The Road to WrestleMania 41 kicked off Saturday night in Indianapolis with the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble.

Top stars such as John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Logan Paul headlined the men's Rumble match, while the returning Charlotte Flair stood out among a field that also included former winners Bayley and Bianca Belair in the women's contest.

Who emerged victorious from those 30-person matchups and on their way to The Showcase of the Immortals on April 19-20 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas?

Did Cody Rhodes successfully defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens in a ladder match?

What surprises awaited fans?

Find out with this recap of the February 1 premium live event, including grades and analysis for each match on the card.

Match Card

Announced in advance for Saturday's card at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis:

• Men's Royal Rumble match
• Women's Royal Rumble match
• Ladder match for Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin Owens
• Best 2-out-of-3 Falls match for WWE Tag Team Championship: The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) (c)

Women's Royal Rumble Match

Order of Entrance

Iyo Sky, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Lyra Valkyria, Chelsea Green, B-Fab, Ivy Nile, Zoey Stark, Lash Legend, Bianca Belair, Shayna Baszler, Bayley, Sonya Deville, Maxxine Dupri, Naomi, Jaida Parker, Piper Niven, Natalya, Jordynne Grace, Michin, Alexa Bliss, Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae, Stephanie Vaquer, Trish Stratus, Raquel Rodriguez, Charlotte Flair, Giulia, Nia Jax, Nikki Bella

Flair returned to WWE Saturday night and is back on the road to WrestleMania 41 after winning the second Royal Rumble match of her career.

The Queen marked her first match back in over a year with a monumental victory that cashed her return to the biggest stage in professional wrestling after missing last year's contest due to injury.

The outcome was never really in question, especially after Jax eliminated six stars at once, including some of the top contenders in Morgan, Sky and Belair. Still, that did not adversely affect one of the better women's Rumble matches in recent memory.

There was still a bit too much downtime at points and a few instances where there were too many women in the match just wandering around and hitting people. Still, there were several stories intertwined here.

Pure Fusion Collective dominated until their elimination at the hands of tag team champions Belair and Naomi, Jax continued her unstoppable path of rage in the Rumble with seven eliminations, Dupri and Nile renewed their rivalry, Niven accidentally eliminated Green to create tension between them, and Bayley and Perez squared off as part of their NXT feud.

There were those surprise returns that define the Rumble as much as anything, including those from Bliss and Bella, as well as the first appearance of Grace as a member of the WWE roster.

Flair's win seemingly sets her up for a battle with Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship, but a rematch with Rhea Ripley in an attempt to avenge her loss to The Eradicator two years ago at WrestleMania 39 should not be out of the equation.

Result

Flair won, last eliminated Perez

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• For this year's match, WWE implemented stats, entry information and an active/eliminated counter at the bottom of the screen. Kudos to whoever came up with that.
• It appeared that entry times varied, depending on who was entering and whether they were meant to be showcased.
• Grace's Death Valley Driver on Niven was incredibly impressive.

• Bliss' return drew an enormous pop and proved she remains perpetually over with the WWE fans for as long as she was gone.
• "Pyro? On a Royal Rumble entrance? You've gotta be pretty damn special!" Barrett said as Flair made her way to the ring.
• Giulia, Vaquer and Perez stared down Belair, Bayley and Flair in a confrontation of NXT generations.
• Bella's return drew an initial pop but when she started her mid-match push-ups, those cheers turned to some audible boos.

Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Motor City Machine Guns vs. DIY

DIY retained the WWE Tag Team Championship in Indianapolis but immediately discovered that thanks to Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, their reign is anything but safe.

The Street Profits interfered late, and Dawkins blasted Alex Shelley with a crutch, setting up Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano's Meet in the Middle finish.

After the match, as the champions celebrated their victory, they received similar treatment as Dawkins and Ford took turns blasting them with the crutch.

The match itself was good but never reached greatness befitting the talent involved. Some of that can be attributed to a crowd that was never invested in the story and was still exhausted after a long opening bout.

The introduction of The Street Profits creates a three-way rivalry over the titles that could easily run to WrestleMania, where they settle things in a Triple Threat match. Whether the feud has enough juice to last into mid-April is the question.

Result

DIY defeated Motor City Machine Guns, 2-1

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• This was an unfortunate spot for this to go on, after a Rumble match with so many surprise returns and a big win for Flair.
• Gargano and Ciampa perfectly faked a tag, giving the impression that the former was the legal competitor. This allowed the latter to rock Shelley with a knee strike and win the first fall. 

• The finish was met with far quieter a reaction than it should have been. 

Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens

Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens waged war on each other Saturday night, not only for the most prestigious title in the company but also with the intent of ending their intensely personal rivalry.

They did, with The American Nightmare outlasting The Prizefighter and driving him through a ladder with an Alabama Slam to put an exclamation point on the battle.

This was a brutal match that saw several high risks taken by both men. They took incredible damage on the unforgiving ladders in and around the squared circle, taking high-impact bumps.

For Owens, it was another example of his willingness to put his body on the line to entertain fans and tell a story. For Rhodes, it was a much-needed descent into ruthless aggression that proved he is more than just the smiling, goody-two-shoes face of the company.

It toughened Rhodes up and added a new element to his story in that it begs the question: Has the pressure of being champion and the exhaustion of being the face of professional wrestling in 2025 pushed him into a darker part of himself than we have ever seen?

Regardless, he is poised to enter WrestleMania 41 in a position he has never been: the defending WWE champion. On the heels of an early Match of the Year candidate.

Result

Rhodes defeated Owens

Grade

A+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Owens delivered a bodyslam to Rhodes through the rungs of a ladder in a spot that did not look enjoyable at all.  
• Michael Cole noted that no man in WWE history has had more title matches at the Royal Rumble than Owens.
• "This little ladder is certainly a menace," Pat McAfee said on commentary, referencing the step ladder that was introduced into the match.
• Rhodes called back to a ladder match with Barrett, who broke off a rung of a ladder and used it as a weapon on him. The American Nightmare broke that spot out here, much to the delight of the color commentator.
• Rhodes delivered a back body drop onto the edges of a ladder in the first real cringe-worthy moment of the match.
• The fisherman buster by Owens to Rhodes onto a ladder was sickening, mostly because the challenger's head caught the ladder. 

Men's Royal Rumble Match

Order of Entrance

Rey Mysterio, Penta, Chad Gable, Carmelo Hayes, Santos Escobar, Otis, Bron Breakker, Akira Tozawa (attacked by Hays, replaced by YouTuber IShowSpeed), Sheamus, Jimmy Uso, Andrade, Jacob Fatu, Ludwig Kaiser, The Miz, Joe Hendry, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, John Cena, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Dominik Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Damian Priest, LA Knight, Logan Paul.

The talk surrounding this year's Royal Rumble centered on the star-studded lineup of former world champions and future Hall of Famers. It is not surprising, then, that it was those stars (and Paul) who dominated the closing moments of this year's main event.

Late in the match, Punk eliminated Rollins and Reigns, igniting a rage in The Visionary that saw him unload on The Tribal Chief with a double Stomp and another on the steel steps. That ended all three Superstars' nights, leaving Cena, Uso and Paul to compete for a trip to WrestleMania 41.

With Paul eliminated in short order, Cena delivered a Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Uso evaded elimination. Uso then escaped an Attitude Adjustment attempt and sent the veteran off the apron and to the floor, winning the match and cashing his ticket to the main event of The Showcase of the Immortals.

Among all of the conversations about the undeniable star power was the sense of unpredictability, which WWE delivered—but not with the usual suspects. Uso was on no one's radar to win this match and head to WrestleMania, where he will likely challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Between the star power at the end, the opening two featuring Mysterio and Penta, Gable's continued struggles with luchadors, Fatu's dominance, the harmless fun of Breakker destroying a YouTuber, the Hendry cameo, and the continuation of the Rollins-Punk-Reigns story, you had a great Rumble match and an unforgettable surprise victor.

Result

Uso won, last eliminating Cena

Grade

A

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Penta and Mysterio kicking off the Rumble was met with a standing ovation from fans, indicating just how perfectly WWE has handled the former's introduction to this point.
• Breakker obliterated IShowSpeed with a Spear in the best spot of the match.

• TNA champion Hendry drew a huge ovation from the fans, capping off an unforgettable 12 months. He ate a Spear from Reigns and was eliminated, but it was still a great moment for him. 
• Styles returned with his old WWE theme music, so all is right with the wrestling world.
• Cena, Punk and Rollins entered back-to-back-to-back in a fantastic bit. Dominik Mysterio arriving after them was the perfect buzzkill moment that plays up his on-screen persona.

• Paul evaded elimination by jumping onto the announce table.
• The Reigns-Rollins staredown was extraordinary and that is a matchup WWE really must explore on The Grandest Stage of Them All sooner rather than later.

Overall Grade

The Royal Rumble is one of the most popular shows of the year.

Part of that is thanks to the WrestleMania implications and the same-titled matches. Both Rumble contests delivered, had fun spots, memorable returns and finishes that left most fans happy.

Add to that mix an Undisputed WWE Championship clash that was an early Match of the Year contender, and you have a show that more than delivered on its promise.

With so many unanswered questions surrounding top stars and their WrestleMania destinations, this did exactly what it should: Serve as the jumping-off point toward the biggest show of the year and keep fans tuning in to find out what their favorites will be up to in Las Vegas on April 19-20.

Grade: A