JM: Was the 2025 men’s WWE Royal Rumble match the greatest ever?

Let me clarify, the question is whether 2025 was the greatest Men’s Royal Rumble match ever. I’m not claiming that it was the greatest Rumble PPV/PLE ever. Ultimately, this was a three-match card, with the tag title match a strange addition that didn’t really warrant inclusion in such a prestigious spot. As a spectacle, the 4+ hours really wasn’t one of the best ever. And hey, maybe you think even the question is ridiculous; after all, this was the 38th edition of the event and there have been some incredible examples over the years.

But honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed a Rumble as much as this one. This was a work of art. A perfect example of how to book a Royal Rumble.

You could argue that any Rumble match with so much star-power involved is always going to be a contender for best ever, but that is doing a grand disservice to the current WWE booking team. There were so many stars in that match because they made so many wrestlers into stars. There were so many storylines woven into that match because they have focused on long-term storytelling. The main event scene is flush with wrestlers who have interacted with each other over the last 4-5 years, and when you put all those pieces together in one match, in a coherent order? The end result is borderline magical.

So, let’s begin at the beginning:

Firstly, am I alone in thinking Penta is being treated as one giant, walking billboard that screams “Hey! AEW wrestlers! You’d be treated better over here…”? Put down the pen of rage, keyboard warriors; that isn’t a knock on AEW. But the way Penta has been packaged and promoted since jumping ship has been nothing short of phenomenal. One of the classic tropes of the Royal Rumble is to tease a future Wrestlemania match with numbers one and two, and this was a perfect example of it… so long as you ignore the VAR shout where Penta’s feet both touched the floor!

A lot of this Rumble felt like paint-by-numbers, particularly the early stages; but as we’ve established, they’ve had 37 previous attempts at Royal Rumble booking, so why fix what ain’t broke? Tease a big match with the first two? Check. Build smaller narratives with mid-card wrestlers in the first few entrants? Check. Chad Gable’s ongoing quest against the lucha libre community is a solid story and giving it a chance to shine at the Rumble worked perfectly. Chad and Melo’s short-lived teamwork kept the match moving, Escobar coming in made perfect sense to keep the theme of the mini-Rumble going, and then the arrival of Otis signalled the end of the first chapter.

Chapter two? The making of Bron Breakker as a next-level superstar. Yes, I know, he’s the intercontinental champion already, he’s had big matches at big PLEs, and he’s a generational talent with the world at his feet. But if he’s already a Super Saiyan, this felt like the next level. Maybe not quite the next level, more like that time Vegeta trained in the time chamber for a year and became stronger without quite ascending to Super Saiyan 2. I digress.

From the moment he arrived until the moment he was eliminated (after spearing Roman Reigns, no less), Bron Breakker had a Rumble to remember. He came in like a wrecking ball, went all kinds of viral with a truly sickening spear to some kid who is apparently famous for reasons, and had himself a series of face-offs with some of the biggest stars of the modern era. Breakker’s momentum is being built beautifully as he seems to progress year after year without burning too bright. When the time comes for the trigger to be pulled on his main event push, we’ll be soaking wet and ready to welcome him hungrily betwixt our waiting thighs… I digress again.

 

Even in their respective eliminations, Carmelo Hayes brutally took out Tozawa and Otis threw a social media speedster over a table. Chad Gable was never in danger of winning but he had his share of moments. Sheamus offered a solid threat to Breakker in the early stages of the match. Penta and Mysterio obviously had a pair of very solid runs relatively deep into the match. In short, everyone mattered whether they were a focal point or not. And then? Chapter Three.

From the moment Jacob Fatu entered, this became the Rumble that didn’t stop giving. Fatu looked like an absolute monster, yes, but he also looked like a man who’d been a leading light in the main event scene for years. Oozing confidence and charisma, taking out everything that moved, and looking scarily powerful in the process. If Bron Breakker is the immediate future, Jacob Fatu isn’t far behind. That Samoan drop with Miz? Beautiful.

And then someone said Joe Hendry’s name.

Has there been a more handsome devil in the history of the Royal Rumble? I doubt it. Has there been a bigger pop for a non-WWE wrestler in the history of the Royal Rumble? I doubt it. Was it awesome? Yes. Am I inherently biased towards a fellow Scot? You decide. Playing devil’s advocate, booking Joe Hendry in this years’ Rumble isn’t exactly ground-breaking. The TNA partnership is fully established, he’s their champion, and he’s gone viral; arguably, they would’ve been foolish not to book him.

But that’s exactly what I mean about the current WWE booking team. It’s not necessarily reinventing the wheel, it’s providing moments and stories that keep the audience engaged and coming back for more. And as for teasing Hendry vs Reigns… what a moment.

The arrival of Roman Reigns at number 16 was basically unprecedented; I don’t know what you had on your individual bingo cards, but I couldn’t see Reigns arriving before number 25 at the earliest. And yet, even this was booked to absolute perfection. A handful of eliminations, a quick scare to help cement Bron Breakker as a future star, and a tease of Reigns v Jacob Fatu, all within two minutes. And then, in another of the micro-narratives threaded through the intricate tapestry of mid-20s WWE, Drew McIntyre gets his shot at the OTC. Starting with The Bloodline, WWE has been building stories amongst all of its top stars for the last half a decade, and they’re reaping the rewards now. This felt like a big showdown, even though both men have had bigger rivals over the last 12 months.

Never let it be said that I’m not objective – bringing Finn Balor in with an unrecognisable theme and an unreadable font didn’t lead to a roaring reaction from the audience. But giving him the Penta elimination after 40+ minutes was a nice touch in keeping him relevant and potentially setting up a future feud that will inevitably raise Penta up the card.

And, while there’s no denying Shinsuke Nakamura’s time in the match was too short, part of me thinks it was a masterful misdirection. Jey Uso just lost to Gunther and seemingly has nowhere else to go, so the embarrassing early elimination of the United States champion (followed by a pointed, if short, stare down from Nakamura) looked like Uso might punch his Wrestlemania card Sami Zayn-style and go after a second-tier title to achieve some redemption.

As we build to our crescendo there’s no let-up for the crowd. AJ Styles’ return made for a great pop (admittedly overshadowed by both Hendry and Bliss) and with Wrestlemania approaching it makes sense to stack your roster with main-event superstars. The same could be said for Braun Strowman storming the ring and eliminating the impressive Werewolf; if Jacob Fatu is to have a singles match at Wrestlemania, Strowman feels like the perfect calibre of opponent. Big enough to be threatening, credible enough to lose and still be relevant, and just enough of a former world champion that the loss would mean something.

Which brings us to the final chapter.

From Cena onwards this match was an embarrassment of riches, both in terms of spots and storytelling. Cena and Reigns facing off again was always going to be special, and they took a distinct less-is-more approach, letting the moment breathe… Enter CM Punk. I’m sure during the Shield years these three men shared a ring or two, but nowadays each man has a reasonable claim to the Mount Rushmore of modern wrestling culture.

I timed it: for exactly two minutes (what are the odds?) nothing happened. And yet, if you closed your eyes and listened to the crowd, you’d swear it was the most exciting moment in recent wrestling memory. Adding Seth Rollins to the mix was a masterstroke, and what better way to sell his hatred of CM Punk than for Rollins to completely bypass Reigns in his desperation to fight the Second City Saint?

At this point there are 7 active superstars in the ring, with a combined 38 world title reigns between them. Every single one of these men will be in the Hall of Fame when they retire, but there’s five entrants left. Who on Earth can you put into this ring without detracting from the match? Why, the most perfectly hateable heel on the planet, that’s who. At the beginning I couldn’t understand why Dom wasn’t brought out to play lucha libre with Chad Gable, but now I realise it’s because he had bigger fish to fry in the wider narrative of this beautifully-crafted story.

In other years Damian Priest, LA Knight, and Logan Paul would be a perfectly serviceable final three entrants; within the context of 2025, I’d argue their presence here elevated them to another level. LA Knight in particular received a crowd reaction to rival anyone else in the ring, while Logan Paul is, y’know, Logan Paul. I want to hate him, I really do, but he’s taken to wrestling faster than anyone since Kurt Angle.

Within this final chapter, every elimination told a mini-story hinting towards the Wrestlemania card, and I love it for that. There was a cohesion in the timing and perpetrators of each elimination that sets every man up for something on the grandest stage of them all. This was the Rumble fulfilling its purpose to perfection:

Sami Zayn, after weeks of hitting accidental kicks on his friends, is eliminated by his best friend and an accidental kick.

McIntyre, in his mind the main character of WWE, is eliminated without much fanfare by someone barely even on his radar.

Priest, his Wrestlemania path seemingly established, is sacrificed to give LA Knight a much-needed rub.

Knight is frustrated by Logan before being eliminated by AJ Styles; Styles, in turn, is then eliminated by the Maverick. Triple threat anyone?

Down to 6. In my mind, any one of Cena, Punk, Reigns or Rollins could be about to punch their ticket to Wrestlemania. As they split into smaller brawls, it becomes obvious that the final three will be Cena, Punk, and Reigns in a callback to their encounter earlier in the match.

And then…

In what will surely be one of the enduring images of this Rumble, Seth Rollins is confronted by the ghost of his past. I can’t shower enough praise on the production of this moment. It’s like an Attenborough documentary, two proud alpha males realising that their paths are inextricably crossed, and all they can do is fight with everything they have.

Reigns and Rollins, both desperate to prove themselves as the top dog, are thrown out in a sneak attack by CM Punk. Triple threat anyone?

CM Punk, basking in the glory of his vanquished foes, takes his eye off the ball and misses out on his main event for the second year in a row.

Seth Rollins gives Roman Reigns the sickest-looking curb stomp I’ve ever seen and goes on to brawl with CM Punk outside the ring. When the battle is done, CM Punk steps carelessly over the body of Reigns. These three men can tell whatever story they like, if they can keep this intensity up until Wrestlemania then I am here for it.

And now we’re down to three. Surely, surely, this is the start of John Cena’s record-breaking 17th title reign?
Especially when Super Cena returns and lifts both men over his head.

Especially when Logan Paul goes tumbling over the top rope.

The final two harkens back to the early days of the Shield, where both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose teased unlikely Rumble wins before ultimately succumbing to more established superstars. Uso is going to try his best but eventually come up short against a more established main event wrestler.

Especially when Super Cena hits the moves of doom and the five knuckle shuffle.

Especially when Super Cena hoists Jey Uso onto his shoulders for an FU from the apron.

But that isn’t what happened, is it my friends? John Cena’s story is just beginning. Jey Uso’s story is nearing its climax.

And this, finally, is what makes this Royal Rumble so special. At its heart, the Royal Rumble format is perfect for elevating a nearly-superstar into a world title contender. Jey’s loss to Gunther last week painted him as another one of those wrestlers who nearly made it to the world title, but never quite won the big one. John Cena’s story seemed written in the stars.

The sheer emotion at the end of this match was palpable. Michael Cole’s voice completely shot. All three commentators applauding from the announce desk. A sold-out crowd on their feet for one of the most deserving wrestlers on the entire roster.

2025 was the Men’s Royal Rumble that tied together half a decade’s worth of stories and, in my opinion, set us up for the next half a decade too. Future generations of wrestling bookers will study this match and try their best to knock it off the number one spot.

To them, I say: good luck.

And Yeet.