At Royal Rumble 2026, fans saw the debut of Royce Keys (formerly known as Powerhouse Hobbs in All Elite Wrestling). Keys departed AEW earlier this year, after a contract expiration. Fans expected him to sign with WWE, and he did.
During the Men’s Royal Rumble match, Keys eliminated Damian Priest before he was thrown out of the ring by Bronson Reed. Over the next few months, Keys didn’t show up on any of the WWE shows. This led to many fans speculating what was really going on behind the scenes with the wrestler.
Keys did work a few dark matches in between, however. His main roster debut took place on the final SmackDown before WrestleMania 42, where he participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale and emerged victorious.
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Royce Keys Speaks On His Royal Rumble 2026 Debut
Royce Keys recently appeared on Unseen with Joey Karni, where he discussed his Royal Rumble debut and said the night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, meant a lot to him. You can check out the full quote below:
“It meant a lot. Just thinking about the names that came before you and living up to expectations. And while doing that, you got to create your own path. I did that. I made an impact in the Rumble. So, you know it’s in history now, so now we move forward, progress, and take everything I want.” (H/t Wrestletalk)
Keys was one of the few people who skipped NXT completely and went straight to the main roster. In the same interview, he said the “plan was laid out” and that he only had to execute whatever the company asked of him when discussing this.
“The plan was laid out, and I just execute anything they lay out.”
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Royal Rumble 2026 featured both men’s and women’s Rumble matches, where Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan emerged victorious. Reigns went on to challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42, whereas Morgan challenged Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Title. Both wrestlers successfully won their matches at the Grandest Stage of Them All this year.
Royce Keys is part of the WWE SmackDown roster. You can find more information about SmackDown, Raw, NXT, and WWE Premium Live Events on the guide linked below.
Also read: WWE Streaming Guide 2026: Raw, SmackDown, NXT, PLEs and More
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Wrestling news reporter.