ESPN Announces Their Full Schedule for WWE Royal Rumble Week

WWE's Royal Rumble is coming up this weekend, airing exclusively on ESPN in the United States, and ESPN have revealed a busy schedule leading up to and around the event.

What's Happening:

• The biggest draw for the ever-popular Royal Rumble is, of course, the two events that give the event its name - the 30-person Men's and Women's Royal Rumble matches where two opponents begin the match and then one additional person at a time is added every couple of minutes. You eliminate someone by throwing them over the ropes (if their feet touch the ground outside the ring) and the winner is the last person left standing among the 30.
• Other matches of note include:
  • Undisputed WWE Championship match: Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn
  • AJ Styles puts his career on the line against Gunther (there is a lot of talk that this might be legitimately could be Styles' final match, as he has announced he is retiring sometime this year).
• Royal Rumble will exclusively stream in the U.S. on the ESPN App on Saturday, January 31, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Premium Live Event starts at 2 p.m. ET, with the pre-event show beginning at noon and the post-event show immediately following Royal Rumble. The event is available exclusively in the United States via a subscription to the ESPN Unlimited plan — either directly or through a traditional pay TV package — on the ESPN App. Subscribers to ESPN’s Unlimited plan also have the option of watching WWE PLEs on Disney+.
• Though the full 30-person Royal Rumble lineup is never revealed for either match ahead of time -- especially given there are always some surprise entrants, usually in the form of returning wrestlers or people making their WWE debut -- we do know the following will participate.
  • Men's Royal Rumble: Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Jey Uso, Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee Penta, Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, Austin Theory, Je'Von Evans, Oba Femi
  • Women's Royal Rumble: Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, Asuka, Chelsea Green, Jordynne Grace, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Giulia, Maxxine Dupri, Becky Lynch

• In addition, ESPN has announced the many appearances WWE Superstars will have across ESPN programming this week.
  • Tuesday:
    • Get Up - The Miz
    • SportsCenter (2 p.m. ET) - The Miz
  • Wednesday:
    • Unsportsmanlike - Paul “Triple H” Levesque
    • Get Up - Paul “Triple H” Levesque
    • First Take - Paul Heyman
    • SportsCenter (2 p.m. ET) - Jey Uso
    • Ahora o Nunca- Stephanie Vaquer
  • Thursday:
    • Unsportsmanlike (in studio) - Seth Rollins
    • Get Up (in studio) - Seth Rollins
    • First Take (in studio) - Seth Rollins
  • Friday:
    • Get Up - Cody Rhodes
    • First Take - Becky Lynch
    • Royal Rumble Kickoff Show (2–3 p.m. ET, ESPN2) -
    • SportsCenter: SmackDown post-segment - WWE-focused post-SmackDown coverage
  • Saturday:
    • SportsCenter (7–10 a.m. ET) - Paul “Triple H” Levesque & Cody Rhodes