The 2026 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event is set to take place later today at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to late-breaking report, fans in Riyadh and watching around the world may be in store for the debut of a major recent signing.
Fightful Select has reported that Powerhouse Hobbs is scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia this weekend. The former AEW TNT Champion, who recently signed with WWE, is reportedly set to undergo a name change upon his arrival. The report indicates that he will be known as “Royce Keys” moving forward in his WWE career. While WWE has not officially announced his participation in tonight’s event, his presence in the host city on the day of the show is a strong indicator that he could be involved in the festivities.
In an effort to maintain the element of surprise, WWE took extra precautions regarding Hobbs’ travel arrangements. It should be noted that Hobbs did not travel with the main roster members on the company charter over the last week. Instead, there is now confirmation that he made the trip to the Kingdom separately, a tactic often used to conceal debuts from fans and dirt sheets tracking flight manifests. The report from Fightful Select does state, however, that there is currently no specific confirmation on whether he will be a confirmed entrant in the Men’s Royal Rumble match itself or if he will appear in another capacity.
If “Royce Keys” does step through the curtain today, he will join a stacked field in the Men’s Royal Rumble match that already includes Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and GUNTHER.
The Royal Rumble takes place today in Riyadh, featuring the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches, Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and AJ Styles putting his career on the line against GUNTHER. Following tonight’s event, the WWE roster will look toward the Elimination Chamber next month as the final major stop before WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.
This is just a snippet of the story. For complete details, please visit Fightful Select at Patreon.com/Fightful.
Andrew RavensAndrew Ravens is a reporter for WrestlingNews.co, where he covers the latest happenings in the world of professional wrestling. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his main focus is reporting on day-to-day wrestling news, with a special emphasis on covering WWE and AEW.
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