On February 1, 2025, Lucas Oil Stadium hosted the 28th annual Royal Rumble. The pay-per-view event featured wrestlers from all three WWE brand divisions: Smackdown, RAW and NXT.
The event is a last man standing event where 30 WWE wrestlers enter the ring and try to eliminate their competitors by throwing them out of the ring. The only way to be eliminated is if someone is thrown completely out of the ring or both of their feet touch the group outside the ring. The winner of this match is able to challenge someone possessing a world championship to a match at Wrestlemania. Right now, those holding championships are Gunther for RAW and The American Nightmare, Cody Rhoades for Smackdown. The same applies to the women’s Royal Rumble, where the winner can choose to challenge either RAW’s Rhea Ripley or Smackdown’s Tiffany Stratton.
This event consisted of the Women’s Rumble, won by Charlotte Flair. She is now the only woman to win two Rumbles,
winning her first in 2020. Then, a tag team three-round championship between #DIY and The Motor City Machine Guns. #DIY won with two pins. Next, Cody Rhoades and long-time rival Kevin Owens went head to head in a ladder match won by Rhoades. Finally, the Men’s Royal Rumble was won by Main Event Jey Uso.
There were many surprise guests with some of the biggest pops in WWE. Some of the returners were Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Bella, AJ Styles, Trish Stratus, Jordynne Grace and Joe Hendry. This was also the final Royal Rumble appearance of John Cena, who announced that he would be retiring in 2025.
Some other accolades were received by Rumble competitors as well. NXT’s Roxanne Perez set a new record for the longest time spent within a Rumble at 1:07:47. Meanwhile, Nia Jax set the record for the most eliminations in a single Rumble with nine eliminations. This was also the longest men’s Royal Rumble match at 1:20:15.
The women’s rumble went in entrance order of Iyo Sky, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Lyra Valkyria, Chelsea Green, B-Fab, Ivy Nile, Zoey Stark, Lash Legend, Bianca Belair, Shayna Baszler, Bayley, Sonya Deville, Maxxine Dupri, Naomi, Jaida Parker, Piper Niven, Natalya, Jordynne Grace, Michin, Alexa Bliss, Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae, Stephanie Vaquer, Trish Stratus, Raquel Rodrigues, Charlotte Flair, Guila, Nia Jax and Nikki Bella.
The men rumble had an entrance order of Rey Mysterio, Penta, Chad Gable, Carmelo Hayes, Santos Escobar, Otis, Bron Breakker, IShowSpeed, Sheamus, Jimmy Uso, Andrade, Jacob Fatu, Ludwig Kaiser, The Miz, Joe Hendry, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, John Cena, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Dominik Mysterio, Sami Zayne, Damian Priest, LA Knight and Logan Paul.
