WWE Royal Rumble 2026: Latest On EVERY Surprise Entrant You Need To Know (WWE News)

The latest on WWE Royal Rumble surprises.

Chris Jericho
AEW

With the 2026 Royal Rumble only a matter of days away, the wrestling world is abuzz with chatter about what surprises WWE has up its sleeve this weekend.

On that topic, Fightful Select has a rundown of the names most speculated about as Rumble surprises, and what the chances are of those names actually making an appearance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday.

Of course, the biggest name being talked about amongst fans for the Royal Rumble is the WWE return of Chris Jericho. Fightful points out that Jericho is still listed on the AEW roster page, and that rumours of WWE recently trademarking the term "Judas" are false. A talent being removed from the AEW roster page is an indication that a wrestler has left Tony Khan's promotion, but, for now, the inaugural AEW Champion remains listed as a member of the All Elite roster.

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In terms of current WWE talent, LA Knight, as of earlier this month, was scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia, as is former WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton, as well as NXT's Sol Ruca. On the injury front, Kevin Owens was not medically cleared as of last weekend's WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, Zoey Stark is still recovering from her ACL injury, Michin is still sidelined and has not travelled to Riyadh, and Seth Rollins claims he won't be at the Royal Rumble. In the case of Rollins, most in WWE don't expect the Visionary to be physically ready for the Rumble, but, given what played out last year for Seth and his Money in the Bank cash-in at SummerSlam, some fans may be skeptical about his status...

Elsewhere, Powerhouse Hobbs has officially signed with WWE, and this Fightful report would be surprised if Hobbs "isn't at least brought over", though he was not on the charter flight that the rest of the roster took earlier this week. Having left TNA earlier this month, the IInspiration/IIconics aren't planned for the Royal Rumble, despite interest in the duo from "companies outside of TNA". Finally, Saraya/Paige was scheduled for a convention appearance this weekend, but that convention has been rescheduled due to a double booking of the venue. While there is the possibility that the former two-time WWE Divas Champion could appear at the Royal Rumble, she was still in the United States as of last night.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.