Despite the speculation, WWE has no intentions of changing the Royal Rumble format for 2025.
On February 1st, the long-running event will once again return and will see the top stars of the men’s and women’s divisions look to punch their ticket to WrestleMania by being the last one standing in the legendary stipulation bout.
With John Cena, CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre among the announced participants for the men’s match, there is the potential for it to be one of the most star-studded in the history of the event. In the women’s match, former winners Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair and Bayley have also confirmed their entry, once again promising a strong line-up.
While the announced entrants are already getting the fans excited, there is of course the speculation surrounding the surprise participants in the match. Along with main roster stars returning from injury, there is also the possibility of cameos from legends, NXT or even TNA given the ongoing partnership between the two companies.
With so many options for surprise entrants, some have speculated that the Rumble matches may once again expand to 40 entrants to accommodate. However, as part of an update by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, this is not on the cards:
There was talk of WWE wrestlers mentioning “40 person” Royal Rumbles. This is not the plan and hasn’t been discussed or planned.
In 2011 the Rumble was expanded to 40 participants and was won by Alberto Del Rio. With fans feeling that the match was too long, subsequent years have remained at 30 entrants for the standard show. The only exception was The Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, which saw 50 stars enter and was once again not well-received by the fans.
Who Will Win The WWE Rumble Matches?
Unlike the past few years where the result has been very predictable, multiple entrants have a strong case to emerge the victor in their respective matches. A few days before the show, full betting odds were released for the WWE Royal Rumble.