Date: 01/31	5:00 PM
Views: 1,346

2021, here we are, time for the first PPV of the new year. It's officially the Road to WrestleMania, starting with the Royal Rumble PPV! Which man and woman will win their respective Royal Rumble matches? Will Kevin Owens win the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing Match? Will Drew McIntyre successfully defend his WWE Championship against Goldberg?! Join us for a live recap of WWE Royal Rumble tonight starting with the pre-show at 6 PM ET/5 Central on social media and the main PPV at 7 PM ET on the WWE Network. Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for the latest updates.

6 PM ET and the Kickoff is underway with Charly Caruso, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Booker T, JBL and Peter Rosenberg all at the panel. It's officially the start of the Road to WrestleMania tonight! R-Truth shows up dressed like Elmer Fudd hunting for Bugs Bunny, but he gets mistaken since Bad Bunny is supposed to be here later.

* WWE Womens Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Charlotte Flair & Asuka {C}

Pre-match, both Asuka and Charlotte are asked about their individual problems with Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans, respectively. They dismiss their other problems and say that Nia and Shayna are not ready for them tonight. Shayna and Charlotte start the match, Charlotte starts with a headlock, Shayna counters with a waistlock, Charlotte counters in a front facelock, Shayna reverses, waistlock switches, back to the headlock for Charlotte and hits a shoulder block. Asuka tags in for kicks and chops with her partner, then kicks Shayna in the chest, Shayna knocks her down and makes the tag. Nia tags in and Asuka puts her in the octopus stretch. Charlotte gets the tag, Nia sends her to a corner, Charlotte fights them both off, rolls Nia up for 1, and hits a high knee in a corner. Asuka tags, Nia clobbers her, Shayna tags, 2-count, then starts to work on the left arm of the Raw Women's Champion and covers for 2. Nia tags back in, stomps on Asuka's arm, then puts her in an arm-trap chinlock. Asuka fights out, Nia knocks Charlotte off the apron, Asuka hits the spinning backfist, Nia swats away the missile dropkick, and Asuka hits the lungblower for 2. Nia headbutts Asuka on the turnbuckle, Asuka hits a sunset flip powerbomb, and Shayna breaks the count. Asuka attacks both women, Nia powerbombs her, covers, and Charlotte breaks the count!

Charlotte gets the hot tag, clotheslines Shayna who tagged in too, chops, exploder suplex, kips up, Shayna side-steps her, Charlotte hits a backbreaker, takes down Nia, hits a double Natural Selection to both, and covers for a 2.5! Shayna drops her, Nia tags in, Shayna tags herself back in, Nia hits the Samoan drop, Shayna hits a knee strike and covers for a near-fall. Shayna throws Charlotte into the turnbuckle, Asuka wipes out Jax with a hip attack off the steps, and Shayna throws Asuka over the announce table. Charlotte hits a diving moonsault from the top to the floor to both opponents! WOOO! Ric Flair comes out, Shayna rolls up Charlotte for 2.9, Charlotte hits the big boot, Lacey Evans jumps on the apron to distract her, then puts Shayna in the figure-4. Lacey blocks the Figure-8 by pulling Charlotte's arms, Charlotte attacks her, and Shayna puts Charlotte in the Kirafuda Clutch! Ric Flair gives Lacey brass knuckles, Charlotte counters and goes for the figure-8 again, Ric Flair distracts the ref, and Lacey hits The Woman's Right WITH BRASS KNUX! Nia gets the tag, hits the legdrop on the back of a lifeless Charlotte, rolls her over and covers for 3! WINNERS and NEW WWE Women's Tag Team Champions: NIA JAX & SHAYNA BASZLER!

We have new 2-time champions, and Asuka is no longer a double champ thanks to Lacey Evans and Ric Flair! Now time for the "by the numbers" Royal Rumble video package and on to the PPV!

* WWE Championship: Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre {C}

Here we go! McIntyre hits the Glasgow Kiss headbutt followed by a SPEAR!! The bell hasn't rung yet and they're fighting outside the ring! Goldberg throws McIntyre into the steel steps then SPEARS him through the barricade!! Goldberg gets in the ring ready to go, but McIntyre has to recover on the floor, but he seems ready as he tells the ref to ring the damn bell.

The bell dings, McIntyre blocks the Spear, hits the CLAYMORE, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT! The only other man to kick out of the Claymore was Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania last year. Goldberg ducks another Claymore, hits the SPEAR, backs up, hits another SPEAR, and covers for 1-2-NO! Goldberg calls for it, hits the Jackhammer, covers, 2.99! Goldberg is shocked! McIntyre side-steps another Spear attempt, hits the CLAYMORE, and gets the 3-count!! WINNER and STILL WWE Champion: DREW McINTYRE!

After the match, Goldberg stands in the middle of the ring, tells McIntyre that he passed the test and deserves the championship, they shake hands with a hug, then he raises the champ's arm in respect.

* SmackDown Women's Championship: Carmella vs. Sasha Banks {C}

Pre-match, Sasha laughs off the idea of losing her title to Carmella. Right at the bell Sasha looks for the Banks Statement, but Carmella blocks it and leaves the ring. Sasha takes her down with a waistlock, does a springboard armdrag, another armdrag is blocked, Reginald jumps on the apron, Sasha pulls him down, and Carmella takes advantage by jumping off of Reginald's back to strike Sasha against the announce table, then throws her back into the ring for a 2-count. Carmella has the champ reeling in a corner, puts her in a figure-4 headlock over the ropes, breaking at the ref's count of 4, and Reginald likes what his "boss" is doing. Sasha goes for a body slam but Carmella counters with a mat slam for 2 then puts her in a chinlock. Sasha hits a back elbow, gets attacked on the top turnbuckle, but hits a diving meteora grabbing her left knee after the landing. Carmella trips her into the ropes, ties her hair up on the bottom rope, stomps on her, then shouts that she's better than her. Reginald and Corey Graves are loving it. Sasha fights back, hits double knees, covers for 2, suplex, rolls through, suplex, rolls through, Carmella blocks the Three Amigos and throws her out the ring. Reginald catches her, Sasha hits a tilt-a-whirl, and the referee kicks him out from ringside. Carmella hits a scary suicide dive, covers for a near-fall in the ring, complains to the ref about Reginald being ejected from ringside, Sasha rolls her up for 2, rollup for 2, backslide for 2, and hits the Third Amigo. Carmella gets her knees up to block the splash, locks in the Code of Silence, Sasha counters and kicks her in the face. Carmella blocks the Backstabber, Sasha hits a knee knee, Carmella superkicks her twice, covers for 2.5, Sasha catches her in the Banks Statement and Carmella taps! WINNER and STILL SmackDown Women's Champion: SASHA BANKS!

Backstage, Big E asks Xavier Woods all about his issues with Retribution. They start talking about being able to last a long time in tonight's Royal Rumble, but Sami Zayn shows up to complain about losing his Intercontinental Championship to Big E. He whines some more and claims he sees everything, and KOFI KINGSTON pops up!! The New Day shoo Sami away, and they are together again. Kofi mentions that he's not medically cleared to compete, but he couldn't resist wearing their new gear in tribute to Brodie Lee, and he's here to show support for his boys. "When one of us wins the Royal Rumble, we ALL win the Royal Rumble!"

Booker T stands on the stage stoicly in his G.I. Bro outfit as Bad Bunny performs his song "Booker T" around him. CAN YOU DIG IT, SUCKA?!

* Royal Rumble Match

Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler are on commentary for this one. #1 is Bayley and #2 is Naomi! Bayley mocks her at first, Naomi goes on offense, hits a hurricanrana, and kicks her in the head. She hits tyhe REAR VIEW and tries to throw her over the ropes but Bayley fights her off. Time for the countdown. #3 is Bianca Belair and she dropkicks Bayley immediately. Bayley gets tossed onto the apron but she slides back in, Bianca slams her, hits a moonsault, and tries to hoist up Naomi. Bianca and Naomi cartwheel each other, Bayley tries to eliminate both, and #4 is Billie Kay. Billie has several copies of her resume and takes a seat first. Bianca jumps over Bayley and Naomi hits a springboard kick to Bianca. Bayley throws Bianca over the ropes, but Bianca holds on for her safety. Bayley goes for a crossbody but Naomi and Bianca side-step her. #5 is Shotzi Blackheart and she arrives in her tank! Billie tries to talk to her, but there are no allies here as Blackheart fires her tank. Shotzi hits a missile dropkick to Bayley, question mark kick to Naomi, and a senton to Bianca. Billie goes back to commentary.

#6 is Shayna Baszler and Billie tries to talk to her instead, but she gets beaten up by the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champion. Shayna gets in the ring and wrecks everybody including a spinebuster to Naomi. Five women in the ring, one on the floor, and here comes another. #7 is Toni Storm and Billie tries again to pledge alliance. Toni walks past her, gets in the ring, German suplex to Shotzi and Bayley, hip attack to Naomi, and Naomi hits her with the REAR VIEW. Billie is back on commentary. Shayna dumps out Shotzi Blackheart. #8 is Jillian Hall! Billie is super excited to see her, and Jillian is happy to have a fan. They get in the ring and clothesline women, and hit a double suplex to Naomi. Billie and Jillian try to get Naomi out to no avail. #9 is Ruby Riott. Ruby clotheslines Bayley and Bianca, clobbers Toni, and Toni gives her a German suplex, and Ruby superkicks Toni. #10 is Victoria! Victoria is a lady still not to be messed with as she wipes out the competition! Victoria clotheslines and slams everybody then falls through the ropes, but comes back with a flipping legdrop on Naomi.

#11 is Peyton Royce. The IICONICS are back together double teaming Victoria! Peyton does the IIconic pose, Billie hesitates when conronted by Ruby, and they pay for it. Peyton hits the Widow's Peak on Bayley, but Victoria shows Peyton how it's done with the original WIDOW'S PEAK! #12 is Santana Garrett from NXT! Santana hits a cartwheel back elbow to Ruby and dumps her onto the apron. Bianca also fight her way off the apron. #13 is Liv Morgan. Morgan hits Bayley with Oblivion, hits a facebuster to Bianca, Ruby superkicks Shayna and Liv hits a crucifix bomb. Jillian hits Billie with a Samoan drop and their alliance is over, and Billie kicks her off the apron to eliminate her. #14 is Rhea Ripley! She is on fire as she wipes out everybody with big boots and dropkicks, and eliminates Toni Storm! Shayna puts Victoria in the KIRAFUDA CLUTCH over the ropes so she passes out and falls down. Ripley trips Santana Garrett on the apron making her do the splits, and superkicks her to eliminate her. #15 is Charlotte Flair! Charlotte takes her time walking to the ring, but then cleans house once she gets in. Charlotte and Rhea go at it, and Charlotte hits a back suplex. Ruby tries to pull Peyton out the ring, Bayley slides out and powerbombs Ruby from the apron to the floor to eliminate her.

#16 is Dana Brooke. Dana comes in with missile dropkicks, a swanton onto a group of women, and cartwheel back elbows. Liv tries to pull Bayley out, but Peyton returns the favor to Bayley by getting rid of the other Riott Squad. #17 is Torrie Wilson. Torrie hits women with a neckbreaker, a clothesline, a hairmare, X Factor, and a suplex. Dana threatens eliminating Rhea, but Ripley counters by powerbombing Dana onto the apron and Brooke falls. Ric Flair comes out, but in actuality #18 is Lacey Evans. Lacey Flair... I mean Lacey Evans comes out wearing a Flair robe laughing in Charlotte Flair's face. Charlotte jumps her, they roll under the ropes and fight outside the ring, then Charlotte gets on the apron and pulls Peyton out to eliminate her. Shayna puts Torrie Wilson on the apron and knocks her down for an elimination. BAYLEY is out too! #19 is Mickie James. Mickie kicks Lacey on her way to the ring, and we see that Bianca is the one who eliminated Bayley. Mickie hits Naomi with a neckbreaker, gets in Charlotte's face, they go after each other with chops, kicks and punches, Mickie hits a headscissors, and Charlotte throws her onto the apron. #20 is Nikki Cross! Nikki rushes the ring, takes down several women with a clothesline to Bianca, neckbreaker to Naomi, splashes in the corners, a bulldog to Bianca, a low crossbody to Shayna, tornado DDT to Rhea, and a jawbreaker to Charlotte.

#21 is Alicia Fox! R-TRUTH runs down, jumps onto the apron, and the 24/7 goons chase him down. Truth and Alicia fight off everybody who jumps on the apron, and Alicia Fox rolls up Truth for 3! (NEW 24/7 CHAMPION: ALICIA FOX!) Truth is on the ground with the other losers while Alicia parades around with the 24/7 Title. #22 is Mandy Rose. Mandy goes after Alicia Fox, hits a jumping knee, eliminates her, then R-Truth rolls up Alicia Fox at ringside and pins her to win the title back! (NEW 24/7 CHAMPION: R-TRUTH!) Mandy planys Mickie with the double underhook facebuster, and the 24/7 gang then run off to the back, along with Alicia Fox. #23 is Dakota Kai. Dakota clotheslines Nikki and Mickie, Rhea Ripley goes after Dakota, but Dakota hits her with a scorpion kick. Lacey then hits Mickie James with A Woman's Right to eliminate her. #24 is Carmella. Reginald comes out with Carmella, and Rhea dumps Dakota onto the apron and out the ring. Rhea blocks a high knee from Mandy and throws her out too. Carmella sips some water, uses Reginald to step up into ring, and he saves her from elimination. He doesn't save Nikki Cross from elimination when Carmella superkicks her. #25 is Tamina. Reginald caught Carmella again, but he put her down as Tamina superkicks him. Carmella is now eliminated! Tamina and Rhea Ripley have a staredown and they slug it out. Bianca throws Naomi onto the apron but she saves herself, but then Lacey kicks Naomi out the ring and she falls on her back WITHOUT her feet hitting the floor. Bianca falls in the ropes, Naomi uses Bianca's hair to help herself up, and they help each other back into the ring.

#26 is Lana. Lana makes her return, surveys the ring, tries to toss out Rhea, but Tamina goes after her. Naomi and Bianca battle it out, Naomi hits a split-legdrop, and Bianca saves herself from elimination. Lana tries to lift Tamina, and even tries to get Lacey out. #27 is Alexa Bliss. It's the happy-go-lucky "Firefly" Alexa Bliss coming to the ring. She hits Insult to Injury on Naomi, punches Tamina, dropkicks Rhea, and claps in glee. They all gang up on Alexa in a beatdown... UH-OH, the transformation begins... BUT Rhea eliminates Alexa Bliss! Rhea now has six eliminations. #28 is Ember Moon! Ember hits Shayna with the ECLIPSE, floatover butterfly suplex to Rhea, throws Lacey over the ropes, dropkicks Naomi, double diving Codebreaker to Tamina and Charlotte, and fights off Lana. #29 is Nia Jax. Shayna is out on the floor, was not eliminated, and she gets in the ring with her Tag Team Championship partner Jax to eliminate Lacey Evans, Ember Moon, and Naomi. The #2 entrant Naomi lasted 47 minutes, 43 seconds. Nia doesn't want to go after her family Tamina, but quickly picks her up, Tamina superkicks her, and Shayna saves her partner to dump her out. Now Nia and Shayna fight each other, Shayna hits Rhea with a gutwrench suplex, and Nia eliminates her own partner Shayna! Nia says that she had to do it, Lana jumps on her back, Nia and Lana go through the ropes, Nia chases her around the ring, Lana slaps her while inside the ring, and lowers the ropes on Nia to eliminate her! #30 is Natalya and that's the end of entrants! Shayna and Nia attack Natalya in the aisleway, they get back in the ring to attack everybody else, Nia headbutts Charlotte, Shayna hits Bianca with a German suplex, Nia body slams Lana, and they toss Natalya into the ring to make it official. Natalya reunites with Lana, hugs her, consoles her, attacks her from behind, and dumps her out the ring.

Final four are Natalya, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley! Natalya hits Charlotte with a discus clothesline, attacks Bianca, and hits a German suplex to Rhea. Natalya puts Rhea on the apron, hits her with a discus punch, Ripley falls onto the apron, and Bianca throws Natalya over the ropes to eliminate her! We're down to three! Charlotte smiles, attacks first, gets double teamed quickly, but that only fires her up and she fights back with a suplex to Bianca. Charlotte and Rhea fight each other, Rhea ducks a big boot and dumps her over, but Charlotte stays on the apron, Bianca hits Charlotte with a handspring kick, and they team up to eliminate her!!

Rhea and Bianca celebrate, Rhea pushes her over, Bianca brings her over with her, they sit on the apron staring at each other, slowly and cautiously roll back into the ring, and they have a staredown as the final two. Bianca puts her on the top rope, hits a big forearm, Rhea nearly falls out but stays on the apron, slides back in, Rhea dumps her over, Bianca fights back, and they both slam each other down to the mat! They have another staredown, start slugging it out, Rhea kicks her in the head, Bianca picks her up in a double chickenwing, Rhea counters the Glam Slam, Bianca counters Riptide, Bianca picks her up for KOD, Rhea lands on her feet, ducks a clothesline, Bianca ducks a clothesline, and BIANCA BELAIR CLOTHESLINES RHEA RIPLEY OUT THE RING!! 56:49! 2021 ROYAL RUMBLE WINNER: BIANCA BELAIR!!!

Bianca Belair entered the Royal Rumble at #3, sets a new record of lasting 56 minutes and 49 seconds, and legitimately outlasted 29 other women to win the whole thing! Kayla Braxton is in the ring to interview the winner reminding her of her accomplishment. Bianca cries while saying that tonight she showed everybody that she's the EST of WWE. "Momma and Daddy, I did it! Now I'm gonna put EST in WrestleMania!" AND NOW THE POINT TO THE WRESTLEMANIA SIGN! Congrats, Bianca!

Miz and Morrison knock on Bad Bunny's door to suck up to him and want his endorsement. Bad Bunny declines her offer, they can't believe he doesn't want their help, and Booker T shows up behind them after some derogatory comments. Morrison runs off and comes back for Miz after Booker coyly wishes him luck.

We go back to the panel from the Kickoff with Charly Caruso, Sonya Deville, JBL and Peter Rosenberg to talk about Bianca Belair's victory. We get a recap of Ric Flair and Lacey Evans costing Charlotte the Tag Team Title match earlier. R-Truth returns to the panel and complains about Bunnies and Foxes. Peter Rosenberg tricks Truth into thinking that John Cena is here, but gives him a LOW BLOW and pins Truth for the title! NEW 24/7 CHAMPION: PETER ROSENBERG! The panel re-evaluate how they think and talk about Rosenberg after that stunt he pulled.

* Universal Championship - Last Man Standing Match: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns {C}

The bell is dinging and the arms are swinging! Owens ducks the Superman Punch, Reigns blocks the Stunner and connects with the Superman Punch! The ref starts counting, Owens is back up at 4 and hits the POP-UP POWERBOMB! Reigns is already up at 4, rolls out the ring, picks him up, Owens escapes and throws him into the ringpost, but Reigns sends him into the steel steps. Reigns hits the SPEAR on the floor! Owens is back up, Reigns hits him with the steel steps, Owens is still up, Reigns hits him again, Owens is down to a knee, so Reigns hits him a third time.

Owens gets back up near the fan screens, hits a superkick, Reigns is down and gets up at 5. Owens slams his head on the steps, throws him into the LED boards of fans, the ref counts, Reigns us up at 4, Owens stays on the move and hits him with the steps. Reigns falls onto a table, Owens goes up a level, finds a chair, Reigns fights him off, hits him in the ribs and back with the chair, and continues to fight him there. Reigns ducks him up to the next level, Owens superkicks him, Owens grabs another chair, hits him in the knees, whack to the back, the ref counts, and Reigns is up at 5. Owens hits him in the leg with the chair, Reigns fights back and hits him with the chair, and we saw a floor shot of how high they are. Owens hits the STUNNER, Reigns is on the edge, hits the Superman Punch, and throws him DOWN THROUGH THE TABLE!!

The referee starts his count, Owens is not done, and pulls himself up at 9! Reigns can't believe it! Owens walks through the backstage area all by himself - no ref, no Reigns. He walks to the backstage ring, the referee catches up to him, ROMAN REIGNS RUNS OVER KEVIN OWENS WITH A GOLF CART OUTTA NOWHERE!!! Owens crashed through the windshield and writhes around, but gets up at 9!! Reigns pummmels him and looks upwards to the sky, and Owens fires up with punches and throws him into cases. Owens hits a POP-UP POWERBOMB onto an announce table, then climbs up higher to hit a FROG SPLASH THROUGH THE TABLE! Owens is on his feet at 6, Reigns is up at 9, Owens throws him at a ladder, picks up a small 3-step ladder, Reigns is up at 9, Owens hits him with the ladder laying him out on a table, Owens lifts a forklift platform high up, climbs up to the top, and hits a SENTON BOMB THROUGH THE TABLES!!

Owens is back to his feet, Reigns gets up at 9 but stumbles back down, crawls away until Owens grabs him by his bloody face, and he's dragged back through the curtain. Both men end up back on the stage, Reigns is on his back but he gets back up at 8, hits a Superman Punch, and SPEARS THROUGH THE SCREEN!! Owens rolls off the stage to land on his feet and break the count to stay in this fight. Reigns has handcuffs with him, they start slugging it out, Reigns gets the better of the exchange, Owens fights back, hits the STUNNER on the floor, and he handcuffs Reigns LOW around the steel structure! The referee starts counting, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and REIGNS pulls the referee into the steel to stop the count! Owens starts punching him, and Reigns gives him a low blow! Paul Heyman comes over with a key to unlock the handcuffs, a new referee arrives, Reigns gets free of the cuff and locks in the guillotine! Reigns chokes him out cold, gets to his feet at 7, but Owens doesn't wake up. WINNER and STILL Universal Champion: ROMAN REIGNS!

Last night on WWE Backstage, it was announced that Randy Orton is #1 and Edge is #2, but Edge decides to come out first and gets his entrance listed as first. Edge charges and attacks Randy Orton on the ramp then throws him into the edge of the ring! They get in the ring and the match is underway!

* Royal Rumble Match

#1 is Edge and #2 is Randy Orton. They slide under the ring and Edge throws him into the barricade. They continue to fight by the announce table and around the ring. #3 is Sami Zayn and he helps Orton by clipping Edge's legs. Orton twists Edge's injured arm and Sami attacks him as well. #4 is Mustafa Ali and he stares at the other competitors before attacking Edge. Orton and Zayn hold up Edge for Ali to wail on him with punches over and over, and Orton loves it! The three men drag Edge to the ropes and try to dump him out. #5 is Jeff Hardy and hits a jawbreaker to Orton! Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind on Ali and Zayn, but then he's hit with the RKO! Zayn cheers on Orton, and Orton hits the RKO to Zayn! RKO to Ali! Edge comes back with a SPEAR to Orton! The fight isn't over as Orton and Edge roll out under the ropes again, and Edge throws him into the ringpost and slams his head on the announce table again. Egde stands atop the table, picks Orton up, and counters the RKO to hit the Implant DDT!

#6 is Dolph Ziggler. Edge hits Orton on the back and the leg with a chair, and all the referees hold him back. Ziggler gets in the ring and eliminates Hardy. Edge boots Ziggler in the face, high back body drop to Ali, catches Zayn and tries to throw him out, but Ziggler hits the ZIG ZAG! Orton is not in a good mood on the floor. Edge nearly gets dumped out. #7 is Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura attacks Ziggler and Zayn while we get replays of Edge hitting Orton with the chair to the knee, and we see Orton is being helped to the back. Nakamura does Good Intentions to Ziggler and tosses him over the ropes. #8 is Carlito!! CARLITO IS BACK AND LOOKS GREAT! Nakamura takes the apple, Carlito takes it back, and hits the BACKSTABBER! Ali chops Carlito, but Carlito hits the BACKSTABBER. Carlito grabs Zayn by the beard and throws him over as Orton slowly limps to the back. Carlito throws Ziggler over the ropes. #9 is Xavier Woods and he attacks Ali right away! Zayn shuts him down before he gets any momentum. Ziggler and Carlito try to get each other out the ring to no avail. #10 is Big E and the Intercontinental Champion goes right away Zayn since they've had problems on SmackDown. Woods hits Zayn with the Honor Roll, and he lifts Big E up for a big splash. The New Day hit the Up Up Down Down with the Brodie Lee ring attire and eliminate Zayn for good!

#11 is John Morrison. Morrison hits a counter kick to Nakamura. Woods hits Ali with a diving DDT and throws him over, Ziggler throws Woods over, Ali and Woods kicks each other, and Ali dropkicks Woods to eliminate him. Big E shoves Ali out the ring to get his own "retribution" for his brother. #12 is Ricochet and he waves to Ali before hitting a springboard corkscrew crossbody onto everybody. Ricochet hits a spin kick to Ziggler, then backflips into a headscissors and dropkicks Edge. #13 is Elias. Elias plants Ricochet with a sit-out choke slam, hits Drift Away to Morrison, Carlito dropkicks him, Elias hits a jumping knee to Carlito and throws him out. Nakamura suplexes Ziggler. #14 is Damian Priest! Priest hits THE RECKONING on Elias, lariat to Ricochet, bell clap and spinning heel kick to Morrison, then eliminates Elias. Backstage, Orton is getting his knee checcked on by the physician. Edge boots Priest in the face, but then they clothesline each other. #15 is The Miz and he comes out with his Money in the Bank briefcase, then destroys the DJ's table with it. Miz hits the SKULL CRUSHING FINALE to Big E, then teams with Morrison on Ricochet with a double DDT. Ziggler suffers a double team springboard kick. Bad Bunny comes down to confront Miz and Morrison for Miz's actions, and Damian Priest dumps out Miz and Morrison! BAD BUNNY does a crossbody from the top onto Miz and Morrison on the floor!

#16 is Riddle. We are halfway through the Rumble now, and Riddle hits Priest with a running forearm. Riddle and Nakamura hit each other with strong strikes, but Priest goes after both men. #17 is Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan has stated that he's never won the Royal Rumble or even a battle royal. Will tonight be the night? Bryan and Ricochet trade kicks, Ricochet backflips into a German suplex, Edge is nearly over the ropes while lasting 27 minutes so far, and he continues on. #18 is Kane! Kane continues history with his 18th appearance in a Royal Rumble at #18! Kane CHOKE SLAMS Riddle and Nakamura, eliminates Ziggler, and CHOKE SLAMS Ricochet on the apron making him fall! Bryan finds Kane and opens his arms for a hug, and they hug it out! Kane CHOKE SLAMS Bryan! Priest steps up to Kane, receives an uppercut, slips out of a Choke Slam, and throws him out to eliminate him! Riddle attacks Priest and the match goes on. #19 is King Corbin. Corbin finds Riddle with a punch, front slam to Bryan, and Nakamura dropkicks him, counters the End of Days, and Corbin hits Deep Six and clotheslines him out the ring! #20 is Otis. Otis hits the discus clothesline on Corbin, body slams Big E, overhead suplex to Priest, exploder suplex to Riddle, and hits the Caterpillar to Priest. Corbin tackles Otis off the ropes and to the floor, then Bryan goes after the King with several kicks.

#21 is Dominik Mysterio. Corbin immediately hits Dominik with a spinebuster and pummels him, but then Dominik eliminates him! Bryan and Riddle exchange blows, Priest gets involved, Big E works on Dominik, and Edge is recoving in a corner. #22 is Bobby Lashley and the United States Champion goes after Riddle with a clothesline then launches Dominik out the ring. Lashley plants Priest with a spinebuster and clotheslines him out the ring to eliminate him. It's the United States Champion Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Big E now! Lashley and Big E go at it and Riddle goes after his rival. #23 is The Hurricane! Big E looks on, Hurricane escapes E and Lashley, goes for the double choke slam, but that only gets him dumped out. Lashley hits Big E with a flatliner, attacks Riddle again, then goes after Bryan until Riddle gets back in the fight. #24 is Christian!! Christian drops Lashley's neck on the ropes, and the rest of the men all team up to eliminate Lashley! Christian hits Big E with the Killswitch, hits the back elbow to Bryan, and hugs Edge! Riddle wants to join, Edge headbutts him, they hit a back elbow each, and Christian splashes him with Edge's help. Edge has been in for 40 minutes! #25 is AJ Styles. Styles hits a Pele Kick to Christian, hits a DDT to Edge, Omos looks on fromt he outside, and Edge SPEARS Styles! Bryan headbutts Edge and battles him in a corner.

#26 is Rey Mysterio. Mysterio hits Christian with a seated senton, fights with AJ, and Omos saves Styles by pushing him back into the ring. Big E hits Styles with a big boot, and Omos pulls Big E over the ropes then shoves him over the announce table! The battle continues until the next man. Lucky #27 is Sheamus. Sheamus pummels Riddle on the chest, then Edge gets it, hits a flying clothesline to Edge and Riddle, Irish Curse to Styles, and a BROGUE KICK to Christian! Bryan charges and he too eats a BROGUE KICK. Bryan is lucid enough to save himself from going over the ropes. Omos blocks the 619 and Styles throws Mysterio over the ropes, and Omos throws Mysterio into the barricade to eliminate him! #28 is Cesaro. Cesaro goes on a rage tear, shares a moment with former The Bar teammate Sheamus, but then gives him the Giant Swing and catapults him into the ropes. Bryan goes after Cesaro, but he also gets the Giant Swing for a longer time. #29 is Seth Rollins! The Messiah is back in all his glory! He savors his return to in-ring action and Cesaro uppercuts him and throws him over. Rollins gtes back in, trades uppercuts with Cesaro, and chops him on the chest. Here comes the final entrant! #30 is Braun Strowman. The Monster came back on SmackDown two days ago, and now he's making an impact on the field. Omos saves Styles again by catching him. Cesaro picks Strowman up, but he gets thrown out, and so does Sheamus. Strowman throws Styles out where Omos ISN'T! Edge hits Strowman with the SPEAR!

We're down to Edge, Bryan, Christian, Riddle, Strowman and Rollins. (Orton was never officially eliminated, by the way.) Bryan and Riddle trade chops, uppercuts, and kicks. Bryan lands on his feet from a suplex and hits Edge with the running knee! Edge saves himself in the ropes, Bryan blocks the Killswitch and dropkicks Christian, then dropkicks Strowman in a corner. Bryan wants Riddle, they slug it out, counters on counters, Riddle counters a triangle picking him up, Bryan lands on the apron, and hits a missile dropkick. Rollins is stalking from the outside, clobbers him from behind and hits the STOMP, then throws him out! DANIEL BRYAN IS ELIMINATED! Rollins and Riddle battle it out, and they are NOT fans of each other at the moment. Rollins lands on the apron, Riddle hops onto the apron, Strowman punches Riddle, and Rollins hits the STOMP on the apron to eliminate him.

We're down to the final four in the ring: Strowman, Rollins, Edge and Christian (not counting Orton, of course). Rollins tries to appeal to Strowman, but that only gets him attacked. Strowman runs through Edge and Christian, avalanche splashes in the corners, picks up Edge, dumps him onto the apron, Edge pulls Strowman over the top via headlock, Strowman powers back up, but Christian comes from behind, and Rollins dumps out Strowman AND Christian! Edge and Rollins are the final two standing, Rollins fights with all of his might, but Edge tosses him out the ring! WAIT, ORTON IS BACK with the RKO!!! Orton picks him up, but Edge reverses momentum and THROWS HIM OUT THE RING!!! 2021 ROYAL RUMBLE WINNER: EDGE!!!

EDGE has gone from #1 in the ring to win the whole damn thing, and after 10 years he will be in a main event marquee championship match at WrestleMania!! The Road to WrestleMania is truly underway!