January is always a fun time for WWE fans, as it’s the month that ends with the Royal Rumble. Both Raw and SmackDown tend to be full of Rumble-related goodness, including wrestlers declaring themselves as entrants and others who have to win their way into the field.

On top of that, the Royal Rumble has long been a place for surprise appearances from WWE legends, returning stars who have been gone due to injury, and even random entries from non-wrestling celebrities (Drew Carey, anyone?). That makes the beginning of the year even busier as fans speculate on who might be coming back and various news outlets round up the latest tidbits on who we can expect to see.

At Wrestling Junkie, we’re as invested as anyone in who will end up at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Jan. 28, and to that end, we’re keeping tabs on the latest WWE Royal Rumble rumors right here. We’ll update this post often as we get closer to the event with the most recent buzz.

A word of caution that there are potential spoilers below, because some of these will invariably turn out to be true and might ruin the surprise when the count hits zero, the buzzer sounds and a particular wrestler’s music hits. Consider yourself properly warned.

Now, on with the good stuff.

Updated January 28, 12:45 a.m. ET.

Royal Rumble rumors 2023:

• PWInsider.com says that Edge is “penciled in to return” after being away since last fall. Fightful Select cautions he might not be in the Rumble match itself, so we’ll see.
• PWInsider.com also says Beth Phoenix should be at the event.
• One more from PWInsider.com, who says that Logan Paul “is absolutely being talked about in regard to an appearance at the Rumble as well,” provided he is good to go following the knee injury he suffered facing Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel last year. Paul is also currently embroiled in several controversies, one involving a pet pig that had to be rescued after severe neglect, and the other centered around his promotion of an NFT/crypto project called CryptoZoo — which he’s at least apologized for after it became clear was not delivering on its promises.
• Could Nia Jax appear in the women’s Rumble match? Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com (via Cageside Seats) has sources saying they expect her to be an entrant, but they can’t confirm it. Jax last appeared in WWE on Raw way back in September 2021.
• What about The Rock? Fightful Select says there “several people who claim to have connections to the company that swear The Rock is showing up,” but Sean Ross Sapp and company can’t confirm it or see any concrete sign that it’s happening.
• Of the NJPW talent rumored to be possibly headed to WWE, Fightful says Jay White and Hikuleo are still being booked with that company past the Rumble, but Tama Tonga could be free since his contract is allegedly up “sometime soon.”
• Finally, Fightful said the word is that Ronda Rousey “wasn’t coming in” based on the people they talked to in creative.