WWE
The WWE Royal Rumble finally arrives today (start time is 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT), and there’s plenty for pro wrestling fans to be excited about: Not only will Goldberg challenge for Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship, Edge is returning to the ring in the men’s Rumble match. And it gets better: He’ll be the No. 2 entrant — following No. 1, Randy Orton.
The Royal Rumble begins the road to WrestleMania, with the winner getting a world championship shot at WrestleMania. There’ll be two Rumbles this year: A men’s and a women’s. Both world championships will be defended too. In addition to the aforementioned WWE Championship bout, Kevin Owens challenges for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship.
Last year’s Royal Rumble totally rocked. It featured Brock Lesnar starting at No. 1 and wrecking everyone — until Drew McIntyre entered the arena and Claymore Kicked Lesnar out of the ring. On Sunday WWE will attempt to recreate similar magic, but without the help of a dynamic live crowd.
How to watch: WWE Network
You can start (or restart) a subscription to the WWE Network here:
The monthly price is $9.99 (US) or £9.99 (UK). New subscribers used to get a free month, but that’s no longer the case now that there’s a free tier (which pay-per-view events aren’t covered by, sadly).
The WWE Network app is available on Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Kindle Fire, Apple TV, iOS and Android.
Match card
- WWE Championship match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg.
- Universal Championship Last Man Standing match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens.
- Men’s Royal Rumble match.
- Women’s Royal Rumble match.
- Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Charlotte and Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
- SmackDown Women’s Championship match: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella.
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Start times
The Royal Rumble will emanate from WWE’s ThunderDome, held in Florida’s Tropicana Field stadium. The main card starts both days at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. If you’re a paid WWE Network subscriber — at $9.99 a month — you can watch the Royal Rumble live for no extra cost. Otherwise, you’ll need to contact your local cable provider.
Viewers in the UK will have to stay up late to watch the Royal Rumble; the show starts midnight Sunday UK time. The Royal Rumble starts for Australians at 11 a.m. AEDT on Monday.
Note that this is one of the final WWE pay-per-views US viewers can watch on the WWE Network. From March 18, you’ll have to go through NBC’s Peacock streaming service.