News

Royce Keys Breaks Silence After WWE SmackDown Debut; First Feud Teased

By John Canton • Published Apr 11, 2026 07:54 EDT
Royce Keys WWE Debut
Royce Keys - Image via WWE.com

Royce Keys had his first match on WWE SmackDown and a confrontation backstage as well.

The highly anticipated in-ring debut of Royce Keys took place at the WWE Royal Rumble in Riyadh. While Keys, who was known as Powerhouse Hobbs in AEW for over five years, didn’t come close to winning the Rumble, he still had some big moments in the Rumble match.

Surprisingly, WWE didn’t follow up with Keys soon after. Instead, he worked untelevised dark matches before Raw and SmackDown over the next two months.

On WWE SmackDown in San Jose, Royce Keys finally wrestled on television when he defeated Berto (with Angel) in about three minutes. The powerhouse Keys showed off his power throughout the match and won with a massive Spinebuster. Keys is from Palo Alto, California, so his television debut was about 30 minutes away from where he grew up.

After his match, Royce Keys was interviewed by Cathy Kelley, during which he talked about his big win and was confronted by Solo Sikoa.

Keys: “This is a long time coming, Cathy. I get to do this in front of these people. My people. The bay area…Frisco, San Jose, Oakland, EPA, Vallejo…all the way around the bay. Now we taking it all the way around the world…aight?”

Sikoa: “Long time no see. You got a lot of good memories running around here in the Shark Tank, huh? Listen, now good job out there tonight. I run things around SmackDown here alright, so if there’s anything that you need – and I mean anything – my door is always open.”

Solo walked away while Keys nodded at him as if he understood. Even though Solo “runs” SmackDown as he claimed, he is not in a match at WrestleMania 42.

Royce Keys’ Brother Died While Saving Him

When Royce Keys was a guest on Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, he talked openly about being a father of three kids and how he was mostly raised by his grandparents. He picked the name Royce because it’s one of his sons’ names, and Keys is his mother’s maiden name.

Sadly, Keys also talked about how his brother was murdered while saving Royce.

“My brother was a big drug dealer. He lost his life saving me. It was one of those things – I don’t know if I should say it was meant to happen – but if you play a certain game, you win certain prizes.

He sacrificed himself to save me. I still replay it in my head – seeing him laying there, gasping for air, blood coming out of him – and you don’t even know what you’re supposed to feel in that moment. It was someone just trying to get by, and he lost his life.

There are certain things I hear that remind me of him. I felt guilty for so many years. I felt guilty for wanting to be like him. But at the same time, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have had certain things growing up.”

Also on social media, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, welcomed Keys to SmackDown with a point photo.

Also Read: AEW Legend Believes Royce Key’s WWE Move Will Benefit His Career