WWE CREATIVE NAMES LIV MORGAN AS FRONTRUNNER FOR 2026 ROYAL RUMBLE VICTORY
Exclusive: WWE insiders reveal Liv Morgan is the top pick to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania.
With WWE’s Royal Rumble just around the corner, things are moving fast behind the scenes. The booking talks are heating up, and everyone’s throwing ideas around.
On Monday Night RAW, we saw nine women officially enter the Royal Rumble. Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY got the ball rolling, and the rest followed. This show’s a big deal—it sets up the main matches for WrestleMania 42. And now, some interesting backstage details are coming out about what WWE has in mind.
One of the hottest topics? Liv Morgan. People inside WWE are seriously considering having her win the Royal Rumble. According to Ibou from Self Made Sessions, the company hasn’t nailed down the big women’s matches for WrestleMania yet, but they’re tossing around a bunch of different ideas.
One plan getting a lot of buzz is for Liv Morgan—a seven-time champion—to win the Rumble and go after Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Championship. WWE’s already teased this matchup since Liv returned to TV in November with The Judgement Day. They had a meeting last week and apparently switched up several plans, but Liv winning her first Royal Rumble is still on the table, and plenty of people backstage are backing her.
Here’s what Ibou said: Some folks really believe Liv Morgan should take the Rumble and go straight to face Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania 42. And right now, that’s a real possibility. WWE has held some high-level meetings over the past couple of weeks to figure out what they want for ‘Mania, including one last week that changed up a lot.
Rhea Ripley’s name is still in the mix, too. She was originally set to face Vaquer, but now there’s more talk about her going up against her tag partner, IYO SKY. Nothing’s locked in yet. Last week, they still hadn’t settled on the final matchups. The early plan was Rhea versus Stephanie one-on-one, but now some people are pushing for Rhea vs. IYO instead.
Right now, there’s no official word on Rhea Ripley’s WrestleMania 42 match. But Liv Morgan—who’s already got a Crown Jewel title, two World Championships, and four tag team titles—has built up plenty of support backstage. She just might walk away with the Royal Rumble win this time, and honestly, she deserves it.
OBA FEMI AMBUSH CONFIRMS BROCK LESNAR MATCH AND SHIFTS ROLLINS’ WRESTLEMANIA PLANS
Seth Rollins teased a WrestleMania 42 match with Bron Breakker after Oba Femi replaced him as Brock Lesnar's opponent.
This week’s RAW didn’t just hint at a big WrestleMania match it quietly spelt it out.
Seth Rollins came out swinging. He went right for Paul Heyman, dropping the jokes and theatrics for once. Seth accused Heyman of picking the wrong side and promised to run him out of WWE. Heyman didn’t flinch. He just did what he always does: sent out Brock Lesnar. For a second, it looked like Rollins vs. Lesnar was heating up for WrestleMania 42.
Then Oba Femi stormed in and flipped the script.
Femi ambushed Brock, and before you could blink, WWE announced Lesnar vs. Femi for Las Vegas. That move did more than set up a fresh headline bout it took Brock out of Seth’s way. Now, the biggest question on RAW is, who's Seth facing at WrestleMania?
Only one guy still fits.
Rollins made his intentions clear. Anyone in Heyman’s camp is officially his enemy. Roman Reigns? He’s tangled up with CM Punk. Lesnar? Now booked with Femi. That doesn’t leave many options.
It leaves Bron Breakker.
Breakker hasn’t been around after hernia surgery, but the story with Rollins isn’t over. He was the one who turned on Seth and kicked him out of The Vision. That betrayal still stings. When WWE plants a seed like that, they usually bring it full circle.
Some earlier reports said Breakker’s injury might keep him out of WrestleMania, but RAW’s booking says otherwise. If the plan was always Rollins vs. Lesnar, WWE wouldn't have switched gears so fast to Lesnar vs. Femi. That change feels deliberate. It clears space for something bigger.
Rollins even name-dropped Breakker during his promo, mentioned the injury, but kept him in the story. That line mattered WWE hasn’t forgotten about him.
Breakker’s official medical update is still up in the air. Behind the scenes, people are confident. Rollins will be ready for WrestleMania, and hopefully Breakker can make it too. If he’s not cleared, Logan Paul is waiting in the wings as Plan B.
HOW PAUL HEYMAN MANAGES FOUR TOP TIER TALENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY ON WWE RAW
Paul Heyman’s massive backstage influence is revealed as Bron Breakker undergoes emergency surgery before WrestleMania 42.
Word is spreading about just how much pull Paul Heyman really has backstage in WWE.
Sure, everybody sees him on RAW standing next to Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory. But behind the curtain, Heyman’s hand is all over things you’d never guess he touched.
Sean Ross Sapp cleared up the whole “Is Heyman involved with creative?” thing during a Fightful Select Q&A. And the answer? Yes, absolutely. Heyman jumps in with ideas, especially for the talent he’s managing on TV.
You’ll usually find him shaping personalities, tweaking promos, and making sure those stories hit harder. He’s got a reputation for mentoring talent he believes in, too. He doesn’t just offer generic advice; he genuinely invests in these people. At one point, he even joked that WWE sometimes holds back on pushing someone if he’s too publicly supportive. That pretty much says a lot about how much clout he’s got.
Currently, all the drama surrounding Heyman’s on-screen group has fans even more glued to what he’s up to. Remember Seth Rollins? He was leading The Vision until his injury last year left him out of the picture.
Then, at Elimination Chamber, Rollins ripped the mask off and went after Heyman’s crew, zeroing in on Logan Paul. Next thing you know, Rollins is attacking Heyman on RAW, making this rivalry even wilder and turning up the heat.
While all of that unfolded, Heyman spoke out about Bron Breakker’s recent setback. He didn’t sugarcoat anything when he called into Busted Open Radio to talk about Breakker’s hernia surgery. Breakker hurt himself so badly that he needed emergency surgery, and this was right when he was on the verge of a big WrestleMania moment. Did Heyman treat it like a tragedy, though? Not really.
He spun it as fuel for the fire, saying the frustration from being stuck on the sidelines could actually help Breakker come back even stronger. In his eyes, every day away just makes that hunger to return even bigger. With WrestleMania 42 coming up fast in Las Vegas, the real question is whether Breakker will heal up in time to make an impact.
