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Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing WWE Royal Rumble Kickoff coverage.
Michael Cole welcomed everyone to the event. He mentioned they built the Saudi Arabia venue in two weeks. I'm guessing there wasn't overtime pay involved!
They showed GUNTHER talking on a cell phone. I guess at least he isn't walking!
They showed Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez driving on a golf club.
The Vision and Paul Heyman arrived.
Jey Uso was shown arriving, walking in front of a giant YEET sign.
They aired a Paul Levesque narrated video, again trying to position him like Dana White in UFC.
Cole came on stage. The fans were pretty raucous. They sang Michael Cole's name. They popped huge when Cole mentioned Wrestlemania will be in Riyadh next year. Vladimir the Superfan just sighed somewhere in NYC.
Cole ran down the lineup for tomorrow's Rumble broadcast.
He announced CM Punk was the cover star for the 2K26 video game. Punk came out as everyone sang his theme song. He asked if it was great to be alive on a Friday in Riyadh. He said it was special they got to do the WWE reveal today and told the fans he missed them and loved them. Cole asked Punk about who could face him. He said he wanted to ask the fans. Lots of Roman chants. He asked about members of The Vision, who were all booed upon mention. He said there's a lot of studs in the Rumble, namechecking Oba Femi. The fans chanted his name.
Cole asked him about AJ Styles vs. GUNTHER. Punk said he doesn't want to see Styles retire and has his money on AJ. He said he's glad GUNTHER isn't in the Rumble, so he can't beat up Punk and said he believes Styles can pull it off. He asked the crowd if they agreed. Punk said Styles is his second favorite AJ. Cole announced Punk will be part of the panel on the Rumble Countdown tomorrow. Punk said he has a lot of trash to talk tomorrow on Finn Balor, Becky Lynch and more.
They aired a vignette on new signing, Saudi Arabian powerlifter Fahad Sahli. Cole brought him on stage. His ring name is Fahd Tuwaiq. Cole welcomed him to WWE and asked him what it means to be here for Royal Rumble weekend. He said he's proud to be here and The Rumble will be awesome. Cole said he's been training in the WWE Performance Center and asked him how that training has been going. He didn't answer in English, so sorry guys, I don't know what he said. He plugged Wrestlemania would be here next year, getting fans to chant "The Mania in Arabia."
Cole began thanking everyone for watching on ESPN2 when Paul Heyman came out and introduced The Vision. Bron Breakker said he's going to win and main event Wrestlemania and he doesn't care if it's CM Punk or some other old-timer he has to defeat. Breakker said WWE will belong to The Vision. Cole said that on Raw, they all agreed they were going to sacrifice themselves so Breakker can win The Rumble. The crowd was chanting for Roman. Heyman said he knows none of the fans have manners, but could they please shut up. Cole questioned whether they would actually do this. Bronson made it clear he would.
Jey Uso's theme hit and he came through the crowd. The energy in the crowd has been really strong. Usos riled up the crowd.
Cole introduced The Judgement Day. It was the three female members of the group. Cole mentioned last year, Roxanne Perez set a Rumble record of 67 minutes. How does that help her this year? She learned she doesn't have to set records anymore. Last year wasn't a peak but a preview. Rodriguez said she was going to win the Rumble and then beat Stephanie Vaquer in the Philly Street Fight, so she'll walk into Mania as champion. Liv Morgan said she's been in every Rumble match and has great luck every time they come to Saudi Arabia. She's going to outlast 29 other women to become the winner. Cole asked what happens if they are the last three competitors. Before they could answer, out came Lyra Valkyria and Bayley. Lyra said she was going to win in one of the best crowds WWE has ever seen. Cole mentioned Bayley won the Rumble before. Bayley said she was the only Rumble winner on the stage and this was a great time to be a two-time winner.
Out came WWE Women's Tag Team Champions IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley. Massive pop. Everyone who has appeared is super over and the crowd has been singing all of the theme songs. They said they were going to compete and they were going to win, because Rhiyo is always on top.
They showed GUNTHER walking. He was off his phone call.
They aired a video package on Styles vs. GUNTHER. GUNTHER asked where Styles was. He said Styles is regretting putting his career on the line against the best professional wrestler today. Cole said he could beat Styles and then go on to win The Rumble. They noted he has the Rumble record of an hour, 11 minutes. The crowd chanted for Styles. GUNTHER said Styles isn't here and the interview is about him, the one who will go on and end the career of Styles. GUNTHER asked if Cole believes Styles can beat him. Cole said, "Maybe." GUNTHER said then Cole and the fans are all equally stupid and proclaimed he would beat Styles.
That was it for the broadcast.
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