The Road to WrestleMania 40 kicks off on Saturday at the 2024 Royal Rumble. One male and one female superstar will punch their tickets to the year's biggest event by winning their respective 30-superstar matches.
The men's Rumble is rich with storylines. Cody Rhodes is determined to finish his story by avenging his WrestleMania 39 loss to Roman Reigns. CM Punk shockingly returned to WWE last year to complete a long-denied dream of headlining WrestleMania. Intercontinental champion Gunther had a record-setting run at last year's Rumble and recently called out world heavyweight champ Seth Rollins. Drew McIntyre is on fire and could disrupt things. Most recently, Paul Heyman motivated Jimmy Uso to play spoiler.
There aren't as many intertwining plots in the women's Rumble but that means anyone can step up and shock the world. Bayley is a strong candidate considering the success of her Damage CTRL cohorts. Becky Lynch is always a reliable WrestleMania headliner. Nia Jax has been unexpectedly effective since returning to the company as a surprise entrant last year. Speaking of surprise entrants, maybe an unannounced superstar will steal the whole thing.
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.
Below is how you can catch all the action on Saturday night.
Watch 2024 WWE Royal Rumble
Date: Jan. 27
Location: Tropicana Field -- St. Petersburg
Start time: 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. ET kickoff show)
Watch live: Peacock
2024 WWE Royal Rumble match card
- Men's Royal Rumble match: Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther vs. Chad Gable vs. Otis vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Damian Priest vs. Santos Escobar vs. R-Truth vs. Carlito vs. Grayson Waller vs. Austin Theory vs. Jimmy Uso vs. 13 unannounced entrants
- Women's Royal Rumble match: Confirmed entrants. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair vs. Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile vs. Alba Fyre vs. Shotzi vs. Zelina Vega vs. Michin vs. 20 unannounced entrants
- Undisputed WWE universal championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
- United States championship -- Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens
