WWE Royal Rumble 2025: Ranking The 5 Most Likely Winners
One of the biggest Royal Rumble's in WWE history takes place this weekend, as one of the most stacked rosters ever assembled competes in a Rumble that is ridiculously difficult to predict. These are exciting times for all wrestling fans, as this more cohesive, creative, and unpredictable WWE broadcasts a PLE to Netflix for the first time in the ultimate "who's who" event of the company's calendar. It's all set up for a fantastic weekend, as the first steps toward WrestleMania 41 start to take shape.
But who is the favorite to land a spot in WrestleMania's Main Event this weekend? Roman Reigns has spent the past few years dominating all who stand before him, but that situation is made a little more complicated, by deals with devils and Wisemen who owe substantial favors. Sami Zayn and Jey Uso are two of the most popular superstars in the company, but neither have held WWE's biggest prize. With John Cena's Farewell Tour not quite ready for this one, can Seth Rollins put his emotions aside to finally be the top guy in the company? These are the top contenders for this year's Royal Rumble match, ranked.
5 Jey Uso
Even Still, There Will Be No Yeet At The Royal Rumble
Opinions are at a fever pitch on Jey Uso at current, but his popularity cannot be denied and he seems certain to be earmarked for a WWE Championship victory. Every Monday Night Raw is a sea of Yeet signs, and WWE clearly believes in him, as shown by Travis Scott and Quavo joining Jey's party in the first month of Raw being on Netflix. Even still, Jey Uso is not quite ready or being built for the Main Event of WrestleMania. Not yet, at least.
Jey Uso is still going to win substantially at the Royal Rumble. A stadium full of people Yeeting is going to be up there with Daniel Bryan's "Yes!" when it comes to visceral visual impact at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis. Expect him to be in the match in the later stages, but to come up agonizingly short. Jey Uso will look to capitalize on last year's underwhelming performance at WrestleMania with his brother, Jimmy.
4 Seth Rollins
The Architect's Eyes Aren't on Winning the Royal Rumble
There is so much going on in WWE right now, that Seth Rollins's emotional meltdown is flying under the radar. Rollins is The Architect because he always has a plan, but this version of Seth is not operating that way. When taking into account that he has a career-long history with Roman Reigns that hasn't reared its head since the OTC's title reign ended, at least in part down to Rollins, Seth is going to be a central part of this year's Rumble.
It's hard to imagine that this is his year, when Seth himself admits his priority is not winning the Royal Rumble. He has promised to write the latest chapter in his long-running feud with CM Punk this weekend and take Punk's WrestleMania Main Event from him. Sniping the Second City Saint will be Seth's primary objective. That's worth considering when it comes to a favor that's floating around that very subject matter.
3 Sami Zayn
The Honorary Uce Is Going to Learn a Lesson About Family
Sami Zayn's date with destiny at this year's WrestleMania is coming his way like a freight train at the Royal Rumble, but it's unlikely to be because he's punched his ticket to the Main Event. Roman Reigns and The Bloodline getting the band together for Survivor Series was made all the more delightful when they were joined by Sami as The Honorary Uce once more. It sent a ripple of feel-good factor through the WWE that stopped at the feet of one man.
Kevin Owens has made it very clear what he expects of Sami Zayn this weekend. As KO is locked in a violent feud with no moral limits with Cody Rhodes over his decision to tag with Roman at Bad Blood, Owens expects Zayn to have his back on Saturday and he's wrong. So wrong, in fact, that Kevin Owens is likely to cost Sami Zayn in the Rumble, setting up the biggest match of their career-long journey.
2 Roman Reigns
The Only Tribal Chief Is a Marked Man
In all of the drama of Raw and SmackDown, plus being announced for the cover of WWE 2K25, it's been lost that Roman Reigns is the man to beat at the Royal Rumble. Drew McIntyre has noticed and warned everybody, and The Bloodline are going to cause hell for the OTC, but Roman is still the most feared and respected man in WWE. He spent the last few years mauling anyone who dared to challenge him, and he's the man to beat in this year's Rumble match too.
This is no ordinary WrestleMania season though. Injury robbed CM Punk of his big WrestleMania return at WrestleMania 40, but Punk helped Roman win WarGames at Survivor Series in exchange for an undisclosed favor. Look for Roman Reigns helping CM Punk in a shock moment in the Rumble, potentially to the detriment of Seth Rollins. After all, Roman still owes him one from last year's WrestleMania.
1 CM Punk
Punk Will Finally Land His Spot in WrestleMania's Main Event
Make no mistake about it, CM Punk has been the focus of this year's Royal Rumble match. All of the contenders named in this piece want a piece of Punk, Drew McIntyre spent his 2024 brutalizing him, and the controversial superstar even picked a fight with John Cena on Monday Night Raw (despite Cena's absence from WWE television). It's been a busy year for CM Punk and we aren't even out of the first month of it.
Even though they had a great segment together on the Raw before the Rumble for the second year running, CM Punk is unlikely to choose Cody Rhodes if he wins. Punk vs Roman Reigns has been rumored for WrestleMania, which feels possible if Punk were to beat Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship before WrestleMania. That also leaves Triple Threat opportunities for Seth Rollins, but expect CM Punk to defy the odds and for Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to assist him in doing so.
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