The show kicked off with the 8th women’s Royal Rumble match in WWE history.
Stephanie McMahon was introduced before the match and received a warm welcome from the Indianapolis crowd. McMahon ran through some of the streaming successes WWE has experienced so far this year, thanked fans and teed up the pyro to start the show.
We then got a video package narrated by former Colts punter and ESPN/WWE media personality Pat McAfee.
The match kicked off with Iyo Sky entering No. 1 in her 3rd career Royal Rumble. Her initial opponent was another major player in WWE’s women’s division, Liv Morgan. Morgan has been in every women’s Royal Rumble and has finished 2nd in back-to-back years.
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— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2025
After a fairly standard showdown between Sky and Morgan, the third entrant made her way to the ring, former NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez. Perez was the first representative from NXT and it was her 2nd ever Royal Rumble.
Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria made her Royal Rumble debut, entering No. 4 and cleaning house quickly. She was followed up by another inaugural champion as Chelsea Green sauntered to the ring No. 5. B-Fab came in No. 6 as the ring continued to fill up with no one having been eliminated yet.
American Made’s Ivy Nile was No. 7 and was serenaded by “You Suck” chants usually reserved for Chad Gable. She pulled off an impressive double German suplex shortly after entering. Another “Raw” stable wrestler came out No. 8, with Pure Fusion Collective’s Zoey Stark entering the ring.
NXT’s Lash Legend made her Royal Rumble debut at No. 9 and followed the trend of cleaning house in the ring. Legend showed off her immense power immediately and won the crowd over quickly. After B-Fab and Lash Legend went toe-to-toe and took each other out with pump kicks, Green rushed to make the first elimination of the match, sending B-Fab over the top rope.
The first former women’s Royal Rumble winner came out at No. 10 with Bianca Belair entering the fray. PFC and Stark got a big boost at No. 11 as Shayna Baszler came out to the ring. Belair and Baszler are tied with Nia Jax with the most eliminations in a single women’s Royal Rumble match with eight each.
The second elimination came when Ivy Nile tossed Lyra Valkyria out of the ring, potentially setting up a Women’s Intercontinental Championship feud on “Raw.” Bayley came out at No. 12 and was looking to win back-to-back Royal Rumbles and become the first two-time winner in women’s Royal Rumble history.
PFC was complete as Sonya Deville came out at No. 13 and she immediately started directing Baszler and Stark. All three members of PFC were waiting in the middle of the ring as Maxxine Dupri entered at No. 14. Instead of PFC battling the Alpha Academy member, Ivy Nile stepped up and the two clashed. Dupri got a great pop hitting the Reverse Caterpillar and eliminating Ivy Nile. As Dupri celebrated she was thrown out by PFC.
The halfway point came when Naomi entered at No. 15, completing the Women’s Tag Team Champions with Belair. PFC was eliminated in quick succession with Belair and Naomi tossing Stark, Sky bouncing Deville and Bayley sending Baszler out. After this sequence, Jaida Parker came in at No. 16 and made her Royal Rumble debut.
Green, serving as comic relief, capitalized on a moment and eliminated Legend before getting some help with her “Secret Her-vice” partner Piper Niven coming in at No. 17. That was a short-lived moment of glory as Niven accidentally bounced Green.
Natalya came out at No. 18. Natalya has competed in every women’s Royal Rumble. Natalya was followed by the first big surprise of the night with Jordynne Grace entering at No. 19. The commentary desk said that she was officially with WWE. Grace immediately made her presence felt by eliminating Parker and delivering a Death Valley Driver to Niven. Michin followed at No. 20.
Arguably the biggest return in women’s Royal Rumble history came at No. 21, as Alexa Bliss made her return to WWE for the first time in more than two years. The Indianapolis crowd erupted as the former champion made her way to the ring.
Zelina Vega came out at No. 22, making it 12 women active in the ring. Shortly after entering, she landed a huge maneuver on Grace off the top rope during an impressive flurry. Another SmackDown star, Candice LeRae was No. 23 to enter the match. It was LeRae’s fifth Royal Rumble.
Another Royal Rumble debut came at No. 24 when NXT star Stephanie Vaquer emerged. She immediately made her presence felt going after WWE veterans Bayley and Natalya.
The first legend entrance of the night came at No. 25, as WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus joined the fray. Stratus’ entrance and initial action drew “This is Awesome” chants from the crowd. Stratus’ momentum was halted quickly by Niven.
24 spots after Morgan entered, Raquel Rodriguez came out at No. 26 and went into protection mode for her Judgment Day partner. Rodriguez and Morgan teamed up to eliminate Natalya and Bliss.
Charlotte Flair made her return at No. 27, getting pyro on her way to the ring. The 2020 Royal Rumble winner has been out with injury since December 2023. In Royal Rumble history, No. 27 is a spot that many eventual winners drew. Flair had the most dominant presentation of any star in the ring so far, eliminating Michin and reversing a stalled double vertical suplex from Vaquer and Grace. Flair followed that up by eliminating Niven as well.
NXT Women’s Champion, Giulia, came out at No. 28 to make her Royal Rumble debut. Perez, the woman she beat for the championship had been in the match since entering at No. 3. Rather than immediately renewing that rivalry, Giulia and Sky went head-to-head. After she was done with Sky, Giulia eliminated Grace.
The penultimate entrance came from former WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax. Jax entered tied for the most eliminations in Women’s Royal Rumble history. Jax upped that number quickly, breaking the tie and eliminating Vega.
Jax and Stratus stared each other down and Jax’s running mate LeRae tried an ambush. Stratus countered and eliminated LeRae. After a brief showdown, LeRae interfered from the outside and helped Jax eliminate Stratus.
The 30-woman field was completed with another legend’s return as Nikki Bella came out at No. 30. Bella stared down Jax as the rest of the women rose to their feet and ganged up on Jax in an attempt to eliminate her. Jax overpowered all of the women but the assault continued. As this all took place, Sky and Morgan officially surpassed Bayley’s record from last year for time spent in the match.
Several close calls took place chaos ensued on the ring apron before Jax eliminated what looked like half a dozen stars in Vaquer, Sky, Belair, Naomi, Rodriguez and Morgan. Perez would break up the Jax stretch and eliminate Giulia. Jax followed up by eliminating Bella shortly after Bayley made her exit at the hands of Bella.
The end came relatively quickly as Flair eliminated Jax and then Perez, becoming a two-time Royal Rumble winner. Despite her runner-up statusRoxanne Perez finished as the record holder for time spent in a single women’s Royal Rumble match.
Charlotte Flair wins the Women’s Royal Rumble in 1 hour 10 minutes.
Here’s a running list of the entrants and eliminations:
1. Iyo Sky (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
2. Liv Morgan (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
3. Roxanne Perez (Eliminated by Charlotte Flair)
4. Lyra Valkyria (Eliminated by Ivy Nile)
5. Chelsea Green (Eliminated by Piper Niven)
6. B-Fab (Eliminated by Chelsea Green)
7. Ivy Nile (Eliminated by Maxxine Dupri)
8. Zoey Stark (Eliminated by Bianca Belair and Naomi)
9. Lash Legend (Eliminated by Chelsea Green)
10. Bianca Belair (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
11. Shayna Baszler (Eliminated by Bayley)
12. Bayley (Eliminated by Nikki Bella)
13. Sonya Deville (Eliminated by Iyo Sky)
14. Maxxine Dupri (Eliminated by PFC)
15. Naomi (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
16. Jaida Parker (Eliminated by Jordynne Grace)
17. Piper Niven (Eliminated by Charlotte Flair)
18. Natalya (Eliminated by Liv Morgan)
19. Jordynne Grace (Eliminated by Giulia)
20. Michin (Eliminated by Charlotte Flair)
21. Alexa Bliss (Eliminated by Liv Morgan)
22. Zelina Vega (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
23. Candice LeRae (Eliminated by Trish Stratus)
24. Stephanie Vaquer (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
25. Trish Stratus (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
26. Raquel Rodriguez (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
27. Charlotte Flair (Winner)
28. Giulia (Eliminated by Roxanne Perez)
29. Nia Jax (Eliminated by Charlotte Flair)
30. Nikki Bella (Eliminated by Nia Jax)
