Powerhouse Hobbs Debuts As Royce Keys At Royal Rumble 2026 (WWE News)
The former Powerhouse Hobbs debuted as Royce Keys at the Royal Rumble.
While last night's Royal Rumble PLE was viewed by some fans as being a little short on genuine surprises, one such surprise was the WWE debut of the former Powerhouse Hobbs.
The former AEW TNT Champion departed Tony Khan's promotion last month, which was immediately followed by reports that the real-life William Hobson was heading to WWE. And for those wondering when the Monstar would make his WWE debut, they didn't have to wait long.
Under the name Royce Keys, the 35-year-old entered the men's Royal Rumble in the #14 spot last night, managed to dump one-time World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest over the top rope, hung in the Rumble for another ten minutes or so, before eventually being dumped out by Bronson Reed. From the moment he made his entrance to the moment he was eliminated, Keys was presented as a notable player, impressing in everything he did.
Interestingly, Royce's arrival initially had his Powerhouse Hobbs name appear on the video screen for his entrance, before that name was quickly replaced by Royce Keys. This was a little like when KENTA made his NXT debut, with the KENTA name being replaced by Hideo Itami. Likewise, Michael Cole referenced Keys as formerly known as Powerhouse Hobbs, acknowledging that previous moniker.
As for the "Royce Keys" name, Royce is the name of Will's son, whilst Keys is believed to be the maiden name of the star's mother, giving extra significance and meaning to this new mantle. Now it just remains to be seen which brand Keys will call home, with him seemingly going straight to the main roster rather than spending any time in NXT.
In terms of Royal Rumble surprises last night, the main talking points were the debut of Royce Keys and the WWE return of Brie Bella, with Brie being a part of the women's Rumble. Other than that, the women's Rumble featured appearances from NXT's Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Jacy Jayne, and Kelani Jordan, plus the return from injury of Tiffany Strattion. For the men's Rumble match, AAA's Mr. Iguana and La Parka were entrants, but, surprisingly, there were no NXT stars in that bout.
Ahead of the Royal Rumble, there had been strong rumblings of Chris Jericho returning at that PLE, the potential return to the ring of Bianca Belair, or possibly even the WWE return of Paige/Saraya.