Royal Rumble (2025)

Royal Rumble
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
DateFebruary 1, 2025
CityIndianapolis, Indiana
VenueLucas Oil Stadium
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The 2025 Royal Rumble, also promoted as Royal Rumble: Indianapolis, is an upcoming professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It will be the 38th annual Royal Rumble and it will take place on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, marking the first Royal Rumble to not take place during the month of January. The event will air via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This will also be WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to air on Netflix in most markets outside the US, following the WWE Network's move to the service in January 2025.

The event is based around the Royal Rumble match, and the winner traditionally receives a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2025 event, the men's and women's winners receive a choice of which championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 41. The men's winner can choose to challenge for either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, while the women have the choice between Raw's Women's World Championship and SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship.

Production

Background

The event will be held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event that was previously produced every January by WWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".[1][2] The concept of the event is based around the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.[3][4]

From the event's inception in 1988 up through the 2024 event, the Royal Rumble was held annually in late January. On June 24, 2024, WWE announced a partnership with the Indiana Sports Corp. which would see the 2025 Royal Rumble, as well as a future WrestleMania and a future SummerSlam, held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The date for the 38th annual Royal Rumble was announced for Saturday, February 1, thus marking the first Royal Rumble held outside of January.[5][6][7] It will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions and in addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide, it will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, and Netflix in most other international markets,[6] marking the first WWE PPV and livestreaming event to air on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025.[8] Tickets went on sale on November 15, 2024.[9]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2025, the men and women can choose which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 41; the men can choose Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, while the women have the choice between Raw's Women's World Championship and SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship.[3][4]

Storylines

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[10][11] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[12]

On November 13, 2024, it was announced that John Cena would be competing at the Royal Rumble, which would in turn be his last Royal Rumble appearance as Cena announced at the 2024 Money in the Bank that he would be retiring at the end of 2025. It is currently unknown whether Cena will be competing in the eponymous match or in another bout on the card.[13]

At Bad Blood in October, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes set aside his differences with longtime rival Roman Reigns to face The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu), which was won by Rhodes and Reigns. Following the event, fans captured footage of Kevin Owens having an altercation with Rhodes in the parking lot as he was entering his bus, which culminated with Owens attacking Rhodes, thus turning heel. Owens considered Rhodes teaming with Reigns as a betrayal due to Owens's past issues with Reigns and the original Bloodline.[14] Rhodes and Owens eventually faced each other at Saturday Night's Main Event on December 14 for the title and due to the 1980s retro theme of the event, Rhodes wore the Winged Eagle version of the WWE Championship belt. During the match, Owens performed a Stunner on Rhodes, which inadvertently knocked out the referee out of the ring. While the referee was still incapacitated, Owens grabbed a chair and attempted to attack Rhodes only for Rhodes to seize it and performed a Cross Rhodes on Owens onto the chair. The referee subsequently recovered and counted the pin, thus Rhodes retained the title. After the event went off the air, Owens attacked Rhodes with a package piledriver and stole the Winged Eagle belt, subsequently claiming to be the "true champion".[15] On the December 27 episode of SmackDown, the brand's General Manager Nick Aldis demanded that Owens return the Winged Eagle belt or be fired. Owens stated that he would only give it back if he received a rematch against Rhodes. Aldis declined and stated that the demand was non-negotiable. Rhodes interrupted and said he wanted a chance to get revenge on Owens and take it back himself, thus challenging Owens to a rematch as a Ladder match at the Royal Rumble with both the Undisputed and Winged Eagle belts suspended above the ring, which Aldis made official.[16]

Matches

No.Matches*Stipulations
1Men's Royal Rumble match30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 41
2Women's Royal Rumble match30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women's world championship match at WrestleMania 41
3Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin OwensLadder match for the Undisputed WWE Championship[17]
The "Undisputed" title belt and the "Winged Eagle" belt will be suspended above the ring.[17]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

References

  1. ^ Hamilton, Ian. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. p. 160.
  2. ^ "Las Vegas to host WWE's Money in the Bank in 2022". KSNV. August 22, 2021. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the original on July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  5. ^ Gaydos, Ryan (June 24, 2024). "WWE to host 3 major premium live events in Indianapolis, starting with 2025 Royal Rumble". Fox Business. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Keller, Wade (June 24, 2024). "WWE announces Indianapolis, Ind. will host WrestleMania, Summerslam, and Royal Rumble in first-of-its-kind multi-event deal with a city". PWTorch. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  7. ^ Russell, Skylar (June 24, 2024). "WWE Royal Rumble 2025 To Take Place On February 1 In Indianapolis, City Set To Host Future WrestleMania And SummerSlam Events". Fightful. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  8. ^ Lowson, Thomas (January 25, 2024). "End of the WWE Network: Streaming Service to Be Absorbed By Netflix Next Year (Report)". SE Scoops. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Russell, Skylar (September 30, 2024). "Tickets For WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Set To Go On Sale On 11/15, Presale To Begin On 11/13". Fightful. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  10. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  11. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  12. ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  13. ^ Jeremy Lambert (November 13, 2024). "John Cena Confirms He Will Compete At WWE Royal Rumble 2025". Fightful. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  14. ^ Harris, Jeffrey (October 6, 2024). "Triple H Issues Statement on Kevin Owens' Attack on Cody Rhodes". 411Mania. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  15. ^ Powell, Jason (December 14, 2024). "WWE Saturday Night's Main Event results (12/14): Powell's live review of Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship, Gunther vs. Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  16. ^ Barnett, Jake (December 27, 2024). "WWE Smackdown results (12/27): Barnett's live review of Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Bayley vs. Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, and Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green's championship celebration". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Russell, Skylar (December 27, 2024). "Ladder Match Set For WWE Royal Rumble". Fightful. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
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