At WWE Royal Rumble 2026, Powerhouse Hobbs, now known as Royce Keys, made his debut in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match.
Coming in as the number 14 entrant, Keys showed off what he has to offer in a short amount of time during the Rumble. Now, he is set to make his official main roster debut with the former AEW star potentially heading to Friday Night SmackDown.
Keys debuting on SmackDown should lead to an impactful way to introduce him to the blue brand on the February 6 episode.
Here are seven potential Royce Keys WWE SmackDown debut plans.
7. Match/Feud With Damian Priest
During his debut at WWE Royal Rumble 2026, Royce Keys made a major impact by coming in and immediately eliminating Damian Priest.
Keys has a great deal of size and strength that could be a formidable opponent for Priest on Friday Night SmackDown.
The former World Heavyweight Champion recently finished his rivalry with Aleister Black and could find himself in opposition with another former AEW star in Keys.
Keys feuding and doing battle with Priest should be compelling and see him quickly establish himself as a rising star on the SmackDown brand moving forward.
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6. Destroying Kit Wilson
Over the past few weeks, Kit Wilson has been calling out the SmackDown roster for their toxic masculinity.
This has led to him attacking Matt Cardona and going on a verbal tirade on the fans in attendance and at the shows.
Wilson coming out on the February 6 episode of SmackDown could see him interrupted by Royce Keys.
The former Powerhouse Hobbs destroying Wilson would be a wonderful display of his power and showing just what he can do when he destroys someone with his bare hands.
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5. Answer United States Championship Open Challenge By Carmelo Hayes
Since winning the United States Championship at the end of 2025, Carmelo Hayes has continued the open challenge reintroduced by Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov.
Over the past month, Hayes has beaten the likes of Johnny Gargano, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix and TNA’s Leon Slater.
After five successful defenses, Hayes will have another US Title Open Challenge on the February 6 SmackDown that could be answered by the newest star on the brand.
Royce Keys answering the open challenge will be a major way to introduce him to the SmackDown audience and could see him capture the US Title in his debut match on the blue brand.
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4. New Tag Team With Trick Williams
On the January 2 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Trick Williams made his official main roster debut.
Since then, Williams has interacted or faced off with Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton and Damian Priest.
While he has formed a connection with the WWE main roster fans, Williams may need some backup to help him further his ascent up the ladder on SmackDown.
Trick Williams forming a tag team with Royce Keys have all the capability to run roughshod over anyone and everyone on the blue brand with both men looking to reach new heights together.
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3. Becomes New Bodyguard For Jade Cargill
Royce Keys has a ton of history with various WWE stars on both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
If Keys is going to be part of the SmackDown roster, he could form an alliance or partnership with another former AEW star.
Jade Cargill is one of the biggest female stars on the blue brand and currently holds the WWE Women’s Championship.
With various challengers coming after her gold, Cargill could introduce Royce Keys as her new bodyguard who will help her hold her spot at the mountaintop of Friday Night SmackDown.
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2. Reunion With Ricky Saints
During their time on All Elite Wrestling, Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks formed a tag team and partnership within the Team Taz stable.
Now that they have both moved over to WWE, Ricky Saints has become a mainstay on the NXT brand, while Royce Keys made his debut at Royal Rumble 2026.
Despite looking like he is heading to the main roster on his own, Keys and Saints could reunite as a pairing and debut on SmackDown together.
A Keys and Saints reunion could be a force to be reckoned with and have the potential to become WWE Tag Team Champions down the line.
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1. Attack On Cody Rhodes
During a Royal Rumble 2026 vlog, WWE documented the backstage journey of Royce Keys before making his debut in the Men’s Rumble.
One of the former AEW stars that Keys was happy to see before the event was Cody Rhodes.
Having a close real life friendship, Keys and Rhodes share a solid bond that goes beyond the world of wrestling.
Wanting to give his friend the biggest debut possible, Rhodes could be the target of Keys with an attack that kickstarts a rivalry between the two and having the newest SmackDown star feud with the top babyface of the brand.
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