query: who won the greatest royal rumble universal championship

pos: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble the main event, Braun Strowman won the Greatest Royal Rumble match. On the undercard, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match, and the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura resulted in a double countout, The Undertaker defeated Rusev in a casket match, and John Cena defeated Triple H in the opening match. Since 1988, the Royal Rumble has been an annual event held by WWE and is typically shown on pay-per-view. The event is highlighted by the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal whose participants enter at timed intervals. The

pos: History of WWE and Sami Zayn in a tag team match. Bobby Lashley made his return to the WWE on the following episode of Raw. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Braun Strowman won the 50-men Royal Rumble match, the largest royal rumble match in history, where he would receive the inaugural Greatest Royal Rumble Championship belt as well as a trophy. At the 2018 SummerSlam event, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Universal Championship. However two months later Reigns vacated the title due to Leukemia. In October 2018, WWE held their first all women's pay per view WWE Evolution, which

pos: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble opportunity to earn a spot at the Greatest Royal Rumble event itself. The card comprised ten matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw", "SmackDown Live", and the cruiserweight-exclusive "205 Live". On April 9, Brock Lesnar, who had renewed his WWE contract, was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a

pos: Elimination Chamber (2018) the Raw brand. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show "Monday Night Raw". The card was highlighted by two Elimination Chamber matches, one of which was the first to involve women, and the men's chamber match was the first to have seven participants. At the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Royal Rumble match and decided to stay on SmackDown to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34. This left Brock Lesnar, who at the same event retained his Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, without an opponent at WrestleMania. In

pos: Royal Rumble (2018) women's Royal Rumble match, which was also the second women's match to main event a WWE pay-per-view, and the first to main event one of WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views. The men's Royal Rumble match was won by Shinsuke Nakamura. Other prominent matches included Brock Lesnar retaining the Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, and AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a handicap match. The event was also notable for the surprise debut of former UFC star Ronda Rousey following the women's match, officially confirming that she had

pos: Roman Reigns Reigns participated in the annual Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view on January 28, but failed to win the match after being last eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura. After defeating Bray Wyatt on the February 5 episode of "Raw", Reigns qualified for the Elimination Chamber match, which he won, earning the right to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34. At WrestleMania, Reigns failed to win the championship from Lesnar after suffering six "F-5"'s and bleeding during the course of the match. They had a rematch for the championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this time inside a

pos: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble on Nakamura. After that, The Undertaker fought Rusev (who was accompanied by Aiden English) in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before he could close the lid, English attacked the Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory. In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. Reigns performed three spears on Lesnar for a near-fall.

pos: Backlash (2018) was scheduled for Backlash. At WrestleMania 34, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and then was scheduled to defend the title against Reigns in a steel cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which Reigns lost. On "Raw", Reigns addressed his match against Lesnar when a returning Samoa Joe, who had been out with injury since January, interrupted him, called him a failure, and challenged him to a match at Backlash. During the Superstar Shake-up, Joe was traded to SmackDown. On the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", Big Cass returned from injury, aiding Shinsuke Nakamura in attacking

pos: Royal Rumble (2019) Ladders, and Chairs match to earn a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. 2 of the 30 entrants have been announced as of 23, 2019. 1 of the 30 entrants have been announced as of 23, 2019. Royal Rumble (2019) Royal Rumble (2019) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It will take place on January 27, 2019, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the thirty-second event under the Royal Rumble chronology. As is tradition, the winner of the men's and

pos: Royal Rumble (2004) second Royal Rumble match featuring fifteen of "SmackDown's" wrestlers competing for a shot at Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship at No Way Out in February. The thirteen "SmackDown" wrestlers (Kurt Angle, Rhyno, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, Bradshaw, Ernest Miller, Tajiri, Billy Gunn, Big Show, John Cena, Nunzio, A-Train, and Rikishi) who competed in the original Royal Rumble match were given entries in the match as were Hardcore Holly and Eddie Guerrero (Holly, who replaced an injured Matt Morgan, wrestled and lost to Lesnar at the Rumble and Guerrero, who replaced Benoit, was continuing his feud with Chavo). Guerrero won the match

pos: Royal Rumble (2003) Rumble match, which included wrestlers from both brands. Brock Lesnar, the twenty-ninth entrant, won the match by last eliminating The Undertaker, the thirtieth entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Scott Steiner for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Steiner won by disqualification resulting in Triple H retaining the championship. The most prominent for the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit for the WWE Championship, which Angle won by making Benoit submit to the Ankle Lock. The undercard also included a Royal Rumble qualification match between Brock Lesnar and The Big Show, which

pos: WrestleMania 34 Stephanie McMahon, with her arm in a brace, bragged about her WrestleMania performance, stating she knew that she would bring out the best in Ronda Rousey. Rousey then made her entrance and listened to Stephanie praising her. When the two hugged, Ronda grabbed Stephanie's arm, pulled the brace off, and applied the armbar. Also on "Raw", another Universal Championship match between champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Roman Reigns was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble event, this time as a steel cage match, with no justification given for the match. Reigns acknowledged that Lesnar had re-signed with WWE instead of

pos: Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 8, 2018. At the event, Charlotte Flair defeated the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble winner Asuka, ending her 2-year undefeated streak as well as retaining the SmackDown Women's Championship, Brock Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns to retain the Universal Championship in the main event, also AJ Styles defeated the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship which was also promoted as the main event. In the event, former UFC star Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut in a mixed tag team match with her partner Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Daniel

pos: Royal Rumble (2004) the World Heavyweight Championship, which ended in a draw. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Brock Lesnar versus Hardcore Holly for the WWE Championship, which Lesnar won to retain the championship. The featured match on the undercard was a Tables match for the World Tag Team Championship between Evolution (Ric Flair and Batista) and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley), which Evolution won to retain the titles. The buildup to the Royal Rumble match started on the January 1, 2004, episode of "SmackDown", when John Cena interrupted a promo of the SmackDown General Manager Paul

pos: WrestleMania XIX the first sole production from WWE Films. The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. Angle won the title three months prior at Armageddon by defeating then-champion Big Show with Lesnar's help. At the Royal Rumble in January, Angle defeated Chris Benoit to retain the WWE Championship, and Lesnar won the Royal Rumble match to become number one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania when he last eliminated The Undertaker. The following month at No Way Out, Lesnar and Benoit defeated Team

pos: Royal Rumble (2018) During the match, Kane accidentally hit Strowman with a chair, which caused tension between the two. Later on in the match, Kane turned on Strowman and crushed him in the back of a garbage truck; their team ultimately lost. The two then feuded over the next several weeks, leading to a match on the December 11 episode to determine the number one contender against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, but the match ended in a double countout. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle then decided that Lesnar would defend the title against both Kane and Strowman

neg: Royal Rumble match title shot and converted the match at WrestleMania into a triple threat that was later made a four-way match when Linda McMahon inserted the recently retired Mick Foley into the match. During the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018, the winner received a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship. Note that no WrestleMania title opportunity awarded in the 2016 Royal Rumble match as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship held by Roman Reigns itself was at stake. Triple H won the Royal Rumble match and lost his title defense at WrestleMania to Reigns. Top 20 individual longest times in a

neg: General Sports Authority state schools. On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised the Greatest Royal Rumble to be held on 27 April at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The event showcased a 50-men Royal Rumble match rather than the traditional 30-men for the first time in the history of WWE. Braun Strowman, who was the 41st entrant in the match, won by lastly eliminating Big Cass. Strowman later received the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Trophy and a new Belt Kingdom Championship from Chairman of the Saudi General Sports Authority, Turki bin Abdel Muhsin Al-Asheikh and WWE

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble As Reigns tried to escape through the door, Heyman pushed the door into Reigns, allowing Lesnar to execute an F5 on Reigns for a near-fall. In the end, Reigns performed a Spear through the cage wall on Lesnar. Despite Reigns touching the floor first, the referee awarded the win to Lesnar, thereby retaining the Universal Championship. Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler began the 50-man Royal Rumble match as the first two entrants. Bryan survived until the final three, beating Rey Mysterio for the longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match of all time at an hour and sixteen

neg: Royal Rumble (2019) Royal Rumble (2019) Royal Rumble (2019) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It will take place on January 27, 2019, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the thirty-second event under the Royal Rumble chronology. As is tradition, the winner of the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches will earn a world championship match at WrestleMania 35. The men will for either Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship. The women either the Raw or SmackDown Women's Championship. The card will include matches that result

neg: Royal Rumble (1996) brass knuckles to knock Droese out. As a result, Droese won the right to be entry number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, while Helmsley had to enter first. Featured matches on the undercard were the 1996 Royal Rumble match which was won by Shawn Michaels, who last eliminated Diesel to win the match, making it his second straight Royal Rumble win; Goldust defeating Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship; and The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn and Bart Gunn) defeating The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. The 1996 Royal Rumble marked the first

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble privates and on most of them was the sign of the cross, in front of a mixed gathering of young Muslim men and women. The corruptors did not stop at that, for every night musical concerts are being announced, as well as movies and circus shows." <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> At the conclusion of the Greatest Royal Rumble, Braun Strowman was awarded a trophy and a championship title. The role of this Greatest Royal Rumble Championship, however remains unclear. According to "The Sportster", "the likelihood is that nothing that took place in the main event will have any effect on anything once WWE

neg: Fastlane (2017) that he would be in the Royal Rumble match. Roman Reigns came out to confront those in the ring and declared that he would defeat Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. After a stare down, Reigns and Goldberg double-speared Strowman. At Royal Rumble, Strowman attacked Reigns during his Universal Championship match against Owens. The following night on "Raw", Strowman revealed that he had helped Owens retain the title due to his dislike of Reigns and because Owens had promised him a title shot. Owens denied this, but Strowman showed footage confirming his claim. General Manager

neg: Royal Rumble match single Royal Rumble match. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble. Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match. Only wrestlers who have spent more than 3 cumulative hours are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble. Only wrestlers who spent 10 seconds or less in a single rumble are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble. Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete in the match, but did not actually compete. Their participation is counted as zero seconds, with the exception of no. 6 Hornswoggle: Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete and were instead

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble four-team Tag Team Eliminator tournament for the vacant titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble. "Woken" Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the tournament by defeating Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil) and The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson). Cesaro and Sheamus were then traded to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up. At WrestleMania 34, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) defeated The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston in a triple threat tag team match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the following "SmackDown", The Usos defeated The New

neg: Royal Rumble (2018) signed full-time with WWE. As is tradition, the winner of the 30-man Royal Rumble match earned a world championship match at WrestleMania 34 for his choice of either Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship. The event also hosted the first-ever 30-woman Royal Rumble, in which the winner earned a women's championship match at WrestleMania 34 for her choice of either Raw's Women's Championship or SmackDown's Women's Championship. The card consisted of nine matches, including three on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and

neg: Royal Rumble match 2016), but not if the match has already ended (such as Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005 or Curtis Axel in 2015). Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a title match for WWE's top championship at WrestleMania—presently, there are two top championships, the Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown. Similarly, the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match (first contested in 2018) is awarded a match at WrestleMania for either of WWE's top two women's championships, the Raw Women's Championship or the SmackDown Women's Championship. With the brand extension introduced in

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble matches for the event: the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship and Cruiserweight Championship were to be defended at the event. As revealed on March 22, 2018, the event was streamed live on the WWE Network. It also aired on traditional pay-per-view in the United States and internationally. The event was also the first WWE pay-per-view with Arabic commentary. In the weeks leading up to the event, the WWE held tryouts in Saudi Arabia. From these tryouts, eight were selected to receive training by WWE, which would include an

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble. On the WrestleMania 34 pre-show, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament final to win the vacant title. Two nights later on "205 Live", Buddy Murphy attacked the new champion during his celebration. Murphy was then scheduled to face Alexander for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but he failed his mandatory weigh-in when he weighed 207 pounds, 2 pounds over the 205 pound weight limit. He was then removed from the match and banned from competing on "205 Live" until he met the weight requirement. The following

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Greatest Royal Rumble included the largest version of the match to date, having a total of 50 participants. On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised the Greatest Royal Rumble, a live event to be held on April 27, 2018, at King Abdullah International Stadium, part of the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The event is a part of a 10-year strategic multi-platform partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. On March 19, 2018, WWE scheduled seven championship

neg: Braun Strowman Zayn in a Last Man Standing match on the January 2, 2017 episode of "Raw". On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Strowman interfered during Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns' title match, helping Owens retain the Universal Championship. Later that night, Strowman would enter the Royal Rumble match at number seven, eliminating Mojo Rawley, Big Cass, Kalisto, Mark Henry, Big Show, James Ellsworth and Tye Dillinger before being eliminated by Baron Corbin. On the January 30 episode of "Raw", Strowman challenged for his first world championship when he took on Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship as he was granted

neg: Royal Rumble match 2016 Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a participant of that year's Royal Rumble match and was entrant number one. This marked the first time that a reigning champion had to defend his title in the match, which was ultimately won by Triple H, who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win. Reigns would go on to earn a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 and won back the title. From 2001 to 2007, the Royal Rumble match winner had gone on to win a world championship title at WrestleMania. After

neg: Royal Rumble (2017) the titular Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Roman Reigns, making him the seventh multiple Rumble winner. In another prominent match, John Cena defeated AJ Styles to capture his record thirteenth WWE Championship and his sixteenth overall world championship, tying Ric Flair's official record. Also on the card, Kevin Owens retained the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a no disqualification match, Charlotte Flair retained the Raw Women's Championship against Bayley, and Neville defeated Rich Swann for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The card featured eight matches, including three on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

neg: Royal Rumble (1991) Royal Rumble (1991) Royal Rumble (1991) was the fourth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1991, at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida. The main event was the 1991 Royal Rumble match won by Hulk Hogan, who last eliminated Earthquake to win the match, making him the first multi-time Royal Rumble winner . Featured matches on the undercard were The Ultimate Warrior versus Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, Ted DiBiase and Virgil versus Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes, The Mountie versus Koko

neg: Royal Rumble (1991) approximately every 2 minutes. Royal Rumble (1991) Royal Rumble (1991) was the fourth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1991, at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida. The main event was the 1991 Royal Rumble match won by Hulk Hogan, who last eliminated Earthquake to win the match, making him the first multi-time Royal Rumble winner . Featured matches on the undercard were The Ultimate Warrior versus Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, Ted DiBiase and Virgil versus Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes,

neg: Braun Strowman determine the number one contender to the Universal Championship on January 28, 2018 at the Royal Rumble. Strowman would face Kane and Lesnar in a triple threat match at Royal Rumble, where he failed to win the title after Lesnar pinned Kane. The next night on "Raw", Strowman defeated Kane in Last Man Standing match to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship. At Elimination Chamber, Strowman eliminated The Miz, Elias, John Cena, Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins (setting the new record for the most eliminatation in a single Elimination Chamber

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble arrives back in the United States and resume normal service." Thus far, the belt has not reappeared on WWE programs. The base design is similar to the current design of the WWE Championship, with some differences. Instead of a large cut out of the WWE logo, the center plate is modeled with an Arabic pattern with the WWE logo in the center. Like the WWE Championship belt and other belts introduced in 2016 and 2017, the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship belt contains two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with removable round sections that can be replaced with

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev in a fatal-four-way match to win the United States Championship. Mahal was then traded to Raw and lost the championship to Jeff Hardy and Mahal invoked his rematch clause for the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the following night. At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. After the match, Nakamura showed his respect to Styles but then attacked him with a low blow and a "Kinshasa", turning heel. On April 17, after repeated attacks on Styles by Nakamura, a rematch between the two

neg: Royal Rumble (2000) Royal Rumble (2000) Royal Rumble (2000) was the thirteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 23, 2000, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which The Rock won by last eliminating The Big Show to win the match. The undercard included a street fight match between Triple H and Cactus Jack for the WWF Championship, a Triple Threat match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and the New Age Outlaws defending their WWF Tag Team Championship against

neg: Royal Rumble (2002) Royal Rumble (2002) Royal Rumble (2002) was the fifteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and was the final Royal Rumble produced under the WWF name. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which Triple H won, after last eliminating Kurt Angle. The other matches were Chris Jericho versus The Rock for the Undisputed WWF Championship, Ric Flair versus Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, Edge versus William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the team

neg: Royal Rumble (2012) Royal Rumble (2012) Royal Rumble (2012) was the twenty-fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 29, 2012 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania (in this instance: WrestleMania XXVIII) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. Six professional wrestling matches were featured at the event. The main event was the annual 30-competitor Royal Rumble. Sheamus, the twenty-second entrant, won the match by last eliminating Chris

neg: Royal Rumble (2016) Hart gave a strongly negative appraisal of the show, ranking the Rumble match as "one of the least exciting" in history, and the overall event as perhaps "the worst Royal Rumble". Of Triple H's WWE World Heavyweight Championship win in the Rumble match, Hart said: "I didn't like the decision that Triple H, surprise, put the belt on himself again... it just showed a real lack of imagination if you ask me". Kyle Johnson of the "Wrestling Observer" specifically analyzed the merits of the Royal Rumble match: while not "one of the greatest", it achieved two "key things that any

neg: Braun Strowman John Cone's 10-year-old son). Strowman then single-handedly defeated Cesaro and Sheamus, winning his first championship in WWE and making Nicholas the youngest champion of any kind in WWE history. The following night on "Raw", Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles due to Nicholas' "scheduling conflict" (school). On April 27 at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Strowman won the namesake match and in doing so broke the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match with 13, beating Roman Reigns' previous record of 12. From April to August, Strowman feuded with Kevin Owens. He and Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin

neg: WrestleMania 33 part in Owens winning the vacant WWE Universal Championship, which ultimately led to them becoming best friends. Over the next several months, Jericho assisted Owens in retaining his title in various defenses. After Owens retained his title at the Royal Rumble, Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge on Owens' behalf for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, which was made official to the dismay of Owens. Jericho then held a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, who turned on Jericho and brutally attacked him. In retaliation, Jericho cost Owens his Universal Championship match at Fastlane. This lead to a match for Jericho's United States

neg: WrestleMania 31 controversials, televised title defenses against Reigns, first at WrestleMania 34 and then Greatest Royal Rumble inside a steel cage. Reigns eventually defeated Lesnar at SummerSlam in August, to win his first Universal Championship. On the October 22, 2018 episode of "Raw", however, Reigns relinquished the championship due to leukemia, a disease which he has been battling since 2007. WrestleMania 31 WrestleMania 31 was the thirty-first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Nine matches were contested at the event,

neg: WrestleMania 34 "SmackDown" after WrestleMania, Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan - now a full-time wrestler - resigned as General Manager, and introduced Paige, who retired from in-ring competition the previous night on "Raw", as Bryan's successor. She then scheduled a match between Daniel Bryan and WWE Champion AJ Styles. Shinsuke Nakamura, who had issued a mocking apology for attacking Styles, attacked both Bryan and Styles during their match. A rematch between Styles and Nakamura for the championship was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble. The Usos earned a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match against The Bludgeon Brothers at Greatest Royal

neg: Royal Rumble match 1999, when Stone Cold Steve Austin offered to forfeit his title opportunity to the Big Boss Man, who won third place in the Royal Rumble (Austin was actually the runner-up in that Royal Rumble, but the winner Vince McMahon himself had voluntarily given up his title opportunity) if McMahon could beat him in a cage match at , which Austin would go on to win. The third time was in 2002, when Kurt Angle convinced Triple H to put his WrestleMania X8 championship spot on the line at No Way Out, a match which Angle won. However, Triple H would

neg: Royal Rumble (2017) Sami Zayn on the January 23 episode of "Raw", after a distraction by Triple H's music. Later in the night, Big Cass and Rusev announced their participation in the match. On the January 24 episode of "SmackDown", Mojo Rawley won a 10-man battle royal to qualify for the match. The remaining eight spots were revealed at the event during the match. At on December 18, 2016, Kevin Owens retained the WWE Universal Championship against United States Champion Roman Reigns after Chris Jericho attacked Owens with a "Codebreaker", giving Owens the win by disqualification. After the match, Jericho, who lost to

neg: Royal Rumble (2017) villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw", "SmackDown Live", and "205 Live", the latter of which is cruiserweight exclusive. As is tradition, the card was highlighted by the 30-man Royal Rumble match, which earned the winner a world championship match at WrestleMania 33 for their brand's top championship: Raw's WWE Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship. If a free agent were to

neg: Royal Rumble (2018) Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. After Survivor Series, several women from NXT were promoted to the main rosters of both Raw and SmackDown. On the November 20, 2017 episode of "Raw", Paige, who had been out with an injury since June 2016, returned along with the debuts of NXT's Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, forming the heel group Absolution, while similarly on the November 21 episode of "SmackDown", NXT's Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan debuted and formed the heel group The Riott Squad. On the December 18, 2017 episode of "Raw", with a larger roster of

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble minutes. In the end, Big Cass eliminated Bryan and attempted a big boot on Braun Strowman, who countered and eliminated Cass to win the match. Strowman also achieved the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating out a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12. Post-match, Strowman received a trophy and a green championship belt. WWE had been criticized for holding the event without female wrestlers, who were unable to perform at the event due to the limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia. Triple H, WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and

neg: Royal Rumble match either attacked backstage or pulled from the match at the last minute and replaced by other wrestlers. Top wrestlers with most eliminations in a single match. Only wrestlers with at least six eliminations are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble. Note that bold indicate’s winner of that year's match. Top wrestlers with the most eliminations. Only wrestlers with at least 20 eliminations are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble. Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler. Only wrestlers who were eliminated by 3 or more people are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest

neg: Karl Anderson Gallows and Anderson defeated The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). At WrestleMania 34, Anderson competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but was eliminated. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Anderson entered the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match at number 32 and was eliminated by Randy Orton. On April 17, as part of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Gallows and Anderson were both drafted to SmackDown. On the May 22 episode of "SmackDown", Gallows and Anderson defeated The Usos to become number one contenders to the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. At Money in the Bank, Gallows and

neg: WrestleMania 34 Rumble by defeating The New Day. Also, Randy Orton defeated Bobby Roode and Rusev in a triple threat match to earn a United States Championship match. Following this, new United States Champion Jinder Mahal was traded to Raw, but lost the title to Jeff Hardy, who moved to SmackDown. The winner of the championship match between Mahal and Hardy at Greatest Royal Rumble would face Orton at Backlash. SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair commented on her WrestleMania match and future challengers, but was interrupted and attacked by NXT's The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay). After this, Carmella cashed in

neg: Royal Rumble match receive a title opportunity of their choice for a women's championship, either the Raw or SmackDown Women's Championship. Due to free agents, Hall of Famers and wrestlers from the NXT brand also participating, there has not been an even division of wrestlers (in either the men's or women's Rumbles) between Raw and SmackDown since the second brand extension went into effect. WWE's top championship has been booked as on the line during the Royal Rumble match on two occasions. In 1992, the vacant WWF Championship was contested in the 1992 Royal Rumble match (eventually won by Ric Flair) while in

neg: The Legacy (professional wrestling) Orton, Kingston, and John Cena would challenge Sheamus for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Orton ultimately won with the help of The Legacy, who attacked Cena and Kingston. At the Royal Rumble, Orton failed to win the championship when he was disqualified when Rhodes tried to interfere. After the match, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase, who attempted to aid Rhodes. On the February 15 episode of "Raw", Orton took on Sheamus in a non-title rematch, but was again disqualified after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered. During the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, in which

neg: Royal Rumble (2011) match for the WWE Divas Championship between Eve Torres, Natalya, Layla, and Michelle McCool, which Torres won to win the championship. The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. However, for the first and only time in the history of the event, the Royal Rumble match featured 40 wrestlers instead of the usual number of 30. The same rules implied regardless of the number of entrants; the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 39 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over

neg: Royal Rumble (1998) Royal Rumble (1998) Royal Rumble (1998) was the eleventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by MCI's 1-800-COLLECT, and took place on January 18, 1998, at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California. The main event was a casket match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The main matches on the undercard were the Royal Rumble match (which Stone Cold Steve Austin won with his final elimination of The Rock, making it his second Royal Rumble win), The Legion Of Doom

neg: Royal Rumble (2001) Royal Rumble (2001) Royal Rumble (2001) was the fourteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 21, 2001, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which Stone Cold Steve Austin won by last eliminating Kane to win the match, making it his third Royal Rumble win. The match also included comedian Drew Carey. On the undercard, Kurt Angle defended the WWF Championship against Triple H and Chris Jericho defeated Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit in a ladder match.

neg: Rusev (wrestler) and Randy Orton, subsequently adding him to the United States Championship match at WrestleMania 34. At the event, Rusev was pinned by Mahal, losing the match. At the Greatest Royal Rumble event, he faced The Undertaker in a Casket Match, but he lost. On the May 8 episode of "SmackDown Live", Rusev defeated Daniel Bryan to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Braun Strowman. On the following episode of "SmackDown", he won a gauntlet match to become the number one contender for AJ Styles' WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. At the event,

neg: Backlash (2018) April 16 edition of "Raw", Mahal was traded to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up and lost the title to Jeff Hardy, and Mahal invoked his rematch clause at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the next night, where as Orton was about to face Shelton Benjamin, Hardy interrupted his entrance and took the match instead. The following week, Hardy was set to face Benjamin, but Orton this time interrupted Hardy and took the match. Hardy would retain his championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble against Mahal, making Hardy the defending champion against Orton at Backlash. On

neg: Shinsuke Nakamura Bryan, low blowing Styles twice and striking Bryan in the back of the head with a "Kinshasa". Nakamura continued to low blow Styles in the following weeks and it was announced that he would get a rematch for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble. On the April 24 episode of "SmackDown Live", Nakamura debuted a new entrance and theme song. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Styles and Nakamura fought to a double count-out, with Styles retaining the WWE Championship. As a result, another rematch between Nakamura and Styles was made for Backlash with a no disqualification stipulation added on

neg: John Cena the again renamed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. On January 29, 2017, Cena defeated Styles at the Royal Rumble to tie Ric Flair for the most world title reigns at 16, although Flair has actually won the world title several more times with the number 16 having been called "WWE mythology". Cena then entered the Elimination Chamber match as WWE Champion. He was eliminated fourth after a "Sister Abigail" from Bray Wyatt, who went on to win the championship. Two nights later on "SmackDown Live", Cena lost a triple threat match against Wyatt for the championship in a match

neg: Elimination Chamber (2018) January 15 episode of "Raw", Asuka defeated Nia Jax after the referee stopped the match, who deemed Jax unable to continue. Both then competed in the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, which Asuka won for the right to challenge for either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 34. On the February 5 episode of "Raw", General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Jax would face Asuka at Elimination Chamber and if she were to defeat Asuka, Jax would be added to Asuka's championship match at WrestleMania to make it a triple threat match.

neg: WrestleMania XI accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship. Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new WWF Champion. At Royal Rumble 1995, Michaels won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania. The WWF Intercontinental Championship was also defended at WrestleMania. Jeff Jarrett, the champion, had been feuding with Razor Ramon, the challenger, for several months. At Royal Rumble 1995, Jarrett was accompanied by The Roadie, who interfered on Jarrett's behalf and helped

neg: Luna Vachon who had won the reinstated WWF Women's Championship, was attacked by the masked "Spider Lady", who turned out to be Luna. She justified her heel turn and attack towards her partner with the words: "It's about me, it's about what I deserve." In this feud against Sable, Shane McMahon personally supported Luna's efforts to win the championship after taking personal offense to Sable's attitude towards him and booked a Leather Strap match at the Royal Rumble. Leading up to that event, in the storyline, Luna was repeatedly attacked by an obsessed Sable fan. At the Royal Rumble, Sable successfully retained

neg: Royal Rumble (2016) episode of "SmackDown", Owen's accepted Ambrose's challenge to a Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble. On the January 7, 2016 episode of "SmackDown", John Cena introduced Kalisto as an opponent for United States Champion Alberto Del Rio. After Kalisto won the match, he was granted a title match on the January 11 episode of "Raw", in which he defeated Del Rio to win the United States Championship. Del Rio went on to win back the championship the following night on "SmackDown". Subsequently, another title match between the two was scheduled for the Royal Rumble.

neg: Royal Rumble (1997) Royal Rumble (1997) Royal Rumble (1997) was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1997, from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The attendance of 60,477 is the highest recorded in the Royal Rumble's history. The main event was between Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The main matches on the undercard were the Royal Rumble match, which Stone Cold Steve Austin won after last eliminating Bret Hart, Vader versus The Undertaker, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley versus Goldust for

neg: Erick Rowan Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder). After dominating most of the tag division for months, the team won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 34 from The Usos, a match also involving The New Day; this marked Rowans' first main roster championship win. Harper and Rowan successfully defended their titles against The Usos at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. The two once again retained the titles against Team Hell No at Extreme Rules. The win came after Rowan and Harper attacked Kane backstage prior to the match. The team lost by disqualification in a championship defense against The

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble week, Kalisto earned a Cruiserweight Championship match at the Greatest Royal Rumble by winning a gauntlet match. The actual pay-per-view opened with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over

neg: Royal Rumble (2010) for the ECW Championship, which Christian won. This was the last pay-per-view where the ECW Championship was defended, and the last pay-per-view to include the ECW brand. The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor. The winner would earn a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVI. The

neg: Elimination Chamber (2018) the two went back and forth in promos as well as a couple of in-ring confrontations, and they finally had a match on "Raw 25" on January 22, 2018 in which Wyatt again defeated Hardy. The two then faced off in the Royal Rumble match, where they eliminated each other. On the February 19 episode of "Raw", another match between the two was scheduled for Elimination Chamber. Prior to the Royal Rumble, Titus Worldwide (Apollo and Titus O'Neil) gained two consecutive wins over number one contenders Cesaro and Sheamus, who at the Royal Rumble, won the Raw Tag Team Championship

neg: Wrestle Kingdom 10 at the Royal Rumble. Nakamura wrestled his final NJPW match on January 30, making his NXT debut two months later on April 1. The departures led to NJPW scrapping its one-year contract system and starting to offer their wrestlers multi-year contracts. In 2018, at WWE's Royal Rumble, Nakamura won the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble match to earn a World title match at WrestleMania, he chose a WWE Championship match against the champion at that time, AJ Styles (who had retained the title againest Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn earlier in the night). At WrestleMania, Styles defeated Nakamura to retain the

neg: Royal Rumble (1995) Royal Rumble (1995) Royal Rumble (1995) was the eighth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 22, 1995, in the USF Sun Dome located in Tampa, Florida. The event featured five matches based on scripted storylines, and the results were predetermined by the WWF. The main event was the 1995 Royal Rumble match, which Shawn Michaels won after entering first and outlasting the 29 other wrestlers for the first time in WWF history. The event also featured a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, when Diesel

neg: Royal Rumble (2015) Royal Rumble (2015) Royal Rumble (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on January 25, 2015 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the twenty-eighth annual Royal Rumble event and the first to air on the WWE Network. Six matches were contested at the event, with one being shown on the pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns won the traditional Royal Rumble match to receive a shot for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31. Elsewhere on the event's card, The Usos defeated The

neg: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Greatest Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event promoted by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. The event was held on April 27, 2018 at the King Abdullah Sports City's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The event was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time. It aired live in the United States at noon EDT, with a pre-show starting at 11 a.m. EDT. At the event, all men's main roster championships were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match. The card comprised ten matches. In

neg: Christian Cage Series on November 14, Christian failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Shelton Benjamin. At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Christian and Tomko faced Eugene and William Regal for World Tag Team Championship, but they failed to win the titles. At the Royal Rumble, Christian competed in the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by eventual winner Batista. Christian participated in the first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21, but the failed to win as the match was won by Edge. Following this, Christian, who had an encounter with SmackDown wrestler John Cena, began

neg: Royal Rumble (2011) event was the annual Royal Rumble match featuring 40 participants from both brands, instead of the usual number of 30. Alberto Del Rio, the thirty-eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating Santino Marella, the thirty-seventh entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was for the WWE Championship, between reigning champion The Miz and Randy Orton, which The Miz won to retain the championship. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Edge won, to retain the title. The other featured match on the card was a fatal-four way

neg: Royal Rumble (2010) than one main event. The main event was the annual 30-competitor Royal Rumble match which featured wrestlers from all three brands. Edge, the twenty-ninth entrant, won the match by last eliminating John Cena, the nineteenth entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was for the WWE Championship between reigning champion Sheamus and Randy Orton, which Sheamus won by disqualification. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was between The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship, which The Undertaker won to retain the championship. The featured match on the ECW brand was between Christian and Ezekiel Jackson

neg: TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2018) also said that that if Raw was successful in the interpromotional matches at Survivor Series, she would consider making Corbin the permanent Raw General Manager. Raw indeed won all interpromotional matches on the main card, with Strowman among the survivors in his match. The following night on "Raw", Strowman was granted a match with Corbin at TLC and chose a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Stephanie added the stipulation that if Strowman won, he would get his Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble and Corbin would be removed from authoritative power, but if Corbin won, Corbin would become the

neg: Survivor Series (1994) tournament was announced with the finals scheduled for the Royal Rumble. The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly won the tournament by defeating Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow and won the titles but dropped the belts the following night to The Smoking Gunns. Michaels and Diesel's feud resumed at the Royal Rumble when Michaels attacked Diesel during his match with Hart. Michaels then became the top contender for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship by winning the 1995 Royal Rumble match. Diesel won their match at WrestleMania after Sid, Michaels' new bodyguard, accidentally distracted the referee. Diesel offered Michaels a rematch, and

neg: Eddie Guerrero then attacked and turned on Guerrero after he suffered a beating from The Bashams. Guerrero feuded with Chavo and defeated him at the Royal Rumble to settle their feud. After the match Eddie attacked Chavo causing him to bleed. When Chris Benoit jumped to the Raw brand after winning the Royal Rumble, using his title shot to go for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship, Guerrero won a 15-man Royal Rumble match on the January 29, 2004 episode of "SmackDown!" to earn a shot at the WWE Championship. After becoming the number one contender, Guerrero elevated himself to main event status

neg: Beth Phoenix first WWE Women's Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October, and held it for six months. She then developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbed "Glamarella", and won the Women's Championship for a second time in August 2008, holding it until January 2009. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she became the second woman in the history of the event to enter the men's Royal Rumble match, and went on to win the Women's Championship for the third time in April, holding it for a month. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the

neg: Brock Lesnar added to Lesnar and Cena's championship match at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015, making it a triple threat match, which Lesnar won despite suffering a storyline broken rib during the match. Lesnar's next challenger was Roman Reigns, who won the Royal Rumble match to earn the right to face Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania 31 on March 29. During his main event match against Reigns, Lesnar delivered multiple suplexes and was heard exclaiming, "Suplex City, bitch!" and thereafter "Suplex City" became one of his signature catchphrases and merchandise motifs. After Lesnar and Reigns traded a few false

neg: Viscera (wrestler) His last three matches were on the New Year's Day edition of "Raw" when he was buried in an eight-second loss to Diesel, on the January 6, 1996 edition of "WWF Superstars" when he lost a rematch to The Undertaker in a casket match, and in the 1996 Royal Rumble match where he was the third wrestler eliminated by his former rival Yokozuna. Frazier then wrestled for the Puerto Rico-based World Wrestling Council (WWC). There, he feuded with Carlos Colón. The Universal Heavyweight Championship was held up after a match between the two. Mabel soon after won the championship and

neg: WrestleMania 33 wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw", "SmackDown Live", and "205 Live", the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive. At the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton won his second Royal Rumble match, earning himself a world championship match at WrestleMania 33 for his brand's WWE Championship. At Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt won the Elimination Chamber match to become the new WWE Champion, and retained the title on the following "SmackDown". As a devoted Wyatt Family member, Orton relinquished his championship

neg: Royal Rumble match mid-2002, the 30 male entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. At first, the winner of the match received a shot at their brand's top champion. Starting in 2004, the Royal Rumble winner had the option of challenging any brand's champion. For instance, Chris Benoit switched brands after winning the 2004 Royal Rumble and won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX. From 2007 to 2010, participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands, with the ECW World Championship added as an option for the winner

neg: Royal Rumble (2011) won a title opportunity for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship after Kane lost to Edge in his rematch. After winning his opportunity, Edge went on a campaign against Ziggler and his girlfriend, Edge's ex-wife, Vickie Guerrero. On the January 28 episode of "SmackDown", Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager in place of the injured Theodore Long, banned the use of the spear and would strip him of his title if he was caught using it during his match against Ziggler. The Divas rivalry entering the Royal Rumble was between Natalya and LayCool over the Divas Championship. Natalya defeated LayCool

neg: Royal Rumble (2016) the 1992 Rumble), and the first match in which the champion defended his title in the Rumble match. Six matches were contested at the event (including with one match on the pre-show). In the main event, the returning Triple H won the Royal Rumble match by eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, winning his second Royal Rumble match, as well as making him the third person to win it from the number 30 entrant. Roman Reigns the defending champion, was also eliminated by Triple H. The event was also notable for the WWE pay-per-view debut of

neg: Africa Wrestling Alliance The undercard is dominated by young cruiserweights like Nick Fury, El Matador, Vinnie Vegas and William McQueen, who are blossoming into the AWA's next big cruiserweight stars. The AWA holds an annual Royal Rumble show at the Parow Civic Centre venue (nicknamed "The House of Pain") in December. The event is regularly sponsored by Coca-Cola. The last champion was "William McQueen", who won the AWA Royal Rumble Championship on 3 December 2007 in the 21-man battle royal main event. Although the AWA is currently a non-televised, regional promotion, it has had a big impact on the South African wrestling industry

neg: Royal Rumble (2012) Jericho, the twenty-ninth entrant. Two title matches were featured: a WWE Championship match with CM Punk defending against Dolph Ziggler, which Punk won to retain the title; and a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship between the reigning champion Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Mark Henry, which Bryan won to retain the championship. Incidentally, this event is also noted as Mick Foley's last night as an active wrestler, as he would compete in the Royal Rumble match. The event received 443,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 446,000 buys the previous year's event received. The pay-per-view featured the

neg: Royal Rumble (2007) title with the addition of Orton and Edge, but Cena remained champion. Soon after the Royal Rumble, Umaga and Bobby Lashley joined the feud between Mr. McMahon and Donald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" as their representatives respectively for the Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania. His Royal Rumble match marked the start of Mr. Kennedy's push to main-event status. He went on to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship at No Way Out, which he won via disqualification, thus failing to win the title. Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, which

neg: Royal Rumble (1995) defended the title against Bret Hart. The match was stopped when several other wrestlers interfered and the referee lost control of the match. Two other title matches took place; Jeff Jarrett won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon, and The 1–2–3 Kid and Bob Holly won the final match in a tournament that determined the new WWF Tag Team Champions. Several storylines from Royal Rumble 1995 were carried over to WrestleMania XI, the WWF's next pay-per-view. Bam Bam Bigelow attacked National Football League Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting in the crowd; this set up a match

neg: No Way Out (2006) stemmed from the Royal Rumble, the pay-per-view three weeks before No Way Out. At the Royal Rumble, Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match and a world championship match at WrestleMania 22 by last eliminating Randy Orton. On the February 3 episode of "SmackDown!", Orton claimed that there's no way he could beat him in a normal match and that he won the match because of some divine intervention. Orton then challenged Mysterio to a match at No Way Out for his title match at WrestleMania 22, and claimed that Eddie Guerrero was not in heaven, but in hell. Later

neg: A.J. Styles which he would go on to lose. At Clash of Champions on December 17, Styles defeated Mahal via submission in his first title defense. Styles' next feud came against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, whom he lost back-to-back matches to due to interference, which led to a handicap championship match at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018 which Styles won. Styles then successfully defended the title against Owens, Zayn, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in a six-pack challenge at Fastlane on March 11. Shortly after, Styles started a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura (who won the Royal Rumble

neg: Royal Rumble (2012) High Cross, but Jericho countered attempting a Codebreaker on Sheamus, but he threw Jericho off the ropes and Brogue Kicked to eliminate Jericho and win the Rumble match. Sheamus ultimately challenged for (and won) the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XXVIII. The event received mixed reviews. The Sun gave the event a rating of a 6.5 out of 10, stating that it "felt like a fun show for much of the night, but with precious little substance". The Canadian Online Explorer also gave Royal Rumble a 6.5 out of 10, with the Royal Rumble match receiving the same rating. The

neg: Test (wrestler) name "Test". On the January 11, 1999, episode of "Raw is War", Test competed in a Corporation vs. DX Corporate Rumble, which was won by Chyna, making her the 30th entrant in the upcoming Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Test competed in the Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by Steve Austin. On the March 8 episode of "Raw", Test defeated X-Pac. At WrestleMania XV on March 28, Test teamed with D'Lo Brown in a WWF Tag Team Championship title match against Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart where Jarrett and Hart retained their titles. Along with Triple H, he

neg: Royal Rumble (2006) event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main feature of the event was the 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. Rey Mysterio, the second entrant, won the match by last eliminating Randy Orton, the thirtieth entrant. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was Kurt Angle versus Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Angle won after pinning Henry with a roll-up. The predominant match on the Raw brand was Edge versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after forcing Edge to submit to the STFU. Prior to

neg: Royal Rumble (2005) a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. Batista, the twenty-eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating John Cena, the twenty-fifth entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Triple H won by pinfall after performing a Pedigree. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between reigning champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Kurt Angle, and The Big Show, which JBL won by pinning

neg: The Undertaker Kane was feuding with at the time. As part of the storyline, Kennedy defeated The Undertaker in a First Blood match at Survivor Series after interference from MVP, but finally defeated Kennedy in a Last Ride match at Armageddon. The two continued to feud into 2007 as Kennedy cost The Undertaker two World Heavyweight Championship opportunities for a championship match at the Royal Rumble. The Undertaker won his first Royal Rumble match in 2007, in doing so becoming the first man to enter the Rumble at number 30 and win the match. He then began a storyline with Batista, whom