Royal Rumble (2020)

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Royal Rumble
Promotion
WWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
DateJanuary 26, 2020
CityHouston, Texas
VenueMinute Maid Park
Attendance42,715[1]
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2021

The 2020 Royal Rumble was the 33rd annual

livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on January 26, 2020, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas
.

Traditionally, the

SmackDown Women's Championship. Additionally and for the first time, NXT's championships were eligible choices, which added the NXT Championship and the NXT Women's Championship, thus being the first Royal Rumble since 2010
in which there were three eligible championships for the Rumble winner to challenge for.

Eight matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Raw's

Falls Count Anywhere match, and Becky Lynch defeated Asuka by submission to retain the Raw Women's Championship. The event also featured the in-ring return of Edge, who last wrestled in April 2011 before retiring from a neck injury, as well as MVP
, who last wrestled for WWE in December 2010.

Production

Background

The event was held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

The

livestream on the WWE Network.[3] Travel packages became available on September 12 while individual tickets went on sale on September 20.[4]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a

SmackDown Women's Championship, and NXT Women's Championship. This also made the 2020 event the first time women had three options.[8]

Storylines

The event comprised eight matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

Friday Night SmackDown.[11]

Raw

While the WWE Championship is generally defended at every year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, on the January 6 episode of Raw, it was revealed that there would not be a WWE Championship defense at 2020's event. Instead, as he felt that there was no one on any brand who deserved an opportunity, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar decided to enter himself into the Royal Rumble match as entrant number one. There were no changes to the rules of the match, despite Lesnar holding one of the world championships that the winner could challenge for at WrestleMania 36.[12] On the January 20 episode, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman reminded the fans of the prize of the Royal Rumble match, but said that there was no one worthy enough to face Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania, implying that if Lesnar won, he would abstain his prize.[13]

At

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[14] In a backstage interview on the following Raw, Lynch stated that she had not been herself the past few months and felt that management had been putting her into tag team matches to protect her from facing Asuka alone and losing. She also stated that she had never defeated Asuka and needed to change that.[15] The following week, Lynch challenged Asuka to a match with her Raw Women's Championship on the line which Asuka accepted.[16] The match was scheduled for the Royal Rumble as essentially a rematch from last year's event.[17]

On the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Kickoff pre-show,

WWE Live event in Madison Square Garden on December 26.[18] After Andrade retained the title against Mysterio in a ladder match on the January 20 episode of Raw, Andrade attempted to perform the Hammerlock DDT on Mysterio on the exposed concrete floor, only for Carrillo to appear to aid Mysterio and fought off Andrade, who retreated along with Zelina Vega.[13] Backstage, Carrillo issued a challenge to Andrade for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble, which was made official for the Kickoff pre-show.[19]

SmackDown

At Survivor Series,

strap match so that The Fiend could not run away.[25]

During the triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship, Roman Reigns attacked King Corbin, costing him the title opportunity.

Falls Count Anywhere match.[25]

On the SmackDown following Survivor Series, SmackDown Women's Champion

Sasha Banks criticized their brand's women's division for letting them down at the event, as both Bayley and Team SmackDown lost their respective matches. Team member Lacey Evans interrupted and performed a Women's Right on Banks, with Evans turning face.[21] Evans questioned the leadership of both Bayley and Banks, having several confrontations with them over the following weeks.[22][28][23][24][26] On the January 10 episode, Evans was scheduled to face Banks, who no-showed and Bayley appeared on the TitanTron, taunting Evans. In response, Evans went backstage where the two brawled.[27] The following week, Evans was once again scheduled to face Banks, however, Banks was unable to compete due to her injured ankle. Bayley took her place in the match, but lost to Evans. Due to Evans' win, she earned herself a title match at the Royal Rumble.[25]

After a seven-month hiatus, Sheamus appeared in a vignette on the November 29 episode of SmackDown, announcing that he would be returning to in-ring action.[21] Over the next several weeks, more vignettes aired, with Sheamus claiming that SmackDown had become soft in his absence. On the January 3 episode, as Shorty G was being attacked by The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), Sheamus returned, seemingly to aid Shorty G. However, after The Revival cleared the ring, Sheamus delivered a Brogue Kick to Shorty G.[26] Sheamus claimed that Shorty G embodied everything wrong with SmackDown and continued to target him over the next few weeks, and a match between the two was scheduled for the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show.[25]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English commentators Michael Cole (SmackDown/Men's Royal Rumble match)
Corey Graves (SmackDown/both Royal Rumble matches)
Tom Phillips (Raw/Women's Royal Rumble match)
Jerry Lawler (Raw/Women's Royal Rumble match)
Booker T (Men's Royal Rumble match)
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
German commentators Carsten Schaefer
Tim Haber
Calvin Knie
Ring announcers Greg Hamilton (SmackDown/Men's Royal Rumble match)
Mike Rome (Raw/Women's Royal Rumble match)
Referees Danilo Anfibio
Jason Ayers
Shawn Bennett
Jessika Carr
John Cone
Dan Engler
Darrick Moore
Eddie Orengo
Darryl Sharma
Chris Sharpe
Ryan Tran
Rod Zapata
Interviewers Kayla Braxton
Sarah Schreiber
Pre-show panel/correspondents Jonathan Coachman
Charly Caruso
David Otunga
Christian
Renee Young
Sam Roberts

Pre-show

Two matches were contested on the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show. In the first match, Sheamus faced Shorty G. In the end, Sheamus performed a Brogue Kick on Shorty G to win the match.[29]

The second match saw Andrade defend the United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo. The end saw Carrillo attempt a hurricanrana on Andrade, who countered into a roll-up to retain the title.[29]

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Roman Reigns facing King Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Mid-way through the match, Reigns fought with Corbin in the crowd where Reigns performed a Samoan Drop on Corbin through two separate tables. As Reigns was about to attack Corbin near some production equipment, Reigns was attacked by Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) then came out and attacked Ziggler and Roode with Jimmy performing a Samoan Drop on Jey, Roode, and Ziggler. Reigns then shoved Corbin into a portable toilet, tipped it over, and continued to attack Corbin throughout the crowd. In the end, Reigns performed a Superman Punch and Spear on Corbin atop a dugout to win the match.[30]

Backstage, Kevin Owens told Samoa Joe that he could not wait to eliminate Seth Rollins from the Royal Rumble match—as they had been feuding for weeks on Raw—and that he would go on to win. Joe stated that he also could not wait to do the same, but if Owens got in his way, he would eliminate him.[30]

Next was the women's Royal Rumble match, which began with SmackDown's

Santina Marella (entrants 3, 18, 19, 21, and 29, respectively) were all surprise entrants. NXT's Shayna Baszler entered last and ended up tying Belair's record of eight eliminations. In the climax, after Baszler eliminated Phoenix, Baszler attempted to eliminate Flair, but Flair prevented herself from being eliminated and eliminated Baszler to win the match and earn herself a women's championship match of her choosing at WrestleMania 36.[30]

After that, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Lacey Evans. In the end, as Evans attempted a moonsault, Bayley avoided it and pinned Evans whilst holding the tights to retain the title.[30]

Next, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defended the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan in a strap match. The Fiend dominated the first half of the match, whipping Bryan with the strap. Bryan eventually gained the offense, and applied the LeBell Lock, using the strap to crank back on The Fiend's head. As Bryan attempted a running knee, The Fiend caught Bryan and performed a Sister Abigail for a near fall. Bryan then performed a running knee on The Fiend for a nearfall. In the end, The Fiend applied The Mandible Claw, and as Bryan tried to escape, The Fiend picked him up and performed a chokeslam while still applying the Mandible Claw to win the match and retain the title. Following the match, medical personnel tended to Bryan.[30]

In the penultimate match, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Asuka (accompanied by Kairi Sane). In the climax, as Asuka attempted to spit green mist in Lynch's face, Lynch kicked Asuka, causing her to spit the mist in the air and into her own face. Lynch then applied the Dis-arm-her on Asuka, forcing her to submit and retain the title.[30]

Main event

neck injury
.

The main event was the men's Royal Rumble match, which saw Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) enter at number one. SmackDown's

SmackDown Tag Team Champion partner Big E. Kingston performed Trouble in Paradise on Lesnar, followed by a Big Ending by Big E and a 619 from Mysterio, but as Mysterio leapt at Lesnar, Lesnar caught him and eliminated him. After Lesnar leapt off of Big E's back to lay out Kingston with a clothesline, Lesnar eliminated Big E. Lesnar then performed an F5 on Kingston to eliminate him. Cesaro came in next, but didn't last long either, falling as yet another score for the Beast Incarnate. After Lesnar had a brief reunion with his old training partner Shelton Benjamin (the tenth entrant) and embracing him, Lesnar eliminated Benjamin after tricking him into thinking they would team up for the rest of the match. Shinsuke Nakamura (the eleventh entrant) suffered the same fate as all before him. The twelfth entrant saw the surprise return of Montel Vontavious Porter (who last wrestled in WWE in 2010), who was quickly eliminated by Lesnar. NXT's Keith Lee (the thirteenth entrant) and SmackDown's Braun Strowman (the fourteenth entrant) managed to subdue Lesnar and momentarily take him down. As Lee and Strowman attempted to eliminate each other, Lesnar managed to eliminate both at the same time, bringing Lesnar's total eliminations to 13, tying him with Strowman for the most eliminations in a single men's Royal Rumble match (a record Strowman set at 2018's Greatest Royal Rumble
event).

Ricochet, who had a brief interaction with Lesnar on the previous episode of Raw, entered as the fifteenth entrant, followed by Drew McIntyre as the sixteenth entrant. With Lesnar's attention on McIntyre, Ricochet attacked Lesnar with a low blow from behind and McIntyre performed a Claymore on Lesnar to eliminate him. Following Lesnar's elimination, McIntyre stared him down. McIntyre then eliminated Ricochet and then continued to stare down Lesnar, who was still laid out at ringside, even after eliminating The Miz, until Lesnar left the ring. WWE Hall of Famer Edge, who was forced to retire from wrestling in 2011 due to a neck injury, made a surprise return as the twenty-first entrant. Kevin Owens (the twenty-seventh entrant), Aleister Black (the twenty-eighth entrant), and Samoa Joe (the twenty-ninth entrant) formed a small alliance against the other wrestlers, after which, they fought each other until Seth Rollins (accompanied by Buddy Murphy, Akam, and Rezar) entered last. Joe and Owens left the ring and brawled with the four. Rollins would eliminate Black, Joe, and Owens thanks to interference from Murphy, Akam, and Rezar, who then brawled with Joe, Black, and Owens, which spilled out of the ring. Reigns then performed a Superman Punch on Rollins, followed by a powerslam by Randy Orton (the twenty-fifth entrant) and a Claymore by McIntyre, who then eliminated Rollins. After a brief reunion of Rated-RKO between Edge and Orton, and after Orton teased an RKO on Edge, Edge quickly eliminated Orton. In the climax, after Edge was eliminated by Reigns, Reigns performed a Superman Punch on McIntyre and tried to eliminate him, but McIntyre countered and performed a Claymore on Reigns before eliminating him to win the match and earn himself a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania 36.[30]

Aftermath

Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair were the winners of the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, respectively.

Raw

The following night on Raw, Drew McIntyre announced that he would challenge Brock Lesnar, whom McIntyre eliminated during the men's Royal Rumble match, for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.[31] The following week, Ricochet, who aided in Lesnar's elimination, defeated Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match to also earn a WWE Championship match against Lesnar, taking place prior to WrestleMania at February's Super ShowDown event.[32] At the event, Lesnar defeated Ricochet in ninety seconds, keeping him as the defending champion heading into his match against McIntyre at WrestleMania.[33]

Also on the following Raw, women's Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair teased that she would reveal which champion she would challenge at WrestleMania, however, she stated that she was still deciding.[31] The following week, Flair stated she had held both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships multiple times and had defeated their current holders, Becky Lynch and Bayley, respectively. She was then interrupted by NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, who stated that Flair should challenge her as Flair had never beat her, but she had beaten Flair.[32] Flair held off on making her decision until after Ripley had defended the title at NXT TakeOver: Portland on February 16.[34][35] At the event, Ripley retained her title against Bianca Belair, after which, Flair attacked Ripley and Belair and accepted Ripley's WrestleMania challenge, marking the first time that the Royal Rumble winner chose an NXT title, which were previously ineligible.[8]

Edge made his return to Raw the following night, stating that he had questioned what if he could wrestle again, and explained that after a second neck surgery and hard work, he was able to make his return at the Royal Rumble and would be able to retire on his own terms. Randy Orton then came out to welcome Edge back and suggested reforming their tag team, Rated-RKO, only to turn on Edge and perform an RKO on him, thus turning heel in the process. Orton then attacked Edge's neck with a steel chair and smashed his head between two steel chairs in a manoeuvre known as the "Conchairto", which Edge made famous in the past.

Last Man Standing match between the two was eventually scheduled for Night 2 of WrestleMania 36,[36] which was won by Edge.[37] Orton later challenged Edge to a normal singles match at Backlash,[38][39] which Orton won. During the match, Edge legitimately tore his triceps.[40] After recovering from his triceps tear, Edge returned at the 2021 Royal Rumble, where he and Orton entered at number one and two, respectively. The two brawled at ringside, and Edge injured Orton's leg, taking Orton out for the majority of the match. Orton returned in the closing moments of the match where he attempted to eliminate Edge, however, Edge countered and eliminated Orton to win the men's Royal Rumble match.[41] Unsatisfied, Orton challenged Edge to a rubber match on the following night's Raw, where thanks to a distraction by Alexa Bliss (as part of a storyline between Orton, Bliss, and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt), Edge defeated Orton, putting an end to their rivalry.[42]

A United States Championship rematch between Humberto Carrillo and champion Andrade was scheduled for the next night on Raw, where Carrillo won by disqualification due to Zelina Vega's interference. Following the match, Carrillo performed a Hammerlock DDT on Andrade onto the exposed concrete, just as Andrade once did to Carrillo in the past.[31] Andrade was then suspended for 30 days due to violating WWE's wellness policy, though was not stripped of the title.[43] On the March 2 episode of Raw, Carrillo earned another shot at Andrade's U.S. title by pinning him in a tag team match.[44] The match took place at Elimination Chamber, where Andrade retained.[45]

Following the animosity between Lana and Liv Morgan, which caused Lana to eliminate Morgan after she herself was eliminated by Morgan, a match between the two was scheduled the next night on Raw, with Bobby Lashley and

Ruby Riott, making her return from injury. Riott went to embrace Morgan, after which she then attacked Morgan.[32]

After making a surprise return at the Royal Rumble, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) faced Rey Mysterio on Raw in a losing effort.[30] Afterwards, MVP announced that although he still had a few matches left on the independent circuit, his match on Raw was his final in WWE.[46] This proved to be false, however, as after hosting a segment of the "VIP Lounge" in which he insulted men's Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre,[35] MVP faced McIntyre in a match on the February 17 episode that McIntyre won.[47] MVP would then become a mainstay on Raw, forming The Hurt Business faction, comprising Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander.

Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. Joe was legitimately injured during the match and was taken backstage, leaving Owens to fend for himself, however, Rollins and Murphy retained the titles after Murphy pinned Owens with a roll-up.[31] On February 7, Buddy Murphy's ring name was shortened to Murphy.[48][49] Joe's injury proved to be minor, as he returned on the February 10 episode of Raw to aid Owens and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) against Rollins' stable.[35]

On the February 3 episode of Raw, Asuka challenged Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch to a rematch, and Lynch accepted for the following week.[32] After Lynch retained the title, she was attacked by NXT's Shayna Baszler.[35] Baszler then went on to win the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber to become the new number one contender for the title at WrestleMania 36.[45]

SmackDown

A six-man tag team rematch from the previous week between the team of Roman Reigns and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and the team of King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and Robert Roode was scheduled for the following SmackDown in which the losers ate dog food. Reigns and The Usos won, and they dumped dog food over Corbin.

Steel Cage match at Super ShowDown.[51] At the event, Reigns defeated Corbin to end the feud.[33]

Sheamus faced Shorty G in a rematch on the following SmackDown, where Sheamus was again victorious.[50]

Mandy Rose thanked Otis for helping her in the women's Royal Rumble match. With encouragement from his Heavy Machinery tag team partner

Tucker, Otis asked Rose out on a date and Rose accepted for Valentine's Day.[50]

On the following SmackDown, Bayley addressed her victory over Lacey Evans, as well as Charlotte Flair's Royal Rumble win. She was interrupted by

fatal four-way match to determine Bayley's next challenger, but it was won by Carmella.[51] On the February 14 episode, Bayley pinned Carmella while using the ropes for leverage to retain the title. After the match, both Carmella and Naomi attacked Bayley.[52] On the February 21 episode, Naomi defeated Carmella to become the number one contender for Bayley's SmackDown Women's Championship. The match was scheduled for Super ShowDown.[53]

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
WWE Raw Women's Championship[60]
16:25
8Drew McIntyre won by last eliminating Roman Reigns30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 36[61]1:00:50
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
P – the match was broadcast on the pre-show

Women's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  – Raw
  – SmackDown
  – NXT
  – NXT UK
  – Hall of Famer (HOF)
  – Unbranded
  – Winner
Draw Entrant Brand/
Status 		Order Eliminated by Time[57] Elimination(s)
1 Alexa Bliss SmackDown 15 Bianca Belair 26:34 3
2 Bianca Belair NXT 16 Charlotte Flair 33:20 8
3 Mighty Molly Unbranded 3 Bianca Belair 10:21 0
4 Nikki Cross SmackDown 5 Bianca Belair 15:08 0
5
Lana
 Raw 1 Liv Morgan 02:29 1
6 Mercedes Martinez NXT 4 Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville 08:14 0
7 Liv Morgan Raw 2 Lana[1] 00:44 1
8 Mandy Rose SmackDown 6 Bianca Belair and Otis 08:49 1
9 Candice LeRae NXT 8 Bianca Belair 09:01 0
10 Sonya Deville SmackDown 7 Bianca Belair 05:31 1
11 Kairi Sane Raw 9 Alexa Bliss 05:22 0
12 Mia Yim NXT 11 Alexa Bliss 06:30 0
13 Dana Brooke SmackDown 14 Bianca Belair 05:26 0
14 Tamina SmackDown 10 00:39 0
15 Dakota Kai NXT 12 Chelsea Green 01:32 0
16 Chelsea Green NXT 13 Alexa Bliss 00:12 1
17 Charlotte Flair Raw — Winner 27:19 4
18 Naomi Raw 26 Shayna Baszler 22:01 0
19 Beth Phoenix HOF 28 Shayna Baszler 27:05 1
20 Toni Storm NXT UK 25 Shayna Baszler 18:40 0
21 Kelly Kelly Unbranded 18 Charlotte Flair 02:29 0
22 Sarah Logan Raw 17 Charlotte Flair 00:28 0
23 Natalya Raw 27 Beth Phoenix 14:43 0
24 Xia Li NXT 20 Shayna Baszler 10:49 0
25 Zelina Vega Raw 22 Shayna Baszler 09:31 0
26 Shotzi Blackheart NXT 23 Shayna Baszler 07:57 0
27 Carmella SmackDown 24 Shayna Baszler 06:36 0
28 Tegan Nox NXT 21 Shayna Baszler 03:50 0
29 Santina Marella Unbranded 19 Herself 01:01 1
30 Shayna Baszler NXT 29 Charlotte Flair 04:27 8
^1 Lana was already eliminated when she eliminated Liv Morgan.

Men's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  – Raw
  – SmackDown
  – NXT
  – Hall of Famer (HOF)
  – Unbranded
  – Winner
Draw Entrant Brand/
Status 		Order Eliminated by Time[61] Elimination(s)
1 Brock Lesnar[2] Raw 14 Drew McIntyre 26:24 13
2 Elias SmackDown 1 Brock Lesnar 01:00 0
3 Erick Rowan Raw 2 Brock Lesnar 00:08 0
4 Robert Roode SmackDown 3 Brock Lesnar 00:41 0
5 John Morrison SmackDown 4 00:09 0
6 Kofi Kingston SmackDown 7 05:06 0
7 Rey Mysterio Raw 5 Brock Lesnar 02:54 0
8 Big E SmackDown 6 Brock Lesnar 00:53 0
9 Cesaro SmackDown 8 00:18 0
10 Shelton Benjamin Raw 9 Brock Lesnar 00:37 0
11 Shinsuke Nakamura SmackDown 10 Brock Lesnar 00:20 0
12 MVP Unbranded 11 Brock Lesnar 00:24 0
13 Keith Lee NXT 12 Brock Lesnar & Braun Strowman 03:32 1
14 Braun Strowman SmackDown 13 Brock Lesnar & Keith Lee 01:50 1
15 Ricochet Raw 15 Drew McIntyre 03:09 0
16 Drew McIntyre Raw — Winner 34:11 6
17 The Miz SmackDown 16 Drew McIntyre 00:30 0
18 AJ Styles Raw 17 Edge 07:49 0
19 Dolph Ziggler SmackDown 22 Roman Reigns 12:20 0
20 Karl Anderson Raw 21 Randy Orton 09:46 0
21 Edge HOF 28 Roman Reigns 23:43 3
22 King Corbin SmackDown 19 Drew McIntyre 04:06 1
23 Matt Riddle NXT 18 King Corbin 00:41 0
24 Luke Gallows Raw 20 Edge 02:00 0
25 Randy Orton Raw 27 Edge 14:37 1
26 Roman Reigns SmackDown 29 Drew McIntyre 16:01 2
27 Kevin Owens Raw 24 Seth Rollins, Akam, and Rezar[3] 06:59 0
28 Aleister Black Raw 23 Seth Rollins 05:06 0
29 Samoa Joe Raw 25 04:25 0
30 Seth Rollins Raw 26 Drew McIntyre 04:01 3
^2 Brock Lesnar tied Braun Strowman's record for the most eliminations in the Royal Rumble match, eliminating 13 men. This record was previously held by Roman Reigns, who eliminated 12 men at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
^3 Akam and Rezar were not official participants in the match.

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External links

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