The 2025 Royal Rumble PPV is in the books, taking place at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 1st. As the first PPV of WWE’s much-hyped “Netflix Era”, expectations were sky-high, but the show fell short in several areas – especially the women’s Rumble match.
Charli XCX’s “Von Dutch” played over the usual pre-tape videos of the wrestlers entering the stadium. Stephanie McMahon came out and thanked the fans for their attendance, her first on-screen promo since WrestleMania XL. Wade Barrett joined commentary for the night, a much-needed improvement over the usual lacklustre duo of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee. The lights dimmed and the first entrants came out.
IYO SKY and Liv Morgan drew #1 and #2 respectively. The two had a decent exchange, but it was cheapened by the digital banners at the bottom of the screen that flashed up with unnecessary trivia about previous Rumbles. The pop-ups, while obviously meant to contextualise things for new viewers, ended up cluttering the presentation and distracting from the in-ring action for the whole match.
#3 was former NXT Champion Roxanne Perez, and #4 was current Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria. Lyra’s top started to fall off, and Liv smartly knocked her into the corner to buy time while she fixed it, showing how much her ring awareness has improved in the past few years. These four women were very solid picks to start the Rumble off given their in-ring ability.
Next out was US Champion Chelsea Green. She did some comedy spots including throwing everyone over the top ropes, who all hanged on and then proceeded to beat on her when she realised she hadn’t won. B-Fab, Ivy Nile, and Zoey Stark were next out, each landing offense but eliminating no-one.
#9 was NXT’s Lash Legend, making her Rumble debut here. She looked like an absolute star and, in my opinion, has the presence and the moveset of a future world champion. Really would’ve liked to see her make a bigger starting impression on this match and get a few eliminations, but all she did was kick B-Fab down who then got eliminated by Green.
Tag champion Bianca Belair entered next. She did this really corny spot where she stood on the corner ropes, punched a wrestler in the head, backflipped off the rope when another wrestler ran in, and repeated. It looked really choreographed and it doesn’t even make sense to book a spot where someone stands on the ropes in a Rumble match. Shayna Baszler came out next, and Ivy Nile eliminated Lyra Valkyria, setting up a title feud.
Previous year’s winner Bayley got a good reaction when she came out, followed by crickets for Sonya Deville. I think this match proves how Pure Fusion Collective has really been a career misstep for Sonya, Shayna and Zoey. They used to get decent reactions as singles stars, but now no-one could care less (Feb 8 update: It’s been one week since the PPV and Sonya is gone from the company). They cleaned house and then posed to zero fanfare. Alpha Academy’s Maxxine Dupri came out next, eliminating Ivy Nile before PFC eliminated her.
Other tag champion Naomi came out, teaming with partner Bianca. PFC all got eliminated simultaneously, but poor camera work means we missed Shayna’s exit. NXT’s Jaida Parker entered next and got a good reaction despite her generic theme music. Bianca, Naomi, Jaida and Lash decided to team up in the middle of the ring and attacked Chelsea Green in a humorous spot. Though Chelsea plays a heel character, the crowd booed her beatdown and popped when she eliminated Lash Legend, who got no eliminations. Piper Niven entered next and, after some miscommunication, accidentally eliminated Chelsea. Natalya was #18.
New WWE signee Jordynne Grace entered at #19 and got the loudest reaction so far. It’s fully deserved and you can just tell that she, like Lash, is also a future world champion and possible face of the company. She eliminated Jaida Parker and delivered an awesome Death Valley Driver to Piper Niven, which the crowd went insane for. It was the first truly exciting moment in the match.
#20 was Michin. Alexa Bliss returned at #21 to one of the biggest reactions of the night, ending her two-year absence since the 2023 Rumble. She had been reported to be in a contract dispute with WWE, but this seems to have been either a planted story, or an agreement was reached just before her appearance. Either way, her return was great and a genuine surprise.
Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae and NXT’s Stephanie Vaquer were next out, the latter of which got a good reaction. Trish Stratus returned wearing her old T&A manager cowgirl gear. There were way too many people in the ring at this point and it took away from Alexa’s surprise return, leaving her lost in the shuffle. Raquel Rodriguez came in to the generic new Judgement Day theme and helped Liv Morgan eliminate Natalya, and then bafflingly Alexa. Only ten minutes in and no eliminations for a former multiple-time world champ returning from a two-year absence. Completely absurd. At least they’re building to a Liv vs. Alexa feud which fans are looking forward to.
#27 was a returning Charlotte Flair, who contrary to what many expected got a mostly positive reaction on the night. This would have felt more special if it hadn’t been announced weeks in advance as a selling point. A pyro display goes off for her entrance which basically solidified that she’d been picked to win. She eliminated Michin and Piper Niven.
NXT world champion Giulia entered next. This was a baffling decision. In storyline, if you win the Rumble, you are allowed to challenge for any world title, NXT’s included. So why was the current NXT champion even in the Rumble? If she won, would she have challenged for her own belt? It’s nonsensical and shows how much NXT is treated as secondary to the main roster. It reminds me of how Chavo Guerrero was in the 2008 Royal Rumble despite being ECW world champion at the time.
Giulia eliminates Jordynne Grace, who definitely should have stayed until at least the final four. We got what Wade Barrett dubbed an “NXT vs. WWE” showdown (isn’t NXT part of WWE?) while Nia Jax made her entrance. Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae and Trish Stratus were all eliminated. #30 was Nikki Bella, the most underwhelming final entrant since Brock Lesnar in 2022. Why wasn’t Alexa in this spot? The women’s division has completely outgrown Nikki at this point. Fading popularity from a reality show shouldn’t get you this far.
About 8 or 9 different wrestlers went to one side of the ring and started fighting on the outside of the ropes. Just like the Bianca spot earlier, it looked stupid and choreographed. Nia Jax then ran in and eliminated Vaquer, SKY, Belair, Naomi, Rodriguez and finally, Liv Morgan. This spot killed the match. It got rid of every wrestler who had a realistic shot of winning besides Charlotte and Nia. And for what? To make Nia look strong like she wasn’t world champion a month ago? What a waste of talent and also obviously telegraphed that Charlotte would eventually win.
Roxanne Perez eliminates Giulia (who again, is NXT WORLD CHAMPION) and it’s treated like an afterthought, barely piquing the commentators’ attention. Nikki Bella eliminated Bayley and was subsequently eliminated by Nia. Bayley being eliminated by someone who hasn’t wrestled full-time in seven years may be the worst elimination of the night.
It’s down to three – Nia, Charlotte and Roxanne. Charlotte, who had done very little so far, suddenly revived and went after Nia. Roxanne and Nia tried to eliminate each other, but Charlotte swooped in and eliminated Nia, swiftly followed by Roxanne. Charlotte was declared the 2025 Royal Rumble winner and granted a world title match at WrestleMania.
The backlash to this was quick and severe. The YouTube video of Charlotte’s win currently has a ratio of 8.5k likes to 39k dislikes, and Charlotte was mercilessly booed during her appearance on the following Monday’s Raw, even when she mentioned her injury that had sidelined her for so long. Her history of taking time off, then swooping in and immediately taking main event positions from more deserving talent has completely soured people’s opinions of her and given her X-Pac heat. If the WWE tried to push her as a heel, this might have worked, but it seems like they’re trying to keep her as a face.
So, who should have won? In my opinion, IYO was the clear choice – she started 2024 as women’s world champion, delivered a WrestleMania classic, and turned herself face purely through in-ring skill. Jordynne Grace would’ve been an unexpected and welcome pick, although they’re probably reluctant to have someone so new to the company challenging for a world title, and her being eliminated by Giulia suggests she’s NXT-bound. Even Nia Jax, who had the best year of her career in 2024, would’ve been a solid winner. WWE had a chance to elevate fresh talent, but instead, they defaulted to the same old formula, because they’re too scared to do something revolutionary with the women’s division.
Charlotte officially challenged Tiffany Stratton on the Valentine’s Day episode of SmackDown. Tiffany has been getting great crowd reactions ever since Elimination Chamber 2024, and when they step into the ring at WrestleMania, she will undoubtedly be roundly cheered against Charlotte’s tired “queen” character. The WWE need to fully turn Charlotte heel and have her put over Tiffany clean. If Charlotte’s going to be a full-time fixture going forward, she should feud for one of the midcard titles and bring prestige to them, instead of taking spots away from women who need and deserve them more than she does.
Unfortunately, Charlotte is a reminder of the worst of the late-period Vince McMahon era to many fans, and much like John Cena or Roman Reigns before her, she’s got many matches to lose and people to elevate before she gets a reputation that befits her.
