The Road to WrestleMania 40 officially begins at the Royal Rumble. 30 male and 30 female superstars will compete in their respective Rumble matches to determine two world title matches at WrestleMania in April. It all goes down on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
After debuting in 1988, the event became one of the most popular on the WWE calendar. The match begins with one person in the ring followed by a new entrant entering in timed intervals until the 30th person makes their way to the ring. At that point, the last person still in the ring who has not been tossed over the top rope to the floor is declared the winner and awarded a title shot of their choosing at WrestleMania. The event is also always filled with surprises from returning stars of the past to big names in other organizations making a debut.
Cody Rhodes and CM Punk are two of the biggest favorites for the men's Rumble. Both men are determined to finish their stories by winning a world title match in the main event of WrestleMania 40. But they aren't the only ones in the running. Intercontinental champion Gunther set the record for the longest time in a traditional Rumble match last year and looks to win the whole thing in 2024. Drew McIntyre has stepped up his game in recent months and Jimmy Uso looks to bring another world title to The Bloodline.
Beyond the pair of Rumble matches are a pair of championship matches scheduled for Saturday night. The biggest sees Roman Reigns look to extend his incredible run as undisputed universal champion against three top superstars in LA Knight, AJ Styles and Randy Orton. Each man believed that he had earned the right to challenge Reigns with a personal gripe against the champion over the last few years. When no clear decision could be made, as well as interference from The Bloodline preventing a clear contender from emerging, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis decided that Reigns would have to defend his crown against all three men.
Plus, United States champion Logan Paul looks to make his first title defense when he takes on Kevin Owens, who had to win a tournament to earn his right to challenge for the crown.
Take a look below at the confirmed matches for Royal Rumble. The event streams live on Peacock on Saturday with the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET.
2024 WWE Royal Rumble matches
Men's Royal Rumble match: The winner of the titular 30-man match wins a world title shot of their choosing at WrestleMania 40. Two superstars begin the match. An elimination occurs when someone is tossed over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. Most wrestlers involved will be active roster members but expect a few surprises such as NXT call-ups, debuting superstars, returning legends or one-off appearances.
Confirmed entrants:
- Cody Rhodes
- CM Punk
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Bobby Lashley
- Drew McIntyre
- Gunther
- Chad Gable
- Otis
- Akira Tozawa
- Kofi Kingston
- Damian Priest
- Santos Escobar
- R-Truth
- Carlito
- Grayson Waller
- Austin Theory
- Jimmy Uso
Women's Royal Rumble match: The women's Royal Rumble, which debuted in 2018, functions identically to its male counterpart. The winner of this 30-woman match can choose to pursue either the women's world championship or WWE women's title at WrestleMania.
Confirmed entrants:
- Bayley
- Nia Jax
- Becky Lynch
- Bianca Belair
- Maxxine Dupri
- Ivy Nile
- Alba Fyre
- Shotzi
- Zelina Vega
- Michin
Undisputed WWE universal championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles: A triple threat match on the special New Year's Revolution episode of SmackDown was meant to determine Reigns' challenger at the Rumble. The Bloodline sabotaged the match by laying out its three contenders: Orton, Knight and Styles. SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis informed Heyman that Reigns would have to face all three men in a fatal four-way match after preventing a clear outcome.
United States championship -- Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens: A single elimination tournament took place on SmackDown to produce the top contender for Paul's U.S. championship. Kevin Owens defeated Austin Theory, Carmelo Hayes and Santos Escobar to punch his ticket to a match with Paul at the Royal Rumble.
