Steve Carrier on January 30, 2026
WWE is holding its Kickoff show for the WWE Royal Rumble on January 30, 2025. Below is the coverage, highlights and stream of the event. Continue to refresh this page for updates.
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Kickoff Stream
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Kickoff Coverage : Live Updates and Highlights
They showed GUNTHER talking on his phone, at least not having to walk. Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Roxanne Perez were shown riding together on a golf cart.
The Vision and Paul Heyman arrived, followed by Jey Uso making his entrance in front of a massive “YEET” sign.
A video narrated by Paul Levesque aired, clearly trying to frame him in a Dana White–style role.
Cole then came out to the stage to a loud crowd. Fans sang his name and reacted big when he announced WrestleMania will be in Riyadh next year. Cole wrapped things up by running down the lineup for tomorrow’s Royal Rumble broadcast.
Cole announced that CM Punk is the cover star for WWE 2K26. Punk then came out as the entire crowd sang along to his theme song.
CM Punk stepped onto the stage to a thunderous ovation as fans in Riyadh sang along to his entrance music. He smiled and soaked it in before grabbing the mic and asking, “Isn’t it great to be alive on a Friday night in Riyadh?”
Punk said it was special to be able to do the WWE 2K26 cover reveal in front of the live crowd and told fans, “I’ve missed you. I love you.” Cole asked him who might step up to face him, and Punk turned the question to the fans. Chants for Roman Reigns broke out immediately. Punk brought up members of The Vision, and each name was met with loud boos.
He mentioned there are a lot of studs in the Royal Rumble match and gave a special shout-out to Oba Femi. The crowd responded with chants for Femi.
When Cole brought up AJ Styles vs. GUNTHER, Punk said he doesn’t want to see Styles retire and is rooting for him. “My money’s on AJ,” he said, adding that he’s relieved GUNTHER isn’t in the Rumble because “that way, he can’t beat me up.” He followed with, “I think Styles can pull it off. What do you guys think?” The crowd roared back, and Punk closed that bit by joking, “Styles is my second favorite AJ.”
Cole ended the segment by announcing that Punk will be part of the panel on the Royal Rumble Countdown show tomorrow. Punk teased that he’s got a lot of trash to talk, especially about “Finn Balor, Becky Lynch, and more.”
WWE aired a special vignette introducing their new Saudi Arabian signee, powerlifter Fahad Sahli. He’s now going by the ring name Fahd Tuwaiq.
Michael Cole welcomed him onto the stage and introduced him to the crowd, asking what it meant to be part of Royal Rumble weekend. Tuwaiq said he was proud to be there and promised “The Rumble will be awesome.”
Cole noted that Tuwaiq has been training at the WWE Performance Center and asked how the experience has been. Tuwaiq answered in Arabic, and unfortunately, Cole didn’t translate—so fans didn’t catch exactly what was said.
Still, the moment hit home with the crowd when Cole hyped up next year’s WrestleMania in Riyadh, getting fans to chant: “The Mania in Arabia!”
As Cole began to thank everyone for watching the ESPN2 broadcast, Paul Heyman interrupted, walking out to introduce The Vision, signaling that the final moments of the show were about to heat up.
26 minutes ago
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