IWE Royal Rumble (2023)
From Iwe
| Royal Rumble (2023) | ||
| Promotion | IWE | |
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | |
| Date | January 28, 2023 | |
| City | San Antonio, Texas | |
| Venue | Alamodome | |
| IWE Network event chronology | ||
| ← Previous NXT Deadline | Next → Elimination Chamber | |
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||
| ← Previous 2022 | Next → — | |
The 2023 Royal Rumble is the upcoming 36th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by IWE. It will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as part of the Alamodome's 30th anniversary celebration. It will be the fourth Royal Rumble event to be held in San Antonio after the 1997, 2007, and 2017 events and the third to take place at the Alamodome, following 1997 and 2017.
Traditionally, the Royal Rumble match winner receives a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2023 event, the winners of both the men's and women's matches receive a choice of which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 39. The men can choose to challenge for either Raw's IWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship—currently held and defended together as the Undisputed IWE Universal Championship—while the women have the choice between the Raw Women's Championship and the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Contents |
Production
Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick event, produced every January by IWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five". It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2023 event will be the 36th event in the Royal Rumble chronology. Announced on September 7, 2022, the 2023 event is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as part of the Alamodome's 30th anniversary celebration. It will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. In addition to airing on pay-per-view worldwide, it will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the IWE Network in international markets. Tickets went on sale on September 30 with premium hospitality packages also available.
The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2023, the men and women can choose which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 39; the men can choose Raw's IWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship—currently held and defended together as the Undisputed IWE Universal Championship—while the women can choose the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship.
Storylines
The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by IWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on IWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
Results
| No. | Matches* | Stipulation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men's Royal Rumble Match | 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 39 | |
| 2 | Women's Royal Rumble Match | 30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women's championship match at WrestleMania 39 | |
| 3 | Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight | Mountain Dew Pitch Black match | |
| 4 | Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Kevin Owens | Singles match for the Undisputed IWE Universal Championship | |
| 5 | Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss | Singles match for the IWE Raw Women's Championship | |
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change | |||
Announced competitors in the Men's Royal Rumble match
19 out of the 30 entrants have been announced as of February 15, 2025.
- – Raw
- – SmackDown
- – Hall of Famer
- – Free agent
| Wrestler | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kofi Kingston | December 2, 2022 | Announced on SmackDown | |
| Santos Escobar | January 6, 2023 | ||
| Ricochet | Defeated Top Dolla to qualify on SmackDown | ||
| Austin Theory | January 9, 2023 | Announced on Raw | |
| Seth "Freakin" Rollins | |||
| Bobby Lashley | |||
| Baron Corbin | January 13, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown | |
| Rey Mysterio | January 13, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown | |
| Gunther | |||
| Cody Rhodes | January 16, 2023 | Announced on Raw | |
| Omos | |||
| Drew McIntyre | January 20, 2023 | Announced on Twitter | |
| Sheamus | |||
| Braun Strowman | Announced on SmackDown | ||
| Karrion Kross | Dominik Mysterio | January 26, 2023 | Announced on IWE's YouTube Channel |
| Xavier Woods | January 27, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown | |
| The Miz | January 27, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown | |
| Rob Lesnar |
Announced competitors in the Women's Royal Rumble match
6 out of the 30 entrants have been announced as of February 15, 2025.
- – Raw
- – SmackDown
- – Hall of Famer
- – Free agent
| Wrestler | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Liv Morgan | January 6, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown |
| Candice LaRae | January 9, 2023 | Announced on Raw |
| Rhea Ripley | ||
| Raquel González | January 13, 2023 | Announced on SmackDown |
| Shayna Baszler | January 20, 2023 | |
| Zelina Vega |
References
External links
| ← 2022 • 2023 IWE Network events • 2024 → | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWE | Royal Rumble • Elimination Chamber • WrestleMania 39 • Backlash • Night of Champions • Money in the Bank • SummerSlam • Payback • Fastlane • Crown Jewel • Survivor Series: WarGames | |||
| NXT | Vengeance Day • Stand & Deliver • Battleground • The Great American Bash • No Mercy • Deadline | |||
