Brian Damage
This Week in Wrestling: Week 5 of 2026
I want to talk about the Royal Rumble that took place last week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Royal Rumble traditionally for me has been one of my favorite events on WWE’s calendar every year. This was the first Rumble to take place outside of North America. To me, it was a major disappointment.
The matches themselves were okay, nothing spectacular, but decent. Liv Morgan and Roman Reigns winning their Rumble matches was nothing out of the box or surprising at all. I get that you need star power to sell tickets for Wrestlemania, but it would have been nice to see a newcomer or fresh face get a title opportunity. With that said, Oba Femi really shined as a future star with WWE, while Je’von Evans did the same being lasting longer than any other wrestler in the Rumble.
AJ Styles losing to Gunther was no big shock, but the crowd was not as invested in this match as they should have been. Styles deserved a better send off than what the Saudi crowd gave him in my humble opinion. An interesting tidbit from the end of that match was AJ taking off his gloves, only to put them back on before walking out of the ring. Was that a sign that Styles is not quite done as a wrestler? We shall see.
While we mentioned the fans in Riyadh, let’s go a bit into greater detail. What was the deal with all those empty seats? It looked embarrassing on TV and while wrestlers are accustomed to working in front of 400 fans or 40,000…the expectations going into Riyadh was that it would be sold out. That wasn’t the case here at all. Horrible showing and it should open Triple H and TKO’s eyes that this cannot happen next year for Wrestlemania.
I’m not saying they will switch venues to avoid that from happening again, but they should at least consider going elsewhere. Perhaps the tickets were too expensive or perhaps the Saudi fans are spoiled now. Whatever the reasoning, this should put WWE on alert. Overall, the 2026 Royal Rumble was a letdown for me.
Photo Gallery
Rest in Peace to the late Tracy Smothers son Kyle who recently passed away at the age of 35.
Cool Fiend graphic…courtesy of Black Mass Designs
Demolition Tattoo
Brooke Adams
Jenni Neidhart
Jaida Parker
Mandy Rose
Thunder Rosa
Celeste Bonin
Torrie Wilson
Elektra Lopez
Stephanie Vaquer
Isla Dawn
Lyra Valkyria
Tessa Blanchard
Liv Morgan
Saraya aka Paige
Cassie Lee
Video Gallery
A classic Abdullah commercial from Japan
Kyle Prescott
The lights on the seats didn’t help because many seats that were occupied looked empty. I agree it was a bad look watching at home and I’m sure it will be addressed for future shows.
As for those constantly crying about KSA shows and money, get over it. The company is making record profits, the stock continues to set new highs weekly and the higher ticket prices don’t seem to be affecting attendance in the US.
Almost every Fortune 500 company does business there but for some reason the Mob cries about WWE, I assume while wearing their Nike’s as they eat McDonald’s and drink Starbucks.
David Fullam
The Saudis built a custom stadium for it, couldn’t even get the people to fill it up. Time to leave the oil money despots behind.
Luke
Didn’t disappoint me, but only because I went in with extremely low expectations. So low that you could say this exceeded them.
When Charlotte entered #1, you just knew Alexa would be next. The bullshit that followed set the tone for the rest of the night. I think the biggest problem with the Rumble matches now is that the entrances are predictable. About half the time it’s obvious who’s gonna follow who.
Royce Keys. Fuck… Stop giving wrestlers input into their names. You know what Hulk Hogan’s name would have been according to this template? Nick Moody…
Oba Femi sounds like a menstruation product.