Royal Rumble (2019)
Royal Rumble | |||
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Promotion WWE | | ||
Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown 205 Live | ||
Date | January 27, 2019 | ||
City | Phoenix, Arizona | ||
Venue | Chase Field | ||
Attendance | 48,193[1][a] | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
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Royal Rumble chronology | |||
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The 2019 Royal Rumble was the 32nd annual
Traditionally, the
In total, 10 matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Raw's
Production
Background
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Chase_Field%2C_July_3%2C_2021.jpg/220px-Chase_Field%2C_July_3%2C_2021.jpg)
The
The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a
Storylines
The event comprised ten matches, including three on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed
At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Fabulous Truth (Carmella and R-Truth) defeated Mahalicia (Alicia Fox and Jinder Mahal) to win the second season of Mixed Match Challenge. Their prize for winning was each getting the #30 spot in their respective Royal Rumble matches at the pay-per-view.[11] In the weeks following TLC, multiple wrestlers were announced for both Rumble matches.[12][13]
At
At TLC,
At TLC,
At TLC,
At Crown Jewel, Shane McMahon won the WWE World Cup, replacing
On the TLC Kickoff pre-show,
On the December 25, 2018, episode of SmackDown,
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators | Michael Cole (Raw/Men's Royal Rumble match) |
Corey Graves (Raw/SmackDown/both Royal Rumble matches) | |
Renee Young (Raw/Women's Royal Rumble match)
| |
Tom Phillips (SmackDown/Women's Royal Rumble match)
| |
Byron Saxton (SmackDown) | |
Vic Joseph (205 Live) | |
Nigel McGuinness (205 Live) | |
Aiden English (205 Live)
| |
Jerry Lawler (Men's Royal Rumble match) | |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (Men's Royal Rumble match)
| |
Beth Phoenix (Women's Royal Rumble match) | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodríguez | |
German commentators | Carsten Schaefer |
Tim Haber | |
Calvin Knie | |
Ring announcers | Greg Hamilton (SmackDown/205 Live/Men's Royal Rumble match) |
Mike Rome (Raw/Women's Royal Rumble match) | |
Referees | Danilo Anfibio |
Jason Ayers | |
Jessika Carr | |
Mike Chioda | |
John Cone | |
Dan Engler | |
Darrick Moore | |
Charles Robinson | |
Rod Zapata
| |
Interviewers | Charly Caruso |
Kayla Braxton | |
Pre-show panel | Jonathan Coachman |
Beth Phoenix | |
Booker T | |
Jerry Lawler | |
Shawn Michaels | |
David Otunga | |
Pre-show correspondents | Charly Caruso |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield
|
Pre-show
Three matches were contested on the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show. In the first match,
Next, Rusev defended the United States Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. In the climax, Rusev's wife Lana stood on the ring apron to notify the referee of Nakamura removing the turnbuckle, which led to Nakamura staring her down. As Rusev attacked Nakamura, he accidentally knocked down his wife. Distracted, Nakamura took advantage and attacked Rusev with the
The final match on the pre-show was the fatal four-way match in which Buddy Murphy defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa, Hideo Itami, and Kalisto. In the climax, Murphy performed "Murphy's Law" on Itami to retain the title.[25]
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with Asuka defending the SmackDown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. The climax saw Asuka counter a "Dis-Arm-Her" from Lynch into an inverted "Asuka Lock", which caused Lynch to submit and allowed Asuka to retain her championship.[1]
In the second match, The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Miz and Shane McMahon. In the end, Sheamus inadvertently performed a
Next, Ronda Rousey defended the Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks. During the match, Rousey attempted a forearm on Banks, who moved out of the way, causing it to crash into the ring post. Banks then focused on further weakening the arm. Later, Banks performed a "suicide dive" on Rousey, who caught her and applied an "armbar" on Banks, who submitted, but since it was outside of the ring, the match continued. In the climax, Banks applied the "Bank Statement". Rousey tried to make it to the bottom rope, but Banks transitioned into a crucifix pin for a nearfall and applied a "Fujiwara armbar". Rousey escaped the submission and followed up with a gutwrench powerbomb and "Piper's Pit" on Banks, giving Rousey her first pinfall victory in the WWE and thus retaining the title.[1]
The fourth match was the 30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women's championship match at WrestleMania 35.
After that, Daniel Bryan defended the WWE Championship against AJ Styles. In the climax, a returning
In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar defended the Universal Championship against Finn Bálor. Bálor quickly took to the offense. In the climax, Bálor performed the "
Main event
The main event was the 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 35.
Aftermath
Raw
The following night on Raw, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey issued an open challenge that was answered by Bayley. After retaining, women's Royal Rumble match winner Becky Lynch made her entrance and confronted Rousey. After recapping their rivalry that began at Survivor Series, Lynch chose to face Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35.[26]
Seth Rollins celebrated his Royal Rumble match victory. Triple H then came out and congratulated him, but said that Rollins needed to choose which champion he wanted to face at WrestleMania 35 by the end of the night. Backstage, Braun Strowman, the runner up in the Royal Rumble match, confronted Rollins and told him he "earned it", and to "make the right decision". Later, Rollins confronted Brock Lesnar. After an ensuing brawl, Rollins chose to face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35.[26]
SmackDown
On the following SmackDown, Becky Lynch addressed how everything had changed for her since winning the women's Royal Rumble match. Charlotte Flair then came out and congratulated Lynch and stated that although Lynch won, she was never truly in the match in the first place, and that Lynch would not be where she was at if it were not for Flair. An ensuing brawl broke out between Flair and Lynch until referees separated them.[27]
As compensation for not being able to compete in the men's Royal Rumble match, R-Truth was granted a United States Championship match against new champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Truth defeated Nakamura to win the title, which led to Rusev coming out and declaring that Truth was not worthy of the title. Rusev then challenged Truth for the title, but was also defeated. After the match, Rusev turned heel and, along with Nakamura, attacked Truth.[27]
Daniel Bryan, along with his new ally Rowan, revealed a new custom WWE Championship belt, made from hemp and wood. He was then interrupted by AJ Styles, which prompted Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, and Mustafa Ali to come out and challenge Bryan for the title. After an ensuing brawl, Triple H announced that Bryan would defend the title against the five at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view inside the Elimination Chamber.[27] Ali, however, was replaced by Kofi Kingston after suffering an injury.[28]
New SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Miz and Shane McMahon celebrated their title win along with Miz's father. Later that night,
205 Live
On the February 5, 2019, episode of 205 Live, Akira Tozawa won a
This would be the only Royal Rumble to include the 205 Live brand, as in September, 205 Live merged under NXT.[30] Also at that time and until September 2021, NXT was elevated to WWE's third main brand, and its championships, the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship, became eligible choices for the Rumble winners at the next two Royal Rumble events.[31][32]
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | Seth Rollins won by last eliminating Braun Strowman | 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 35[42] | 57:35 | ||||
|
Women's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
Draw | Entrant | Brand/Status | Order | Eliminated by | Time[39] | Elimination(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lacey Evans | Unbranded | 11 | Charlotte Flair | 29:20 | 2 |
2 | Natalya | Raw | 23 | Nia Jax | 56:01 | 2 |
3 | Mandy Rose | SmackDown | 9 | Naomi | 25:50 | 1 |
4 | Liv Morgan | Raw | 1 | Natalya | 00:08 | 0 |
5 | Mickie James | Raw | 2 | Tamina | 11:38 | 0 |
6 | Ember Moon | Raw | 24 | Alexa Bliss | 52:10 | 0 |
7 | Billie Kay | SmackDown | 4 | Lacey Evans | 09:25 | 1 |
8 | Nikki Cross | Unbranded | 3 | Billie Kay and Peyton Royce | 09:00 | 0 |
9 | Peyton Royce | SmackDown | 5 | Lacey Evans | 08:38 | 1 |
10 | Tamina | Raw | 7 | Charlotte Flair | 08:22 | 1 |
11 | Xia Li | NXT | 6 | Charlotte Flair | 04:48 | 0 |
12 | Sarah Logan | Raw | 8 | Natalya and Kairi Sane | 05:38 | 0 |
13 | Charlotte Flair | SmackDown | 29 | Becky Lynch | 50:01 | 5 |
14 | Kairi Sane | NXT | 15 | Ruby Riott | 17:00 | 1 |
15 | Maria Kanellis | 205 Live | 12 | Alicia Fox | 08:12 | 0 |
16 | Naomi | SmackDown | 10 | Mandy Rose* | 01:28 | 1 |
17 | Candice LeRae | NXT | 14 | Ruby Riott | 09:35 | 0 |
18 | Alicia Fox | Raw | 13 | Ruby Riott | 06:55 | 1 |
19 | Kacy Catanzaro | NXT | 16 | Rhea Ripley | 10:45 | 0 |
20 | Zelina Vega | SmackDown | 18 | Rhea Ripley | 11:42 | 0 |
21 | Ruby Riott | Raw | 20 | Bayley | 13:08 | 3 |
22 | Dana Brooke | Raw | 17 | Rhea Ripley | 07:17 | 0 |
23 | Io Shirai |
NXT | 22 | Nia Jax | 13:21 | 0 |
24 | Rhea Ripley | NXT UK | 21 | Bayley | 07:55 | 3 |
25 | Sonya Deville | SmackDown | 19 | Alexa Bliss | 04:26 | 0 |
26 | Alexa Bliss | Raw | 25 | Bayley and Carmella | 12:59 | 2 |
27 | Bayley | Raw | 27 | Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair | 14:27 | 3 |
28 | Becky Lynch ** | SmackDown | — | Winner | 13:20 | 2 |
29 | Nia Jax | Raw | 28 | Becky Lynch | 11:59 | 3 |
30 | Carmella | SmackDown | 26 | Charlotte Flair | 07:12 | 1 |
(*) - Mandy Rose was already eliminated when she eliminated Naomi.
(**) - Lana came out as the #28 entrant, but a storyline ankle injury suffered on the pre-show kept her from competing. Becky Lynch was allowed to take her spot.
Men's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
- – Raw
- – SmackDown
- – NXT
- – NXT UK
- – Unbranded
- – Hall of Famer (HOF)
- – Winner
Draw | Entrant | Brand/ Status |
Order | Eliminated by | Time[42] | Elimination(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Elias | Raw | 5 | Seth Rollins | 15:07 | 1 |
2 | Jeff Jarrett | HOF | 1 | Elias | 01:20 | 0 |
3 | Shinsuke Nakamura | SmackDown | 8 | Mustafa Ali | 17:46 | 1 |
4 | Kurt Angle | Raw (HOF) | 2 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 03:15 | 0 |
5 | Big E | SmackDown | 4 | Samoa Joe | 06:01 | 0 |
6 | Johnny Gargano | NXT | 9 | Dean Ambrose | 13:50 | 1 |
7 | Jinder Mahal | Raw | 3 | Johnny Gargano | 00:30 | 0 |
8 | Samoa Joe | SmackDown | 14 | Mustafa Ali | 24:05 | 3 |
9 | Curt Hawkins | Raw | 7 | Samoa Joe | 04:09 | 1 |
10 | Seth Rollins | Raw | — | Winner | 43:00 | 3 |
11 | Titus O'Neil | Raw | 6 | Curt Hawkins | 00:05 | 0 |
12 | Kofi Kingston | SmackDown | 12 | Drew McIntyre | 08:53 | 0 |
13 | Mustafa Ali | SmackDown | 23 | Nia Jax | 30:05 | 2 |
14 | Dean Ambrose |
Raw | 13 | Aleister Black | 14:42 | 1 |
15 | No Way Jose | Raw | 10 | Samoa Joe | 00:02 | 0 |
16 | Drew McIntyre | Raw | 22 | Dolph Ziggler & Braun Strowman | 20:06 | 4 |
17 | Xavier Woods | SmackDown | 11 | Drew McIntyre | 00:03 | 0 |
18 | Pete Dunne | NXT UK | 17 | Drew McIntyre | 11:13 | 0 |
19 | Andrade | SmackDown | 27 | Braun Strowman | 26:30 | 1 |
20 | Apollo Crews | Raw | 15 | Baron Corbin | 05:47 | 0 |
21 | Aleister Black |
NXT | 16 | Baron Corbin | 06:09 | 1 |
22 | Shelton Benjamin | SmackDown | 20 | Braun Strowman | 09:21 | 0 |
23 | Baron Corbin | Raw | 19 | Braun Strowman | 07:19 | 2 |
24 | Jeff Hardy | SmackDown | 21 | Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre | 07:55 | 0 |
25 | Rey Mysterio | SmackDown | 25 | Randy Orton | 12:30 | 1 |
26 | Bobby Lashley | Raw | 18 | Seth Rollins | 00:13 | 0 |
27 | Braun Strowman | Raw | 29 | 14:37 | 6 | |
28 | Dolph Ziggler | Raw | 28 | Braun Strowman | 11:34 | 1 |
29 | Randy Orton | SmackDown | 26 | Andrade | 06:00 | 1 |
30 | Nia Jax * | Raw | 24 | Rey Mysterio | 03:09 | 1 |
(*) - The original #30 entrant was R-Truth, but he was attacked and replaced by Nia Jax before he could compete.
Notes
- ^ According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE's figure was false and the total audience was only slightly above 40,000.
References
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