How To Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026 - Start Time, Card, Preview
How to watch WWE Royal Rumble from wherever you are.
Always one of the most hotly-anticipated shows of the pro wrestling calendar, the 2026 Royal Rumble sees WWE taking the over-the-top-rope action to Saudi Arabia for the first time in the Rumble's history.
While the Royal Rumble matches are always known for surprises, we do know several entrants for the men's and women's Rumbles already, with heavy hitters such as Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley amongst the biggest names to already declare themselves for their respective Rumbles. On top of that, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will be defending his title against the winner of a fatal four-way taking place at Saturday Night's Main Event this weekend, and AJ Styles has boldly put his career on the line for one more shot at Gunther.
So, with that in mind, here's how to watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026 from wherever you are in the world.
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Start Time & Date
Date: Saturday, 31 January November
Start Time: 2pm ET / 11am PT / 7pm GMT / 5am AEDT (Sunday)
US: ESPN
RoW: Netflix
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How To Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026 In The US?
If you're in the United States, all WWE Premium Live Events, such as Royal Rumble 2026, can be found on ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service. That service also features NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football, soccer, and soon UFC events, with prices ranging from $11.99 per month for the ESPN Select Plan to $29.99 per month for the ESPN Unlimited Plan. Some Hulu+ Live TV, DIRECTV, Fubo TV, and Spectrum TV customers may have the ESPN Unlimited Plan included as part of their standard TV package.
If you're travelling abroad, you may need to use a VPN to watch your usual streaming services from wherever you are in the world. Again, we recommend NordVPN for this, with Nord being the best all-rounder on the market right now.
How To Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026 In The UK, Canada, And The Rest Of The World?
For the majority of those living outside of the United States, Netflix is the home to WWE Premium Live Events such as Royal Rumble, in addition to housing WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT, and various other content previously seen on the WWE Network/Peacock.
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Which Countries Have WWE On Netflix?
While US audiences will find WWE Royal Rumble 2026 on ESPN, the following countries will find this PLE and all other WWE content on Netflix:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Netflix is looking to add more countries to this list in the future, while the streaming service will also continue to add more content. As for that content, the previous WWE Network/Peacock library is being drip-fed across to Netflix in addition to fresh new programming.
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Card
- Singles Match: Gunther vs. AJ Styles
- WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. TBC
- Women's Royal Rumble Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Liv Morgan vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka vs. Kairi Sane vs. TBC
- Men's Royal Rumble Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther vs. Jey Uso vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee vs. Penta vs. TBC
Taking place from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Financial District on Saturday 31 January, WWE Royal Rumble 2026 has the potential to be a monumental show, with its current four-match line-up offering plenty of mouthwatering action.
Of course, as is so often the case, the main attractions of the Royal Rumble PLE are the two eponymous Rumble matches. 30 men and 30 women will compete in their respective Rumbles, with a shot at a World Title on the line for the winners at WrestleMania 42.
For the men's Royal Rumble, Cody Rhodes - fresh off losing the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre - was the first person to declare themselves for the match. Since then, the American Nightmare has been joined by Gunther, Jey Uso, Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and Penta as of this writing. And while more competitors will be announced before the Rumble gets here, there's still likely to be a fair few surprises in that match, be that appearances from NXT stars, returns from injury, or even the expected return to the company of the legendary Chris Jericho.
In the women's Royal Rumble, WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky were the first to formally announce their participation, and they were soon joined by the Judgment Day trio of Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, and Raquel Rodriguez, as well as Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, and the Kabuki Warriors. Again, this is another match with the chance of a nice surprise or two, with Lola Vice and Tatum Paxley just two NXT names tipped for a Rumble appearance, while some have speculated that Paige could well find herself back in WWE come 31 January.
Away from the Royal Rumble matches, Drew McIntyre puts his WWE Title on the line against the winner of a four-way match at this weekend's Saturday Night's Main Event. There at SNME, it's Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn, with the winner then going on to face the Scottish Warrior for the WWE Championship in Riyadh. Given the location of this year's Royal Rumble, Sami finds himself as the heavy favourite to lock horns with McIntyre at the Rumble, but don't rule out Randy Orton, too.
Rounding out the Royal Rumble 2026 card, it's a match with arguably more at stake than any of the other three contests, as AJ Styles puts his career on the line against Gunther. With the Ring General getting a smart, sly win over Styles on Raw earlier this month, the Austrian behemoth saw no reason to wrestle AJ again, with Gunther having already proved himself to be the better man. That is, until the man who sent both Bill Goldberg and John Cena into retirement saw the chance to goad the Phenomenal One into putting his own illustrious career at risk. Should AJ Styles lose to Gunther - who'll be pulling double-duty that night - at the Royal Rumble, that's it for P1, and he himself will be riding off into the sunset and bringing an end to a truly revolutionary career that dates all the way back to 1998.
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