The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble takes place on Saturday, February 1, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. As of Tuesday, January 28, there were 15 men and 10 women who had announced their entry into their respective Royal Rumble matches.
- LA Knight – January 3, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- John Cena – January 6, 2025 (Announced on Raw’s Netflix premiere)
- CM Punk – January 6, 2025 (Announced on the Raw Netflix premiere post-show)
- Jey Uso – January 6, 2025 (Announced on the Raw Netflix premiere post-show)
- Roman Reigns – January 10, 2025 (Announced by Paul Heyman on SmackDown)
- Seth “Freakin” Rollins – January 13, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Drew McIntyre – January 13, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Rey Mysterio – January 17, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Sami Zayn – January 20, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Shinsuke Nakamura – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Logan Paul – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Penta – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Chad Gable – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Bron Breakker – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Carmelo Hayes – January 27, 2025 (Announced after Raw)
- Nia Jax – January 13, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Bayley – January 20, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Charlotte Flair – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Naomi – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Bianca Belair – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Liv Morgan – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Raquel Rodriguez – January 24, 2025 (Announced on SmackDown)
- Lyra Valkyria – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Ivy Nile – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
- Iyo Sky – January 27, 2025 (Announced on Raw)
While hearing WWE Superstars declare for the Royal Rumble is exciting, the real fun is trying to guess who the surprise entrants will be.
I’ll take a stab at predicting five potential surprise entrants.
Jade Cargill
Cargill was written off WWE television due to a legitimate injury, according to reports. The two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion was attacked and injured in storyline and hasn’t been involved on WWE TV since.
There is a juicy angle to explore when she returns, and the Royal Rumble seems like an excellent spot for her comeback.
AJ Styles
Styles hasn’t been on WWE television since October 4, when he lost to Carmelo Hayes.
The Phenomenal One isn’t going to win the Rumble, though it wouldn’t be shocking if he has one more title run left in him before he hangs up the boots.
Even still, Styles would get a huge pop if he made his return.
Joe Hendry
With WWE recently establishing a groundbreaking agreement with TNA Wrestling, the door is open for a number of TNA stars to appear in the Rumble.
Tops on that list is probably Hendry.
After his WWE appearances in 2024 generated a strong reaction from fans, it would make sense for WWE to try to recapture that magic at the Royal Rumble.
Nic Nemeth
The man formerly known as Dolph Ziggler would be a pleasant surprise for WWE fans.
Currently performing for TNA under his real name, Nemeth’s old music hitting would likely send the crowd into a frenzy.
The pop might be akin to the one he received during his legendary Money in the Bank cash-in against Alberto Del Rio in 2013.
In case you forgot, remember this moment?
It would be fun to see Nemeth return using his real name and gain some respect after WWE discarded him in 2023.
AJ Lee
Perhaps no surprise entrant would get a bigger reaction from the crowd.
Lee is a legend in her own right, but she’s also CM Punk’s wife. There is a ready-made angle between Lee and Punk feuding with Seth Rollins and his wife, Becky Lynch.
That could make for a very memorable mixed tag match at SummerSlam.
If Lee walks the aisle, it’ll be the biggest talking point of the evening.
Other Possible Surprise Entrants
While they didn’t get their own paragraph, Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, Jordynne Grace, Jeff Hardy, Michelle McCool, Matt Cardona, and Chris Masters are all potential surprise entrants.
