WWE Gives Special Instructions To Talent Ahead Of Royal Rumble

WWE officials have given the talent some advice ahead of the Royal Rumble. 

The 2026 edition of WWE Royal Rumble has arrived today, January 31st, and it’s taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time.

Most of the WWE superstars appearing at the Royal Rumble – and on SmackDown on January 30th – were flown to Saudi Arabia on a WWE charter plane on Tuesday. Since then, the superstars have been able to visit tourist attractions, promote the Rumble, make appearances on behalf of WWE, and so on. Many of them have been posted on social media because the superstars love to do it.

Since an event like the Royal Rumble often features surprises in the participants for the Men’s and Women’s Rumble matches, it’s also important for WWE to do its best to keep surprises from leaking.

There were previous reports that WWE had different travel schedules for some talents, as well as tighter security at WWE’s hotel in Riyadh.

An example of wrestlers having different travel schedules is that newcomer Powerhouse Hobbs (aka Royce Keys in WWE) is expected to be in Riyadh for the Rumble, but he didn’t fly on the WWE charter, according to reports.

WWE Wants Superstars To Cut Back On Social Media Posting

During a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez said WWE reached out to talent to advise them to cut back on posting photos on social media.

“The talent were told over the last couple of days, because every time they go to these places, they bombard social media with photos.

We talked the other day about how Rey Mysterio posted a photo of himself with Dragon Lee and Penta, all unmasked but covering their faces. The talent were told to ease up on the photos because there’s concern that some surprise might be in the background of one of the pictures and reveal something. So they’re trying to avoid stuff getting out.” (H/T Ringsidenews)

The WWE Royal Rumble takes place this Saturday, January 31st, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here’s the lineup.

• Men’s Royal Rumble Match
• Undisputed WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn
• Women’s Royal Rumble Match
• AJ Styles vs. Gunther – If Styles loses, then he must retire

The Royal Rumble streams live on Saturday, January 31, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, exclusively on ESPN in the United States and Netflix internationally.