WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Recap (2-1-25)

By: Xavier Jones

Headline Photo Credit: WWE

On the evening of February 1, 2025, the Royal Rumble took place at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Royal Rumble is considered the kick-off PLE for the Road to Wrestlemania. This is a night where someone realizes their dreams and gets the opportunity to mainevent Wrestlemania. Thirty men and 30 women are set to do battle in their respected rumbles to ensure themselves of the opportunity of a lifetime. The winner of each rumble etches their name into the history books and also guarantees them a spot at Wrestlemania 41. The former tag team champions are looking to regain their titles against the team that beat them almost two months ago. Also, the Undisputed WWE Champion is looking to once and for all rid himself of his biggest foe to date. The match card for the Royal Rumble is of the following:

Women’s Royal Rumble

WWE Tag Team Championship match (2 out of 3 Falls):

DIY vs The Motor City Machine Guns

Undisputed WWE Championship match (Ladder Match):

Cody Rhodes (c) vs Kevin Owens

Men’s Royal Rumbleb

To open up the show, the women’s royal rumble kicked off the action for the night. With the anticipation of surprise entrants and returning superstars, the crowd was on their feet every moment the clock counted down from 10. The number 1 and 2 entrant for the rumble were Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan. As the eliminations were slow at the beginning, the ring began to fill with superstars. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair would make their epic return to the ring after being away due to injury. The crowd was fired up to see the in-ring return of Alexa Bliss. However, when Nia Jax made her way into the rumble, all hell seemed to break loose. Jax would go on to display her dominance while increasing her number of eliminations in the royal rumble for her career. When it was time for entrant number 30, the crowd was on their feet in anticipation, and out came Nikki Bella. As the dust settled, the final two participants were Charlotte Flair and Roxanne Perez. Perez gave a valiant effort against Flair, but the savvy vet was able to get the elimination and win the Women’s Royal Rumble. 

Winner: Charlotte Flair

The next match on the card was the two out 3 falls match for the WWE tag team championship. The team of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were set to defend their titles against Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. The first fall of the match would go to #DIY after a phantom tag was made, and Ciampa was able to connect with a running knee on Alex Shelley for the three count. Clever way to distract your opponent to gain the upper hand. The next pinfall went to the Motor City Machine Guns after hitting their tag team finisher on Gargano. With each team having one pinfall, the final one for the titles was up for grabs. After a sequence of back-and-forth action between the teams, it would be #DIY to get the third and final pinfall to retain their championships. However, they had a little bit of help from the Street Profits, who took out both teams to stand tall at the end of the match.

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano #DIY

The match that everyone was waiting for was coming up next. The ladder match to determine the Undisputed WWE Champion. Both Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens have been at each other’s neck for the past few months. This time, it seemed to be personal between the two competitors. KO took out Cody’s mentor, Randy Orton, with a package pile driver, and he also tried to put Cody on the shelf with the same move. Rhodes had been successful in his previous title defenses against Owens. As you expected, this was a gritty, hard-hitting match that saw these two competitors put their bodies on the line to be champions. Rhodes and Owens both took control of the match in their own right, but neither could climb the ladder and capture the title. It wasn’t until Cody went to a very dark place after reversing the package pile driver. Rhodes would hit KO with an Alabama Slam from the announce table onto the ladder, breaking it in half with Owens lying in the rubble. As the referees, ringside doctors, and Sami Zayn check on Kevin, Rhodes makes his way up the ladder and unhooks both titles to win the match and retain his championship. In the end, Cody Rhodes stood tall on the announce table, overlooking the beaten and battered body of his opponent.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

The final match of the night was the Men’s Royal Rumble. For the first time, two luchadors would kick off the rumble as the 1 and 2 entrants. Penta and Rey Mysterio started the rumble, and they quickly had the crowd invested in a future showdown between the two. However, as the major players started entering the rumble, business was beginning to pick up. Especially when Jacob Fatu entered into his first Royal Rumble. The Samoan Werewolf kicked up and quickly let his presence be known. When names like John Cena, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre made their way into the ring, it felt like it was time to separate the men from the boys. As unexpected eliminations took place, things got a bit more chaotic after the elimination of Roman Reigns and Seth “Freakin” Rollins by CM Punk. Punk would find himself eliminated shortly after that by Logan Paul. A fight would break out on the outside of the ring between Reigns, Punk, and Rollins. As the rumble whittled down to its final competitors, Jey Uso and John Cena would find themselves as the final two. After some brief back-and-forth action between Uso and Cena, it would be Jey who surprised a lot of people by eliminating one of the greats in John Cena. This was also Cena’s final Royal Rumble appearance, as he’s planning on retiring after Wrestlemania 41.

Royal Rumble Standout Performers:

Nia Jax and Jacob Fatu

Viral Royal Rumble Moment:

Bron Breakker hits the ropes to build up momentum before hitting the Spear on iShowSpeed