Last night’s WWE SmackDown has made a few headlines with the Wiseman Paul Heyman delivering a blockbuster announcement on behalf of Roman Reigns, shaking up the road to WrestleMania. The former WWE Undisputed Champion is officially entering the 2025 Royal Rumble match, joining a field that already includes John Cena and CM Punk, which should make the match one of the most anticipated in history with those three huge names entering with the chance of getting a main event slot for WrestleMania.
Standing in the ring looking like a cosplaying Oz Cobb from The Penguin, Heyman addressed the crowd in his usual, bombastic manner, introducing himself and reminding everyone of Roman Reigns’ position as the Tribal Chief. He went on to explain that Reigns has unfinished business with the WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, and the Royal Rumble will be the Tribal Chief’s path back to WrestleMania glory. Heyman revealed that Roman Reigns’ ultimate goal is to reclaim the title he lost to Rhodes at WrestleMania 40.
Reigns hasn’t competed in a Royal Rumble match since 2020, where he came agonisingly close to victory, finishing as the runner-up to Drew McIntyre, who went on to WrestleMania and dethroned Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion. His last Rumble victory came in 2015 in one of the most controversial endings in Rumble history, marked by waves of boos raining down on Reigns and his cousin, Dwayne Johnson. Reigns’ presence on WWE television is very limited. His contract status allows him to pick and choose his appearances, which helps keep him as a star attraction, but declaring for the Rumble ahead of time means we’ll see plenty of him.
Who Else Is Entering the Royal Rumble 2025?
With Cena and Punk entering too, we’ll probably see the three biggest stars in WWE in the same ring at the same time. Cena last competed in the Royal Rumble in 2018, where he reached the final three before being eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura. Punk’s last Rumble appearance was in 2024, where he finished second and was injured in the match. But the stakes couldn’t really be much higher. Cena, on his farewell tour, is looking for one last shot at WrestleMania glory, while Punk is looking to finally achieve his dream of main-eventing WrestleMania.
WWE Royal Rumble will stream on Peacock on February 1 from Indianapolis. WWE Raw streams on Netflix on Monday nights, while WWE SmackDown airs at 8 PM ET on USA Network every Friday.