WWE Royal Rumble 2026: 5 Things That NEED To Happen

1. Then Reigns Wins The Rumble

Roman Reigns
WWE.com

In-keeping with an earlier prediction about who's winning the men's Rumble, it's the 'OTC'! He's this writer's personal pick to have his hand raised at the end of the 30-man match, then Roman can turn his attention to CM Punk and a World Heavyweight Title clash come WrestleMania 42.

Why not, eh? Reigns going after Punk is one of the biggest matches possible. Roman going one on one with The Rock is another big time collision that WWE has in reserve, but...Dwayne Johnson has shown he's maybe not the most reliable. He shouldn't have been absent from 'Mania last year, especially after helping John Cena turn heel, but he was.

Triple H can't afford to risk anything in 2026. If Rock commits, that changes things. If he can't say for sure whether or not he'll be in Las Vegas, then give Reigns the Rumble win and have him stare down Punk. Maybe he can "box with God" in lieu of Rocky.

Bron Breakker is another option to win the Rumble, but Roman makes more sense if setting up a viable challenger for Punk at 'Mania is the priority (and it should be). The biggest positive to come out of this is that fans wouldn't boo and rebel against Reigns like they did back in 2015.

The current audience turned Roman babyface during his 'Tribal Chief' days in the first place. Surely they wouldn't be that fickle to turn against him on 31 January?

What else do you think must happen at WWE's 2026 Royal Rumble? For more wrestling, check out WWE Royal Rumble 2026: Predicting All 30 Entrants and WWE Women's Royal Rumble 2026: Predicting All 30 Entrants!

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.