Key stats and info to know before the 2026 Royal R...

Royal Rumble, the third-longest-running annual WWE premium live event, returns on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, ESPN Unlimited). The event, which will take place at KAFD in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, started in 1988 and is traditionally the first PLE of each year.

The show will feature a men's and women's Royal Rumble match, with the winners earning an opportunity to challenge for a world championship at WrestleMania 42 in April in Las Vegas. Also on the card, Undisputed WWE champion Drew McIntyre will look to defend his title against Sami Zayn and AJ Styles will put his in-ring career on the line against Gunther.

As the road to WrestleMania begins, here's a look at the history of its first stop.

Men's Royal Rumble match

• WWE Hall of Famer "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan won the first Royal Rumble match in 1988. He recorded three eliminations in the match, including the final elimination of One Man Gang. The first Royal Rumble elimination occurred when Jake "The Snake" Roberts sent "The Natural" Butch Reed over the top rope.

• This weekend, Jey Uso will look to become the next wrestler to win back-to-back Royal Rumble matches. That feat has been accomplished four times: Hulk Hogan (1990, 1991), Shawn Michaels (1995, 1996), "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (1997, 1998) and Cody Rhodes (2023, 2024).

• The Miz has the most Royal Rumble match appearances among the active roster (16). The all-time leader in Rumble match entries is Kane with 18 (he had two more appearances under different personas). Kane also holds the record for most eliminations with 45.

• Gunther set the record for the longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match in 2023. He entered first and was the runner-up, spending over 1 hour, 11 minutes in the ring. Conversely, the shortest amount of time spent in a Royal Rumble match was 1.9 seconds by Santino Marella in 2009.

• Whereas 10 superstars have won two men's Royal Rumble matches, there's only one with three victories -- Austin. He won the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Rumble matches. The other multiple-time winners are Hogan, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, Brock Lesnar and Rhodes.

• Roman Reigns will be in his eighth Royal Rumble match. He has only one Rumble victory (2015), but no one has finished as the runner-up more times (4).

• No one has accumulated more final four finishes in Royal Rumble matches than Orton (8). Two of those were wins (2009 and 2017).

• Only one superstar has accumulated over five hours of total time spent in Royal Rumble matches -- Chris Jericho. He appeared in 11 Rumble matches, was the runner-up once and reached the final four three times.

• As one would expect, being the last entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match (No. 30) is the lucky number. Five superstars (Lesnar, The Undertaker, Rhodes, Cena and Triple H) have won after entering last. Only three superstars (Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Edge) have entered the match first and gone the distance for a win.

play

0:41

Brock Lesnar announces participation in Saturday's Royal Rumble

Brock Lesnar calls in to "The Pat McAfee Show" to announce his participation in Saturday's Royal Rumble.

Women's Royal Rumble match

• The first women's Royal Rumble match occurred in 2018 and was won by Asuka, whose final elimination was of Nikki Bella. The win earned Asuka a SmackDown Women's Championship match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34.

• Liv Morgan and Natalya are tied for the most women's Royal Rumble appearances. Both took part in their eighth Rumble match in 2025.

• In the 2025 Rumble, Nia Jax eliminated nine wrestlers, giving her 27 total eliminations, the most of all time.

• Jax is the only woman in history to enter both the women's and men's Royal Rumble matches in the same year. In 2019, after competing in the women's match, Jax ambushed original entrant R-Truth and entered the men's match at No. 30. She recorded an elimination (Mustafa Ali) before being eliminated by Rey Mysterio.

• Roxanne Perez's 1 hour, 7 minutes in the ring during the 2025 Rumble is the longest time spent in a women's Rumble match.

• Flair is the only multiple-time women's Royal Rumble match winner (2020, 2025). She has taken part in five Rumble matches and has been among the final four participants in all of them.

• In 2023, Rhea Ripley became the only superstar to win the women's Royal Rumble match as the first entrant. In fact, the match came down to Ripley and the second entrant, Morgan. Both wrestlers spent over an hour in the ring.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn

• The first WWE championship match to take place at a Royal Rumble occurred in 1991. Sgt. Slaughter defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win his only championship in what was then known as the WWF.

• This won't be McIntyre's first WWE championship title defense at a Royal Rumble. He defeated WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg in under three minutes to retain the title in 2021.

• Zayn has never defeated McIntyre in a singles match. Starting in 2023, they've had six one-on-one bouts on television.

• Zayn will be looking for his first win at a Royal Rumble. Seven of his eight losses were in Royal Rumble matches. The exception was in 2018, when he and Kevin Owens teamed up in a handicap match vs. AJ Styles for the WWE championship.

play

1:46

Triple H remembers his all-time favorite Royal Rumble moment

Triple H joins "Get Up" to preview this Saturday's star-studded Royal Rumble in Riyadh and shares some of his favorite memories.

Singles match: Gunther vs. AJ Styles (Styles' career on the line)

• It has been over three years since Styles won a match at a WWE PLE. His last PLE win occurred in 2022 at Survivor Series: WarGames over Finn Bálor. During that time span, Gunther accumulated 10 PLE victories. His most recent was over Pat McAfee at Backlash in 2025.

• Styles' WWE in-ring career could end at the same event where it started. Styles made his debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble. He was the third entrant in the Royal Rumble match, lasting nearly 30 minutes and eliminating two superstars before being eliminated by Kevin Owens.

• This will not be the first career-threatening match to take place at a Royal Rumble. In 2008, Ric Flair's career was on the line against MVP. Flair won the match.

• Gunther could end a second career in as many months. At "Saturday Night's Main Event" in December, he submitted Cena in his final match.