Both Royal Rumble matches are filling up as entrants announced their intentions to compete in the annual January tradition on Raw and Smackdown.
- Roman Reigns was announced as officially entering the Royal Rumble on January 26, just days before the event. He infamously won the event back in 2015:
- Miz announced that he would be entering the Rumble on January 22, with Tye Dillinger making his announcement January 23. Also on the January 23 episode of Smackdown Live, the New Day trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods threw their hats in the ring.
- A YouTube video posted after the 1/15 episode of Raw had Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox announce their participation:
- Rusev Day made their intentions known by announcing that they will be in the Rusev Rumble.
- Bray Wyatt declares his entry in the Rumble as well:
- After returning from an extended absence a couple of weeks prior, Becky Lynch declared that she'd be entering the match during the January 9 episode of Smackdown Live.
- Woken Matt Hardy announced on 1/8 that he would be entering the Rumble of Royalty. He promised to delete thirty other superstars. Later that night, both Nia Jax and Samoa Joe also entered, with Joe mentioning that he was specifically targeting John Cena. A former champion in WWE and TNA, Mickie James added her name to the growing field of entrants on WWE's Twitter.
- Freshly eliminated from the United States Championship tournament, Baron Corbin declared for the 2018 Royal Rumble on the January 2 episode of Smackdown Live. Before the show, Tamina, Lana and Money in the Bank winner Carmella all confirmed on Twitter on that they would be in the match.
Later on the 1/2 show, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan were added to the Rumble match.
- Former Raw Women's Champion and NXT Women's Champion Bayley, in addition to former WWE Universal and NXT Champion Finn Balor both threw their names in the hat on the 1/1 WWE Raw. The would be joined by the trio of Absolution, consisting of Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.
- The 16-time world champion John Cena revealed on Twitter January 1st that he'd join the field, and look to join "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the only three-time Royal Rumble winner.
- The leader of the Riott squad, Ruby Riott mentioned that she'd enter the match during an inset promo on the 12/26 Smackdown Live to become the latest entrant. In an exclusive video on WWE's YouTube page, Natalya also confirmed she would be a part of the Rumble.
Meanwhile, on the men's side, Randy Orton said on Smackdown on 12/26 that he was ready to focus on himself, and his focus is now set on the Royal Rumble. Shinsuke Nakamura jumped in and agreed, saying it was time to rumble.
- Former NXT Women's Champion Asuka announced her entry on the Christmas episode of WWE Raw, interrupting a promo from Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. Sasha Banks also quietly announced her entry via Twitter later that night.
- Elias first announced that he would a part of the Royal Rumble on 12/17 during his usual in-ring concert. He was later shooed out of the ring when Sasha Banks, Bayley and Mickie James made their entrance for the women's six man tag main event. This will be Elias' first Royal Rumble appearance.
- Naomi was the first female entrant in the Royal Rumble. She made her intentions clear to Charlotte December 19 that she was going to win and face her at WrestleMania on Smackdown during a promo.
As it has been for the last couple of decades, the winner of the Royal Rumble will earn a world title match, either facing the Universal or WWE champion at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. It will be the same for the female Royal Rumble.
List of Entrants:
Male
Elias
Randy Orton
Shinsuke Nakamura
John Cena
Finn Balor
Woken Matt Hardy
Baron Corbin
Rusev
Aiden English
Bray Wyatt
Titus O'Neil
Apollo Crews
The Miz
Tye Dillinger
Big E
Kofi Kingston
Xavier Woods
Roman Reigns
Female
Naomi
Asuka
Sasha Banks
Tamina
Carmella
Lana
Bayley
Dana Brooke
Ruby Riott
Sonya Deville
Mandy Rose
Natalya
Sarah Logan
Liv Morgan
Mickie James
Nia Jax
Becky Lynch
The Royal Rumble is scheduled for January 28 in Philadelphia. Stay tuned to Fightful as we will have full coverage of the event, as well as a post-show podcast covering everything.
