That is up from last year’s show which did 443,000 worldwide buys with Sheamus winning the Rumble. In 2011, the Rumble did 481,000 total buys and in 2010 it did 465,000 buys.

Antonio Cesaro defeated The Miz in the pre-show match to retain the U.S. title; Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show in a last man standing match to retain the World Heavyweight title; Kane and Daniel Bryan defeated Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow to retain the Tag Team titles; The Rock defeated CM Punk to win the WWE title; and John Cena won the Royal Rumble match.

The participants in the Royal Rumble were (in order of appearance): Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Santino Marella, Drew McIntyre, Titus O’Neil, Goldust, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Sheamus, Tensai, Brodus Clay, Rey Mysterio, Darren Young, Bo Dallas, The Godfather, Wade Barrett, John Cena, Damien Sandow, Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, The Great Khali, Kane, Zack Ryder, Randy Orton, Jinder Mahal, The Miz, Sin Cara, and Ryback.

Ryback and Sheamus had the most eliminations – five in total – followed by Cody Rhodes and John Cena with 4.

Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho spent the most time in the Royal Rumble after drawing number 1 and 2 and then were the 27th and 25th eliminated respectively.

Rocky first dissed the referee who was telling him to get in line with the WM logo hanging from the rafters to get the perfect shot.

Rock said it’s been ten long years since he came back to do something special. He thanked the WWE Superstars in the back for putting a great team effort for a night like tonight. He also thanked his family who were at ringside.

“I wanna thank each and every single one of you. Thank you,” The Rock said, referring to the fans as “Rocky Rocky” chants filled the arena.

He then said his usual “If ya smell..” line before posing some more in the ring.

You can see the video courtesy of YouTube user silo360 below.

The first one of the night was the returning Chris Jericho, who got a massive pop entering at number two. Jericho stayed almost for the entire match before being eliminated.

Goldust came in at number eight to another huge pop from the Phoenix crowd. Obviously his return was not welcomed by his brother Cody Rhodes and the two fought before Rhodes eliminated Goldust.

The other surprise was The Godfather at number 17, who came down the aisle with a rather short ho-train – only 2! Godfather probably has tied the record of Santino Marella for the quickest exit as he got eliminated by Dolph Ziggler as soon as he came in.

Towards the end of the match, lights went out and The Shield interfered, doing the triple power bomb on The Rock through the announce table. CM Punk pinned The Rock afterwards and was announced as the winner.

However WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon came out and said that he warned Punk that if The Shield interfered he would strip Punk of the title. The Rock begged McMahon not to strip him off the title, but let him take it away from him.

McMahon agreed, and the match was restarted. After Rock survived an elbow off the top rope, he delivered the spine buster and his second People’s Elbow to win the WWE title – his 8th of his WWE career.

You can see the video of The Rock winning the WWE title below.

CM Punk vs The Rock for the WWE title; Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show for the World Heavyweight title in a last man standing match; Kane and Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow for the Tag Team titles; Antonio Cesaro vs The Miz for the U.S. title in the pre-show match; and the 30-man over the top rope Royal Rumble match with the winner going to WrestleMania with a title shot for either the WWE or World title.

Dallas won his matches against fellow NXT competitors Luke Harper, Conor O’Brian, and then Leo Kruger in the final to book his place in the 30-men over the top rope match.

Corey Graves, Oliver Grey, Xavier Woods, and Adrian Neville were the other four from NXT who participated in the tournament which was moved inside the U.S. Airways Center Plaza after rain disrupted the festivities which were being held outside.

Bo Dallas – real name Taylor Rotunda – is the son of of WWE agent Mike Rotunda, who is also better known as IRS.

The competitors announced are Corey Graves, Oliver Grey, Luke Harper, Xavier Woods, Conor O’Brian, Adrian Neville, Bo Dallas, and Leo Kruger.

The Fan Fest will be located on the US Airways plaza in the corner of 1st Street & Jefferson. Tickets start at $10 each.

WWE announced that The Miz will be taking on Antonio Cesaro for the United States title in the pre-show of the Royal Rumble, a free match that will air on WWE.COM, YouTube, and Facebook, starting at 7:30PM this Sunday.

So far, apart from the Rumble match itself, there will be three other matches on the pay-per-view: CM Punk vs The Rock for the WWE title, Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show for the World Heavyweight title in a Last Man Standing match, and Team Hell No vs The Rhodes Scholars for the Tag Team titles.

Chances are that more entrants will be announced during the Smackdown tapings and maybe keep one or two spots reserved for a possible surprise entries.

So far confirmed appearing in the Rumble are (in alphabetical order): Antonio Cesaro, Brodus Clay, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Jinder Mahal, John Cena, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Michael McGillicutty, Randy Orton, Ryback, Sheamus, The Great Khali,  The Miz, Titus O’Neil, and Wade Barrett.

Dolph Ziggler will be entering at either number one or two after Vickie Guerrero screwed him over following his beat the clock win on RAW.

The promotion works by having fans showing their artistic abilities, painting a Doodle of their favorite WWE Superstar or Diva on the USAC Doodle pad and submitting it.

You can participate by going to http://usacnow.com/doodles and draw your best #RockDoodle!

Throughout the next few weeks on RAW and Smackdown, WWE Superstars – and who knows, maybe even a Diva – will throw their name in the list of participants of the 30-men over the top rope match hoping to get a title shot at WrestleMania.

This year, the first person who announced himself as participating in the Rumble was John Cena, who revealed his intentions during yesterday’s RAW.

Cena himself is a winner of the 2008 Royal Rumble after he came out as a surprise entry following a few months sidelined with an injury.

The first panel will take place on Saturday, January 26, from 3PM to 6PM and will tackle the much talked about Montreal screwjob. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Jerry “The King” Lawler will be discussing the story and answer questions.

The second panel will be held on the same day from 6:30PM to 9:30PM and the topic will be Degeneration X. DX members Triple H, X-Pac, Road Dogg Jesse James, and Bad Ass Billy Gunn will be the panelists.

The third panel will be held on Sunday, January 27, from 9AM to Noon discussing WCW Nitro and the Monday Night wars. On hand to discuss the topics and answer questions will be Kevin Nash, the Big Show, and Booker T.

More information can be found at www.usairwayscenter.com.

Several WWE Superstars, Divas, and Legends will be appearing for meet and greet, and there will also be live matches and a tournament in which the winner will receive a spot in the Rumble. There will also be a Q&A session with three WWE Superstar panels discussing the Montreal Screwjob, DX, WCW Nitro, and the Monday Night Wars.

Fan fest tickets start at $10 and Superstar Panel tickets start at $90. A VIP package will run you $250 and will include all Superstar panels, cocktail hours and fan fest admission.

More info at usairwayscenter.com.

The trailer features a brahma bull who then flicks the eyebrow and transforms into The Rock as footage is shown of the former WWE champion laying the smackdown on other WWE Superstars. The Rock will be facing CM Punk at the Rumble for the WWE title.

You can see it below.

The former WWE champion answered questions from fans around the world on several subjects including some funny ones.

“Will the world end the 21st of December?” asked a Rock fan. “BREAKING NEWS: The world will not end on December 21st,” The Rock tweeted back. “My homie Jesus just told me. All good in the hood. #RockTalk”

Johnson will have a very busy schedule in the first half of 2013 with the movies Snitch, GI Joe 2, Pain & Gain, and Fast & Furious 6 being released as well as his involvement with WWE for Royal Rumble and WrestleMania during the same periods.

Speaking of the Royal Rumble, The Rock is featured on the poster of the pay-per-view which shows a close up photo of him with his eyebrow raised and the word “Finally..” at the bottom. The Rock will battle whoever the WWE champion is on the show for the WWE title. You can see the poster below.

For $199 a night, you will get a great room at the beautiful Ritz as well as free Internet for the whole time you’re there as an extra added bonus.

Booking is on first come, first served basis. While a credit card is required for booking, you will not be charged until you check out. To book, simply click HERE and enter the promo code ROYROYA to get your deluxe room at the special rate. Room features either a one king or two queen beds.

Dates available for booking are check-in from Friday, January 25 to Monday, January 28 check out. You can stay for the whole weekend or just one night, up to you. Cut off date for booking is January 4.

The Royal Rumble will feature The Rock taking on the current WWE champion at the time for the gold.