WWE star Royce Keys talks debut, targets SmackDown roster

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Royce Keys’ backstory has been well covered since he came to SmackDown.

The 6-foot-1 East Palo Alto, Calif., native started out painting on the independent scene and worked his way up to All Elite Wrestling when his mother suffered a shocking fatal overdose in 2021. He kept pushing and continued to work, knowing that his grandparents and his mother’s spirits were still with him when he made his WWE26 debut in 2026.

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Royce Keys looks on in the ring during WWE’s Royal Rumble at the Riyadh Season Stadium at KAFD in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 31, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

“I like to say I was born to be a professional wrestler and born to be in this business as a sports entertainer,” he told Pakinomist Digital. “So my grandparents moved from Mississippi to San Francisco and they lived right across the street from the Cow Palace. … I grew up hearing about ‘High Chief’ Peter Maivia, Ray Stevens, Pat Patterson, Kenji Shibuya, Pepper Gomez, and so ever since I can remember, wrestling was one of my first memories. It’s brought a lot of joy and success in my life.”

Keys made his debut with the company as a surprise entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia. He eliminated an opponent before he himself was eliminated.

He said walking through the curtain was an experience like no other.

“For me it was a huge test of new audience, new style, being so far away from home that I didn’t know what to expect. Probably one of the handful of times I’ve been nervous in my life,” he recalled. “But once I got to walk down that aisle, everything felt so natural, getting in the ring and just being there. All eyes on me then. It was definitely rewarding. Do you ever get that feeling that you were meant to do something? I had that feeling then.”

Keys was off screen for a bit as he worked on getting his feet under him in a WWE ring.

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Royce Keys looks on during SmackDown at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

After working a few dark matches, Keys defeated Berto in his first SmackDown appearance. He then appeared in and won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal the night before WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

He said he brings a certain X-factor that makes him stand out among other big men on the roster.

“I think that intensity, intimidation, fear, you know, when I’m in the ring, I tend to get straight to the point. I think that certain things that I do in the ring, not only to the people in the arenas, they’re kind of, ‘Ohh,’ they feel it, but people at home also feel it through their TV screens,” he said. “It’s just a lot of dominance. I think my life, everything I’ve been through in my life, has set me up to this point, and I’m going to be that monster, or I want to say, as we say in the hood, I want to be the ‘monstar’ that’s going to change, help or elevate the game.”

Keys said he will bring the pain to his opponents as he looks to get into the title picture – whether it’s the WWE Undisputed Championship or the United States Championship.

“I believe in all of the above,” he told Pakinomist Digital. “I have a motto that I’ve lived by since I was a kid, and it was taught by the OGs and a lot of the guys out here (in the Bay Area) — I’ll take anything I want. Anything I want to take or I see, I’ll take it, whether it’s championships or whether it’s hurting people, whether it’s dominating the brand and going to dominate the brand and going to dominate the brand and going to dominate another brand. Dominating over there My life has set me in this position and everything I’ve been through in my life has brought me to this point and I don’t think there’s anyone who could stop me.”