Most of WWE’s creative team wanted CM Punk or John Cena to win the 2025 men’s Royal Rumble match
During the WWE Unreal series on Netflix, footage was shown of creative pitches being made for the 2025 men’s WWE Royal Rumble match. When Paul “Triple H” Levesque asked the room who should win Rumble, most of the response were either CM Punk or John Cena. One person stated the following…
“If the two options are Cena and Punk, I’d say Cena because this is his final year. I feel like he should play the hits. I think it’s more of a classic moment in time. ‘Hey, I remember John Cena’s last year, he won the Royal Rumbles.’ That feels like to me, whereas I feel Punk could do [Elimination] Chamber.”
Jey Uso ended up winning the match. In one segment, Michael Hayes commented on the idea behind Jey being the winner…
“I think in the case of Jey Uso, when somebody catches fire, they just catch fire. And sometimes you have to alternate all your plans. Who do we have on our roster that’s hot, that hopefully is maybe new and fresh? All of a sudden, Jey Uso is checking all those boxes. Then you have to start and wondering, is that individual up to the task?”
The initial picks to win the 2025 Royal Rumble by most of the creative team were either CM Punk or John Cena.
Jey Uso was brought up as a potential winner by Michael Hayes.#WWEUnreal
— EliteRockerz 𝕏 (@EliteClubS0B) July 29, 2025