Two matches have been moved to the Royal Rumble Kickoff show on Sunday night.
During the SmackDown Live go-home show for the Rumble, it was announced that the United States Championship match between champion Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura will happen before the main card. The other Kickoff show match will be the Cruiserweight Championship match that will feature champion Buddy Murphy defending against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami in a Fatal Four-Way match.
The Royal Rumble Kickoff show will begin at 5 pm eastern. As announced by WWE, the panel for the first hour will consist of Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler, Booker T and Beth Phoenix. The second-hour panel will include Shawn Michaels and David Otunga. JBL and Charly Caruso will also be appearing on the Kickoff show.
Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view will take place at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. The company has been hyping that over 40,000 fans will be in attendance.
