Updated WWE Royal Rumble Lineup, Two Title Matches on Kickoff Show, Randy Orton Added to the Men’s Rumble
This week’s editions of WWE Monday Night Raw (read my review here) and Smackdown Live (read my review here) are over, so it looks like the final Royal Rumble card is all set. Two matches were announced for the Kickoff Show during Smackdown this week. They are the US Title match and the Cruiserweight Title match.
In addition to the match, we also posted some info yesterday on the WWE announce teams for the Kickoff Show as well as what announcers are calling the matches on the main show.
There was one big name added to the men’s Rumble match on Smackdown: Randy Orton. He has been off TV for a while to give him a break as a veteran wrestler that doesn’t work a full-time house show schedule anymore. They brought him back to hit Samoa Joe with a RKO out of nowhere to end Smackdown. It was a good way to end the show.
Here’s the full lineup. For the men’s and women’s Rumble matches, the names come from WWE.com and there are still some open spots for both matches because WWE likes to surprise us.
30 Man Royal Rumble Match – Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Elias, Jinder Mahal, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Lashley, Titus O’Neil, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, John Cena (questionable), R-Truth (#30).
30 Woman Royal Rumble Match – Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Bayley, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mickie James, Alicia Fox, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Zelina Vega, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Tamina, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Dana Brooke, Lana, Nia Jax, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Carmella (#30).
WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor
WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles
Raw Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Bar – Sheamus and Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon
United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (KICKOFF SHOW)
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami (KICKOFF SHOW)
That’s probably the whole show. Our full preview will be up on Friday.