The 2026 Royal Rumble decided that Liv Morgan and Roman Reigns‘ names would be in the history books, but it seems that while WWE considers this a successful event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there were still many mistakes.
The following list looks at just five of the biggest mistakes that were made at The Royal Rumble.
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#4. Lack of surprises throughout both matches
The Royal Rumble has become traditional for surprises and swerves, but it seems that there has been a lot of backlash from fans following the show because of the lack of surprises. Brie Bella was the only major return in the Women’s Royal Rumble, whilst Tiffany Stratton was the big return at number 30.
The Men’s Royal Rumble was much of the same, with all the big returns already announced, whilst some of the biggest surprises came from NXT. Powerhouse Hobbs was a surprise for many and was eliminated too quickly, while Gunther took the number 30 spot.
#3. What happened to Bianca Belair being in the Royal Rumble?
It has been almost 10 months. What has happened to Bianca Belair? She broke her knuckle at WrestleMania back in April 2025 and has since been sidelined. She was seen as the favorite for the match for several months because it was almost a guarantee that she would return.
Instead, she wasn’t part of the match at all, which has led to many fans questioning not only what has happened to her, but where her husband, Montez Ford, was, since he is also someone who always turns heads in the Rumble.
#2. Where was AJ Lee?
The Women’s Royal Rumble match was set up for AJ Lee. She recently made her return but was still considered a surprise. She had issues with Becky Lynch that would allow them to collide once again and renew their feud, and Lynch even called her out and asked for her to be in the match.
CM Punk was on the pre-show despite not being part of the event, so the belief was that he had travelled with his wife, but this wasn’t the case. Where does AJ Lee fit in now, and why didn’t she appear in her first Royal Rumble?
#1. AJ Styles’ WWE career ended controversially
It’s easy to say that AJ Styles’ career coming to an end was a mistake, but it was what he wanted; the issue here was the ending. Many fans have claimed that the referee should have lowered his arm three times, which is the regular way to end a match when a star is considered unconscious.
This has left questions over the ending and whether it was actually the end of his career or if this is something that Styles can now contest, since he was fine to get up and walk around the ring after the bell, with the crowd giving him a standing ovation as he walked away from the ring for what is expected to be the final time.
Edited by Phillipa Marie
