tables in the arena. Meanwhile, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga took advantage and pinned Jimmy Uso to win the match.

On the Jan. 17th edition of WWE SmackDown, Rhodes and Owens refused to sign the contract for their Ladder match at the WWE Royal Rumble 2025. Owens who was scheduled to be in the match against Rey Mysterio later that night, tried to attempt the Package piledriver on Mysterio after winning the match before Cody Rhodes arrived to save Mysterio from the disaster.

Meanwhile, Owens appeared on the Jan. 20th edition of WWE Raw and asked Sami Zayn to help him in his match against Rhodes at the WWE Royal Rumble (2025). Owens then defeated Jimmy Uso on the Jan. 24th edition of WWE SmackDown, where Rhodes came to reuse Jimmy when Owens tried to hit him with the Package piledriver as well.

Both Owens and Rhodes then meet one last time on WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXVIII, where they finally signed the contract for their Ladder match at the WWE Royal Rumble (2025). Owens once again tried to package Piledriver, this time on Shawn Michaels — who responded with the Sweet Chin Music.

Since winning the WWE Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania XL, this has been the biggest storyline in this amazing championship run of Cody Rhodes.

My Prediction: “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes

2025 Men’s WWE Royal Rumble Match

Every year the Road to WrestleMania begins at the WWE Royal Rumble PLE where 30 superstars compete in the annual Royal Rumble match. The match began with 2 superstars inside the ring, with a new participant joining the match every 90 seconds — until all the 30 participants entered the match. If anyone gets thrown over the top rope during the match, he gets eliminated from the match. The last remaining superstar wins the Royal Rumble match and gets the opportunity to face the champion of his choice at WWE WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

Just like every year, WWE has not disclosed the names of all 30 participants competing in the match. But there are a few superstars who announced their participation during the WWE Raw and SmackDown shows. As of now, 10 WWE Superstars from the WWE Men’s Roster have announced their participation in the match.

There have been a lot of Royal Rumble matches in the long history of WWE, but there has not been much stacked like this one. If we look at the list of superstars that have declared their participation in the match so far, the names that are on the list are completely crazy. Names like “Cena, Reigns, Punk, Rollins” and so many others. It’s really hard to say who I want to see point at the WWE WrestleMania sign at the end of the night. But, I think Reigns winning the Royal Rumble match would make the most sense to me right now.

My Tribal Chief lost his crown last year at WrestleMania. He then made his return at the 2024 WWE SummerSlam, reunited the OG Bloodline, and then got his Ula Fala back. It is only right to say that at WrestleMania 41 in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada he will be back once against the pinnacle of sports and entertainment to get his championship back from Cody Rhodes.

Besides Reigns being my pick to win the Men’s WWE Royal Rumble match this year, I think that The Rock could enter the Royal Rumble match at 31. This has not happened before but so as many other things that happened last year during WrestleMania XL and on the road to WrestleMania XL, when The Rock showed his power as a member of the TKO Board. If this really happens and somehow he wins the match, what would the road to WrestleMania 41 be gonna look like?

My Pick to win the 2025 Men’s WWE Royal Rumble match: Roman Reigns

2025 Women’s WWE Royal Rumble Match

Every year the Road to WrestleMania begins at the WWE Royal Rumble PLE where 30 superstars compete in the annual Royal Rumble match. The match began with 2 superstars inside the ring, with a new participant joining the match every 90 seconds — until all the 30 participants entered the match. If anyone gets thrown over the top rope during the match, she gets eliminated from the match. The last remaining superstar wins the Royal Rumble match and gets the opportunity to face the champion of her choice at WWE WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

The WWE Women’s Division is red hot right now. The kind of talent that is currently on the roaster is just incredible. So far there are 10 superstars that have declared for the 2025 Women’s WWE Royal Rumble match.

If I see the list of superstars that have declared their participation, it looks really promising to me. Last year’s Women’s Royal Rumble was a really good one. But if I talk about that I think is going to happen. I think that Charlotte Flair will win this year’s match.

A lot of fans have been asking for a match between Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton. I think a stage like WWE WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas would be perfect. I really hope to see Becky Lynch or Liv Morgan. But I don’t think that it would be a good WrestleMania story with them.

My Pick to win the 2025 Women’s WWE Royal Rumble match: Charlotte Flair

#DIY defend their WWE Tag Team Championship against Motor City Machine Guns in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match

After making a name all over the wrestling world, Motor City Machine Guns hit the WWE Tag Team Division by storm and became the WWE Tag Team Champions in just a short period of time. Their promising story came to an end when got hit by the Fairy Tale Ending by #DIY, who defeated them to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions after Johnny Gargano finally decided to turn on his long-time friends on the Dec. 6th edition of WWE SmackDown.

This led to a rematch between the two teams on the Jan. 3rd edition of WWE SmackDown for the WWE Tag Team Champions. The match ended in a double disqualification after Pretty Deadly and Los Garza crashed into the ring during the match. It turned out that Pretty Deadly has been working alongside DIY to help them keep the WWE Tag Team Championship in their possession.

WWE then rolled on with a storyline involving Los Garza, Pretty Deadly, Motor City Machine Guns, and A-Town Down Under. All of them fighting to earn a shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship. Then on the Jan. 10th edition of WWE SmackDown, Los Garzas defeated Pretty Deadly and Motor City Machine Guns (MCMG) defeated A-Town Down Under.

This led to another tag team match between the winners on the Jan. 17th edition of WWE SmackDown, where Motor City Machine Guns (MCMG) faced Los Garzas. Pretty Deadly, who has been helping #DIY in recent weeks also tried to interfere in the match in the hope of costing Machine Guns but it didn’t work out as they planned. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin came out prepared for all the shenanigans of #DIY as they managed to win the match against Los Garzas.

Motor City Machine Guns then found themself in a tag team match against Pretty Deadly on the Jan. 24th edition of WWE SmackDown, after they tried to interfere in their previous tag team match. Shelley and Sabin delivered another impressive performance and won the match.

Later that night Johnny Gargano faced Apollo Crews in a singles match where Motor City Machine Guns came to help Crews after Tommaso Ciampa tried to help his friend Gargano. With a little help from Machine Guns, Crews managed to pull a win over Gargano. Later on the show, Motor City Machine Guns (MCMG) met DIY backstage and told them that they would be facing them in a Two out of three falls match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble.

My Pick to win the 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Motor City Machine Guns

My thoughts on WWE Royal Rumble (2025):

Royal Rumble is one the most important PLE of the year for WWE. Not just because of what’s at stake at the event, but also because it sets the tone for what is the most important event in all of sports and entertainment every year, WrestleMania. WWE delivered what was an absolutely legendary time in the history of the company over the last whole year. We saw stories getting happily ended and new starts getting born.

This year would be the same except there is one man, who is looking to regain his throne that he lost last year. In order to do that he has to go through a lot of hungry superstars that looking to seize their moment, including his own bloodline. Will the star boy of WWE would be able to save himself from the prizefighter? 

If you look at the WWE Royal Rumble 2025 with a bigger picture, you will realize the future of the industry is all on the line. And it is waiting for someone to step up and take it all with him.

WWE is expecting to host a crowd of over 65 to 75K fans in attendance for what could be the biggest WWE Royal Rumble of all time. So, there is only one thing that want to ask you. Are you ready?