WWE Confirms First Entrant In Men's 2023 Royal Rumble

A former WWE Champion just declared himself for the men's 2023 Royal Rumble.

by Jamie Kennedy
Kofi Kingston WWE
WWE.com

Kofi Kingston has become the first wrestler to declare himself for the 2023 men's Royal Rumble match.

The New Day member announced his part in the January tradition on last night's episode of SmackDown before losing to current Intercontinental Champ (and Imperium leader) GUNTHER. It's worth noting that Kofi wasn't backed by regular pal Xavier Woods during Friday's show.

He faced up to Imperium solo, then got put down following a hot match with the seriously-impressive GUNTHER. Of course, a legacy star like Kingston remains over with live crowds and can withstand clean losses, so nobody should have a problem with the booking here.

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Besides, Kofi is Rumble-bound.

Kingston has become known for various creative spots during the traditional pay-per-view favourite. It'll be fun finding out what he has in mind for January 2023 then, but nobody seriously expects Kofi to be in the running as a possible winner at this stage in his career.

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WWE will likely start fleshing out both male and female bouts ASAP. They might even tie in a few Rumble spots to one-off matches on TV over the next month or so.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.