WWE Royal Rumble 2026 preview & predictions: Can Sami win it all in Saudi?
WWE presents the 2026 Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday and it could potentially feature multiple historic moments.
This year’s Rumble matches could see such things as the return of Chris Jericho, the debut of Powerhouse Hobbs as Royce Keys, and more. But the biggest moment of the show could come in the WWE title match between Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre.
Sami Zayn has never lost a match in Saudi Arabia. The fans in Saudi love him more than anyone else. Him winning his first WWE world title in Riyadh would be a huge deal. And it could happen, too. Although, according to the betting odds, it’s not very likely.
Below are previews, betting odds and predictions for each match at WWE Royal Rumble 2026.
Men’s Royal Rumble match
According to the current betting odds, the only real contenders to win this match are Roman Reigns and Bron Breakker, both at +150, Gunther at +200, Sami Zayn at +400 (despite likely not being in the match), and Cody Rhodes also at +400.
I believe the most likely winner of this year’s Rumble is Rhodes.
On SmackDown, Michael Cole hammered home that Rhodes doesn’t get a rematch with McIntyre unless he wins the Rumble. If his only path to a WWE title match is to win the Rumble, then he’s probably going to win the Rumble.
Of course, the Elimination Chamber can be used to get someone back in the world title picture even without a Rumble win, so they have options. To me, Rhodes winning it for a third time makes sense here, though.
Last year, Jey Uso won the Rumble as a +2500 underdog, although there was one preview for last year’s show that correctly predicted him as the winner.
Prediction: Cody Rhodes
Women’s Royal Rumble match
From November until now, the betting odds for the women’s Rumble have been a three person race between Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. Liv is currently a -125 favorite to win, followed by Belair at +150, and then Ripley at +250. Tiffany Stratton and Becky Lynch have both seen their odds improve in recent weeks and are now at +500.
There is a lot of reason to believe Morgan could win, with her then going into a program with Stephanie Vaquer for the title. Belair returning in the match seems likely, and then winning it to set up a showdown with her former tag partner Jade Cargill is also in play. Ripley is an interesting case, as she’s one half of the tag champions with IYO Sky, but I don’t know that this would prevent her from winning the Rumble. Stratton winning and then earning a rematch with Cargill also seems possible. I’m not sure why Lynch’s odds have improved as much as they have, since it seems the plan is her vs. AJ Lee for the Intercontinental title.
If I have to pick, and for the purposes of this article it seems that I do, I feel like Morgan winning the Rumble and then moving into a program with Vaquer is the most likely result here.
Prediction: Liv Morgan
AJ Styles vs. Gunther
The first odds released for this match had Styles as a -375 favorite, but as the belief that Styles really could be finishing up at the Rumble increased, specifically due to a social media post by Shinsuke Nakamura, things have shifted considerably.
As of this writing, Gunther is a -300 favorite to end Styles’ career, and I think that’s what is going to happen. It will mark 10 years since Styles made his WWE debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble and could potentially, with some creative freedom, allow him to wrestle a match or two in TNA before finally calling it a career.
Prediction: Gunther
Drew McIntyre defends the WWE Championship against Sami Zayn
Depending on which sportsbook you look at, Drew McIntyre is anywhere from a strong -550 favorite to a very heavy -1500 favorite. I think those odds are ridiculous.
Scheduling a show in Montreal before a big Saudi PLE certainly sounds to me like they had big plans for Zayn here. He was the favorite to win the Rumble match itself when the odds first came out. We also know that plans for Mania changed recently, with Roman vs. Cody no longer in the works. What if somewhere in there WWE decided, you know what? Let’s not have Sami win the Rumble in Saudi, let’s have him win the big one.
On SmackDown on Friday, Sami mentioned that he’s undefeated in Saudi Arabia but 0-11 against McIntyre. Something has to give there, and I don’t think having Sami go 0-12 to McIntyre and lose in Saudi is the decision WWE ultimately have come to.
I think there is a very good chance that the most historic moment at the 2026 Royal Rumble is Sami Zayn winning the WWE Championship in front of a crowd that loves him more than they love anybody else.
Prediction: Sami Zayn wins the WWE Championship
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.