Update on WWE Adding a Women’s Royal Rumble Match

There have been rumors circulating for several weeks that WWE would be adding a women’s Royal Rumble to this year’s Royal Rumble PPV event. Those rumors ramped up this past week after several new NXT women’s performers (and one old main roster face) made their way on to RAW and SmackDown.

The match would join the traditional men’s Royal Rumble match at the show, which takes place this year in Philadelphia. It could be an exciting way to jazz up the show, giving it some more flavor, or it could also lead to over-saturation and make the Rumble PPV itself feel like a bit too much.

Either way, rumors continue to circulate. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said on a podcast this week that there are currently no plans for a women’s-exclusive Rumble. However, a media outlet out of the U.K. is reporting the contrary.

In an exclusive report filed to The Sun, Gary Stonehouse wrote the following:

“The event is set to be confirmed, although the details remain scarce and it is possible it may not have entrants as in the male equivalent. A number of women on the roster have already spoken on the possibility of a women’s Rumble.”

One would think that the women’s Rumble would consist of around 20 competitors compared to the men’s 30 entrants. Following this past week’s emergence of Paige, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan, there are 22 female wrestlers on the main roster. This includes 11 on both RAW and SmackDown.

Should they want to make the Rumble match equivalent to the men’s match and have 30 competitors, one could easily see them bringing in a few NXT talents for one-night only. There have previously been male NXT competitors brought in for the Royal Rumble prior to their main roster debuts.