Recaps
WWE Royal Rumble 2026: ‘Ones to the Sky’ as Roman Reigns Wins Title Shot at WrestleMania in a Night Full of Unsolved Mysteries
The road to WrestleMania 42 began by turning back to the OTC1, Roman Reigns, to lead the WWE into their Super Bowl of the year, when he survived the 30-man Royal Rumble on Saturday night, January 31 at the 2026. This year’s Rumble emanated for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Earlier in the week, Reigns made a guest appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in a bit of foreshadowing where he put the WWE creative and roster on notice, that in his absence, they were not getting things done since none of the young guy’s stepped up, so now he needs to step back in and right this wrong.
Reigns survived the final four of the stacked Men’s Rumble. When the smoke cleared it was down to Gunther, Randy Orton, Logan Paul and the OTC. In the end, Reigns tossed Gunther over the top rope to secure the victory. Now, he has his pick of which WWE champion to face at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas come April.
If the championship picture stays as it is until then, Roman could go back after the belt he held for an historic four years, the Undisputed WWE Championship, now held by Drew McIntyre or the World Heavyweight Championship held by CM Punk.
CURB STOMPS
Reigns’ victory was only a part of the story coming out of Riyadh as the Royal Rumble left the WWE Universe with much to ponder. Let’s run back these mysteries.
As entrant #2 Bron Breakker headed to the ring to face off with entrant #1 Oba Femi, a black hooded figure came out of nowhere tossing him outside the ring and giving him the ‘Seth Rollins’-like patented Curb Stomp. Next, he was tossed into the ring for Femi to then officially throw Breakker over the top rope and thus eliminated.
The hooded figure to us was slighter in build than potential suspects: Seth Rollins, Adam Pearce or even Austin Theory, who were all suspect. However, what if it is the ‘Vision’s’ own Logan Paul? Remember, earlier in the week, he was part of a backstage vignette saying that the clique will all help Breakker win the rumble.
Brock Lesnar came out accompanied by his former manager, Paul Heyman. Although, the two in Lesnar’s recent appearances seem to have aligned. Femi, who has tossed out the first several participants easily, came up against the “Beast Incarnate” and went to Suplex City and was then eliminated. Eventually, Lesnar was taken out by L.A. Knight and Cody Rhodes.
Speaking of Roman Reigns, he was all for himself, eliminating his own cousins, Jey Uso and Jacob Fatu. Before Fatu was sent home, he was about to toss Rhodes over the top rope, when Drew McIntyre (who is not in the Rumble) came out of nowhere and Claymore’d him and thus he was eliminated too! Now, Cody’s only current way back to WrestleMania is a win at the ‘Elimination Chamber’ later this month
In the arrivals and returns department: AEW’s former Powerhouse Hobbs entered the Rumble with his new WWE in-ring name of Royce Keys, Chad Gable returned as the Original El Grande Americano, La Parka (who had a run in WCW, but with the running gag of someone different in the skeleton leotard attire) showed up which felt very odd. Kudos to former NXT star Je’Von Evans who has now been called up to the main WWE Men’s roster for a solid first Rumble performance.
LIV IT UP

Photo: WWE
The Women’s Rumble kicked-off the card and in an intriguing plot twist, tag-team partners Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were the number #1 and number #2 participants causing some drama. While they never really went “at” each other, things took a turn during the Rumble when Flair accidentally eliminated Bliss.
In the end, it was Judgment Day’s Liv Morgan who took out the returning-from-injury Tiffany Stratton to win the Women’s Rumble. After two previous second-place finishes, Morgan is heading to WrestleMania with a title shot in the very near future. However, on her way to victory, she double-crossed her former tag partner, and stablemate, Raquel Rodriguez by eliminating her from Rumble contention.
The big stars of the Women’s Rumble were Lash Legend, who while getting so boo’d by the crowd, eliminated several key women and put on quite a show. In addition, props have to go to Sol Ruca, who wound up in the final three with Morgan and Stratton, and delivered her patented Sol Snatcher, only for it to fall apart from there when she was eliminated by Stratton.
The huge pop of the match came when Brie Bella entered at #29. She has been out of in-ring action since 2022’s Rumble. Along with her sister, Nikki, they eliminated Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. Will the Bellas make another run for tag team gold? Stay tuned.
However, most everyone thought the #30 entrant would turn out to be Bianca Belair. The EST did not appear, raising questions and concerns if she will ever be able to be cleared to wrestle again, or if the WWE is holding her back for a huge pop on an upcoming RAW or SmackDown, or if she will be in Chicago later this month at Elimination Chamber.
STYLE

Photo: WWE
AJ Styles, just like the Taylor Swift song lyric from her hit song, Style, says “Will Never Go Out of Style,” and that holds true for the Phenomenal One. Sadly, AJ lost with his WWE career on the line via a sleeper hold to “career killer” Gunther in their singles match up.
In the follow-up to last month’s shocking end of John Cena’s legendary career, where the 17-time champ tapped out to the “Ring General,” Styles just passed out. In a shocker, Style came too and was told by the ref, he lost. AJ received a standing ovation from the crowd.
However, this did not feel like the “official” end to Styles career. When it was time for him to remove his wrestling gloves or boots, as is customary when a wrestler says farewell and is retiring from in-ring performance, Styles stopped himself short of doing that. Time will tell if he moves on for another run at TNA or comes to AEW, or if some other thing is at play here.
It should be noted that multiple WWE superstars past and present took to social media including Cena himself, acknowledging Styles incredible work or how emotional it was backstage at the Rumble after he lost to Gunther.
THE WAITING GAME

Photo: WWE
In the weakest match of the night, Syrian-born Sami Zayn, for all intent and purposes the hometown favorite, lost another bid for the world championship to Drew McIntrye, who threw everything at the kitchen sink at Zayn to make him give up or stay down. It was hard to watch Zayn take the beat down, but it also was so monotonous.
With WrestleMania 43 coming to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2027, that may be the time that Zayn captures the big prize if the WWE can figure out an engrossing long-term storyline for him, that would give us all the feels around the world and not just in Saudi Arabia a year or so from now.
OVERALL 2026 ROYAL RUMBLE GRADE – B
Now below, check out the highlights from the Royal Rumble 2026, followed by the Michael Fairman Channel’s “What’s Up? Wrestling” post-show.
Then let us know, what did you think of Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan as this year’s Royal Rumble winners? AJ Styles being retired by Gunther? What was your high and low point of this year’s card? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Ava Spikes Brennan’s Drink as Drew’s Masterplan Begins to Unfolds

The Friday, August 28 episode of General Hospital confirmed viewers suspicious from the ABC weekly promo that dropped earlier in the week. Ava Jerome (Maura West) is definitely the woman who is spiking the drink of Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna).
How did it all go down? Let’s recap. Ava met up with Drew (Cameron Mathison) at the Metro Court poolside, and he filled her in on his plan to use the thumb drive given to him by Martin Grey (Michael E. Knight) to interfere with the Metro Court Hotel’s security system by way of Carly’s (Laura Wright) office computer.
Next, Drew hands over an envelope with a sleeping pill in it with the demand the Ava somehow slyly slip into Brennan’s drink. Ava is not liking the idea of drugging the WSB Port Charles Bureau Chief.

Courtesy/ABC
KEEPING BRENNAN OCCUPIED
Drew wants insurance that he has enough time to get into Brennan’s room unnoticed, and get the evidence that proved he embezzled money from the McConkey Esplanade project to fund his Congressional campaign away from Jack. He feels the sleeping pill will buy him the time he needs.
Ava accuses Drew of setting her up to take the fall, and she is now having second thoughts about them working together especially after her friend, Nina (Cynthia Watros) warned her about Drew, yet again.
Drew has a comeback for Ava. That is that Sonny (Maurice Benard) has a powerful ally in Mayor Laura Collins (Genie Francis), and he thought that he and Ava were each other’s best shot to team-up and take Sonny down for both their mutual gains. After all, Drew is targeting Sonny as the lynchpin for all his revenge, and Ava is sick of how Sonny dictates when she will see and raise their daughter, Avery.
DRINK UP!
Reluctantly, Ava took the pill from Drew to use on Brennan, only if she absolutely finds it a necessity to do so. As she is on her way to meet Brennan, she flashes back to Sonny calling her a “cancer who should be cut out of Avery’s life.” So, what does Ava do? For insurance, she crushes up the sleeping pill!
Next, Ava sits at a table at the Metro Court poolside with Brennan, and he seems to be knocking back a few drinks upset over his run-in earlier with Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Carly. He suddenly gets a phone call that has to take in private and gets up from the table. That moments enables Ava to slip the crushed up sleeping pill into Brennan’s drink and stir it around. We fade to black.
Take a look at the scene where Drew slips Ava a drug to help tide over Brennan while he tries to retrieve the evidence Brennan is using to blackmail him below.
Now weigh-in: were you disappointed to see Ava back to her old devious ways? Do you think Drew will be successful getting back the evidence? Is this the beginning of the end of Jack Brennan since it as has been reported Chris McKenna is exiting the soap? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.
Recaps
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Kyle and Victoria Ponder the Aftermath of Their Actions: Are You on Team ‘Yay, ‘Yuck’ or ‘Don’t Care?’

One of the hot button topics in soap opera’s this week has been that The Young and the Restless; Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) took their relationship to a whole other level, after drinking some whiskey … but, of course!
On the Thursday, August 27 episode, as the Kyle and Victoria were in the Jabot offices, teasing each other with the plan to relaunch Vibrante by manufacturing a conflict with Jabot, the two got hot and bothered. Complete with lines of dialog such as Victoria saying, “Kyle, I am so going to love knocking this swagger out of you,” and Kyle whispering to her, “It’s going to make winning that much sweeter.”
Suddenly, Kyle leans in for a passionately charged kiss and we are off to the races as Kyle locks the office door and clothes begin to go flying. In the pick-up later in the episode, Kyle and Victoria are laying on the Jabot office couch covered in rugs err blankets.

Photo: JPI
FROM WHISKEY TO THE COUCH
In that moment, the two are a bit mortified from their actions and that they let their attraction get this far. After all, she is a Newman and he is an Abbott, and the two waring families don’t mix, plus there is an element of the older woman/younger man drama going on too. But, it appears that this seeming forbidden love, try as the two might, is not going to be a one time thing as much as they protest.
Victoria tells Kyle in the aftermath, “We definitely had too much celebratory whiskey,” and Kyle agreed, and added that they were just so “excited” about their new project and venture together.
Kyle asks if this is a one-time thing. Victoria responds, “definitely.” However, Kyle acknowledges the truth of it saying, “It was pretty great, though.” After they get dressed and prepare to leave the office, Kyle turned back for one more kiss. Victoria swore him to secrecy, as he pronounced that no one will ever know what happened between them.In the end, and as the episode comes to its conclusion, it’s clear, Kyle and Victoria are thinking of each other.
WHAT’S AHEAD NOW FOR KYLE AND VICTORIA?
Speaking with Soap Opera Digest on the romantic story turn between the two characters, Michael Mealor previewed what’s to come, expressing, “What we’ve been doing over the last month or so or however long, it only gets better and it gets more intriguing. And it’s really gonna have the viewers really pick sides.”
However, where the story ultimately goes depends on newly-planted Y&R co-head writers Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor, whose stories will not be seen on-air until October. Until then, this was the story laid out by exited head scribe, Josh Griffith.
So, what did you think of Kyle and Victoria having sex? Are you on Team Yay, Yuck or Don’t Care? Let us know where you stand as of now via the comment section below.
Recaps
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Victor’s Emotional Visit with Nick in Rehab Brings Touching Performances by Eric Braeden and Joshua Morrow

When The Young and the Restless shows the more tender side of the mighty Victor Newman, it often breaks out hearts, puts a lump in our throats, and makes us appreciate the over four decades plus of work from the iconic Eric Braeden, who this year is also nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmys.
Now, on the Wednesday, August 26 episode of the CBS soap opera, Victor comes to visit his son Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) while he is recovering in rehab for his drug addiction. The scenes delivered poignant performances by Joshua Morrow and Braeden.
In the scene, Victor tells his son, “If I was too hard on you when you grew up, maybe I was. That’s on me.” Nick responds with shame, “You weren’t. Dad, you never would have let this happen to you.” Victor says, “Son, there but for the grace of God go I, and so many others I know. Don’t you feel this way. You didn’t want this.”
YOUR FATHER IS IN YOUR CORNER
Victor assures Nick, “I know this is very, very difficult for you. I understand that. For all of us. I just want you to know that your father is in your corner. You will never do this alone. We’re in this together. Do you understand that? And together we’ll fight this.”
In addition, Victor tells Nick he is proud of him for not giving up and trying to battle his demons. Nick opens about about meeting Marie (Jade Harlow). Victor gathers they’re getting close. Nick admits he likes having her there in rehab with him.
Victor addresses his concern that Marie might drag Nick down since she is an addict herself. Nick understands, but says they’re all responsible for themselves and their actions.
At the end of their visit, Victor tells Nick, “If you need anything from any of us, let us know.” Victor then proceeds to get up and embrace his son before he leaves, which is hard for a father to walk away from his son knowing what a harrowing and difficult time Nick is going through. He tells Nick, “You’re my boy and you will overcome this and I’m proud of you.”
You can check out the key moments from the scenes between Nick and Victor below.
Then let us know, what did you think of the touching speech delivered by Eric Braeden as Victor to Nick? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
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