Here is the full report of the Royal Rumble, which took place at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida.
In the Kickoff match, a fatal four way match featuring The Dudley Boyz, The Ascension, Jack Swagger and Mark Henry, and Damien Sandow and Darren Young wrestled for a chance to enter the Rumble. Mark Henry and Jack Swagger advanced after winning the match with Henry getting the pin.
Mr McMahon and Stephanie McMahon arrive in a limo and the boss is in a great mood. They are interviewed by JoJo. Cold open…one vs all and the road to WrestleMania begins…now! 15,170 fans are packing the Amway Arena.
The first match is the Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental title between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. They both start the match chopping each other and then Ambrose went for a suicide dive on Owens who was on the outside, taking out Michael Cole in the process as well, breaking his glasses! Hah. The kendo stick makes an appearance and after trading blows, Owens hit the Cannonball on Ambrose, driving him through the security wall for the first “holy shit” chant of the night. Owens throws in six chairs in the ring and is back body dropped through two of them.
Ambrose tries another suicide dive but Owens caught him and destroys him outside the ring. KO gets two tables out and stacks them up…for later. Ambrose hits the Dirty Deeds twice, once on a chair. Owens manages to break the 10 count. Ambrose sets up another table outside and puts KO on it and he drops an elbow from the top rope and outside the ring through the table. Ambrose tries to superplex KO through a table however Owens turns it and Ambrose is the one who goes through it instead. Owens then sets up Ambrose on a bunch of chairs and goes on the top rope but Ambrose stands up and pushes Owens through the two stacked tables underneath. Referee counts to 10 and Owens fails to stand up in time. Dean Ambrose wins and retains the Intercontinental title!
Up next is the WWE Tag Team titles match with The New Day vs The Usos. New Day comes out still mourning Francesca the trombone. Moment of silence is requested but Xavier Woods walks out with Francesca 2, the new trombone. The New Day takes early control of the match and the crowd boos every time The Usos get the upper hand. Crowd chants “Play Francesca” to Xavier who does not, getting some boos of his own. After the hot tag, Jimmy Uso comes in to clean house but Big E turns things around and spears Jimmy through the ropes and both fly out the ring. Jey Uso goes for the big splash amidst the boos and hits it but Kofi’s leg was under the ropes so the ref does not count. Jey then goes for another splash and Big E catches him in mid air for the Big Ending. 1, 2, 3 and it’s over! The New Day retains the titles.
WWE 24 commercial for the new episode titled WrestleMania: Silicon Valley airs. The behind-the-scenes program airs right after the Royal Rumble on the WWE Network, which is free for new subscribers. You can subscribe here!
Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family promo. The apocalypse is here. RUN!
United States championship match is next on the card with Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto. New outfit for Kalisto who is wearing white and black. Del Rio starts with the upper hand, totally overpowering the much smaller Kalisto. Del Rio tries to remove Kalisto’s mask but Kalisto manages to escape with his mask on. Del Rio goes for the second running enziguri but Kalisto moves and then hits Del Rio with a spinning DDT. Kalisto tries a move but botches it badly, landing on his head. He goes for the cover but ADR kicks out. Kalisto hits the Salida Del Sol but Del Rio grabs the ropes on the two count to break it. Del Rio recovers and then exposes the steel turnbuckle. The move backfires on Del Rio, who eats the exposed turnbuckle himself and a Salida Del Sol later we have a new United States champion!
Backstage segment with Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon, who is shining in red. Heyman tells Steph that Brock Lesnar will walk into WrestleMania as the champion. Paul wants to renegotiate Lesnar’s deal but Steph says that will only happen if his client takes his aggression on Roman Reigns.
The Divas title will be up for grabs next with Charlotte vs Becky Lynch. Two time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is in his daughter’s corner. The two start trading moves and each trying their finishing move. With the action moving outside the ring, Charlotte uses her father as a shield but Becky manages to get to Charlotte anyway. Ric then grabs Becky and plants a kiss on her lips, a move that Becky did not like and slapped him across the face. With the distraction, Charlotte gains the upper hand for the majority of the match. Charlotte goes for the Figure 8 however Becky counters and takes control of the match. However out of nowhere Charlotte hits the spear to turn the tide again. Charlotte tries a baseball slide and Becky moves and hits her dad. Becky goes for the Disarmer but Ric Flair threw his jacket at Becky and Charlotte then hits another spear for the pin.
Following the match, Charlotte beats up Becky some more but Sasha Banks’ music hits to a massive pop. Sasha kicks Becky and then shakes hand with her former NXT tag team partner. As Charlotte helps her dad out of the ring, Sasha hits the Bank Statement on Charlotte to another massive pop from the crowd. She holds up the title and struts backwards.
The Royal Rumble 30-man over-the-top rope match is next! Remember, this is for the WWE World Heavyweight title. Roman Reigns is the first one out and is booed out of the building. Ouch! Coming out at number two is Rusev, who comes out with Lana.
The other entrants were AJ Styles, Tyler Breeze, Curtis Axel, Chris Jericho, Kane, Goldust, Ryback, Kofi Kingston, Titus O’Neil, R-Truth, Luke Harper, Stardust, Big Show, Neville, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Erick Rowan, Mark Henry, Brock Lesnar, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and Triple H.
At one point, Rusev, Del Rio, and Sheamus came out with Vince McMahon and attacked Roman Reigns outside the ring. Reigns was put on one of the announce tables, and Rusev ran across and hit a big splash. After that, McMahon and League of Nations went to the back. Reigns was taken to the back by EMTs however he was not eliminated. Reigns returned later in the match after entrant #29 came out.
Kevin Owens was the one who eliminated AJ Styles to a massive chorus of boos. Before sending AJ flying out, Owens told him “Welcome to the WWE!” Getting some payback, Sami Zayn then eliminated Kevin Owens.
The Miz went straight to commentary rather than in the ring when he came out and decided to wait for the perfect time to go in.
After being eliminated by Brock Lesnar, the Wyatt Family returned to attack Lesnar when Bray came out. They eventually ganged up on him and eliminated Lesnar. Did not go well with the fans.
The surprise entrants were AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, and Triple H, who came out at #30.
The final four were Roman Reigns, Triple H, Sheamus, and Ambrose. Reigns eliminated Sheamus and Triple H eliminated Reigns to a big pop from the crowd. Ambrose and Triple H then fought it out with the crowd firmly behind Ambrose however Triple H eliminated Ambrose, winning his 14th World Heavyweight title.
After the Rumble match ended, Stephanie and Vince McMahon came out to celebrate the win in the ring with Triple H as fireworks went off!
