WWE Royal Rumble 2026: 7 Potential Surprise Entrants Revealed (WWE News)

Did WWE just spoil 7 Royal Rumble surprises?

by Andrew Pollard
Tatum Paxley
WWE

With the 2026 Royal Rumble now less than two weeks away, it appears that WWE may have spoiled some of the 'surprise' entrants for this year's over-the-top spectacle.

As Royal Rumble advertisements begin to pop up around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - such as seen on this poster, via Ringside News - various NXT talents can be spotted amongst the usual WWE main roster faces.

WWE Royal Rumble 2026
Instagram @ringsidenewscom

Of course, this advertisement is by no means an outright confirmation that those names will definitely be part of the respective men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, but a quick look at that particular poster appears to show NXT's Tatum Paxley, Oba Femi, Joe Hendry, Lola Vice, Jaida Parker, Ethan Page, and Thea Hail.

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From those names, former two-time NXT Champion Oba Femi has been featured in vignettes on both Raw and SmackDown in recent weeks, teasing the Ruler's imminent main roster call-up, whilst Joe Hendry has been a fairly regular presence on SmackDown ahead of what's expected to be a formal move to WWE's blue brand. Current NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is somebody who's been regularly in the conversation whenever there's been rumblings of potential main roster moves, as has been Lola Vice, who's recently, like All Ego, been splitting her time between NXT and AAA.

This year's Royal Rumble takes place at Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District on Saturday 31 January, with Cody Rhodes currently the only person announced for Rumble action, and Drew McIntyre set to defend the WWE Championship against the winner of the Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn match that takes place on the 24 January edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. As of now, it's believed that the Royal Rumble PLE will be a four-match card, including the two Rumble matches themselves.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.