Royal Rumble (2016)

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Royal Rumble (2016)
File:WWE Royal Rumble 2016 2nd Promotional Poster.jpeg
Promotional poster showcasing Roman Reigns
Tagline(s) One vs. All
Information
Promotion WWE
Sponsor(s) Chex Mix
Date January 24, 2016
Attendance 15,998
Venue Amway Center
City Orlando, Florida
WWE Network event chronology
NXT TakeOver: London Royal Rumble (2016) Fastlane (2016)
Royal Rumble chronology
Royal Rumble (2015) Royal Rumble (2016)

Royal Rumble (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced by WWE. It took place on January 24, 2016, at the Amway Center in the Orlando, Florida.[1] It was the twenty-ninth event in the Royal Rumble chronology. The event also became the fifth Royal Rumble pay-per-view to be held in the state of Florida (1990, 1991, 1995 and 2006) and the first pay-per-view event that were held at the Amway Center since 2010. The Royal Rumble match became the second that were ever contested for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and its first since 1992 (which a defending champion is competing in the Royal Rumble match for the championship, where back in 1992, the Royal Rumble match was contested for the vacated title at the time).

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, making him the third person to win it from the number 30 entrant since John Cena (who he won back in 2008's Royal Rumble). Roman Reigns (who was the defending champion at the time) was also eliminated by Triple H. The event, during the Royal Rumble match, the match was notable for the WWE pay-per-view debut of AJ Styles[2][3][4] (who he made his first WWE appearance back in 2002).

Background

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See also: Professional wrestling

Royal Rumble consisted of professional wrestling matches that involves wrestlers from the pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs; including Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or more ambiguous characters as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5][6]

Traditionally, the winner of the 30-man Royal Rumble match is awarded a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. However, as a culmination of his attempts to deprive the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns for attacking his son-in-law Triple H and overall disrespecting the McMahon family, even towards the WWE owner/chairman/CEO Vince McMahon, which led him to decided on the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, that Reigns would have to defend his title in the Rumble match.[7]

On the December 28 episode of Raw, Big Show was the first wrestler to announce his participation in the Royal Rumble match.[8] Early in January, Curtis Axel, Ryback, The Wyatt Family, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho,[7] Stardust and Sheamus[9] were added to the match. On the January 11 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon announced that Brock Lesnar would compete in the match in spite of Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman arguing that Lesnar should bypass the match and face the winner at WrestleMania 32.[10] During the January 18, 2016 episode of Raw, a rigged lottery assigned the #1 spot to Reigns, meaning that he will be the first contestant to enter the match.[11]

At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.[12] Their rivalry would begin to intensified for over weeks; including one match ending in a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship.[13] On the January 14 episode of SmackDown, Owen's accepted Ambrose's challenge to a Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble.[9]

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,[13] he was granted a title match on the January 11 episode of Raw, where he defeated Del Rio to win the United States Championship.[10] Del Rio went on to win the championship back the following night on SmackDown.[9] Subsequently, another title match between the two was scheduled for the Royal Rumble.

On the January 4 episode of Raw, Becky Lynch was attacked by Divas Champion Charlotte after defeating her in a non-title match.[7] With the help of father Ric Flair, Charlotte defeated Lynch to retain the championship on the January 7 episode of SmackDown.[13] Subsequently, Lynch challenged Charlotte for another title match at the Royal Rumble. Though Charlotte was unwilling to grant Lynch another title opportunity, Lynch goaded Flair to accept the challenge on his daughter's behalf.[9][11]

On the January 11 episode of Raw, The Usos defeated The New Day.[10] The following week on Raw, a tag team title defense by The New Day against The Usos was scheduled for the Royal Rumble.[14]

On January 20, a fatal four-way tag team match between Darren Young and Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz, The Ascension, and Mark Henry and Jack Swagger was scheduled for the Royal Rumble pre-show, with both members of the winning team earning a spot in the Royal Rumble match later in the night.[15]

Broadcasters

The Royal Rumble Kickoff Show was hosted by Renee Young, with Booker T, Corey Graves and Jerry Lawler as analysts. Michael Cole, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Byron Saxton served as the English commentators, while the Spanish and French commentators also called the matches live at the arena. Lilian Garcia and Eden Stiles served as the ring announcers.

Aftermath

File:Royal-Rumble-Triple-H-645x370.jpg
Triple H won the Royal Rumble (becoming a two-time winner) and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a 9 time.

On the following night's episode of Raw in Miami, Florida, The Authority decided that Triple H would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32 against the winner of a Triple Threat Match between Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar, to be held at Fastlane.[16] Roman Reigns won the match (and the title opportunity at WrestleMania) by pinning Dean Ambrose. However, Ambrose also received a title match in the run-up to WrestleMania, at WWE Roadblock, where Triple H defeated him to retain the championship. Prior to his Triple Threat match with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at Fastlane, Dean Ambrose lost the Intercontinental Championship on the February 15 episode of Raw in a "Fatal 5-Way" Match also involving Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust and Tyler Breeze. Owens regained the title by pinning Breeze.

The Usos had another confrontation with the New Day, after the latter team interrupted the Usos' cousin, The Rock, who appeared on the January 25 episode of Raw. The Usos forced the trio into the ring, where The Rock hit each New Day member with his signature moves. On the February 8 episode of Raw, The Usos and The Dudley Boyz defeated The New Day and Mark Henry in an 8-Man Tag Team Match. After the match, The Dudley Boyz attacked The Usos, turning heels in the process.

Also on the January 25 episode of Raw, AJ Styles made his Raw debut, defeating Chris Jericho. The two shook hands after the match but Jericho refused to release Styles' hand while giving him a staredown before leaving. After Styles defeated The Miz on the February 4 episode of Smackdown, Jericho challenged Styles to a rematch. Jericho defeated Styles on the following week's episode of SmackDown, giving Styles his first loss since returning to WWE.

Additionally, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch faced each other on the January 25 Raw in a match which ended in disqualification after Charlotte attacked both women. After Banks confirmed her intentions of going after the Divas Championship and split from Team B.A.D on the February 1 Raw, she faced Lynch that night in a rematch which ended with Banks winning by disqualification after Team B.A.D members Naomi and Tamina attacked her, turning her face in the process. Lynch helped Banks fend off Naomi and Tamina leading to a temporary and uneasy alliance between the two. Also that same night Charlotte lost a non-title match to Brie Bella by roll-up. This led to a title match between the two for the Divas Championship scheduled for Fastlane, which Charlotte won.

Reception

The event received generally positive reviews, with most commenters praising the undercard (particularly the Last Man Standing match between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens) and noting a marked improvement in the titular match from the 2014 and 2015 events.[2][3] Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com wrote that the opening match for the Intercontinental Championship was "an awesome spectacle, with really good psychology mixed in" as "it felt like they hated each other". Scherer added that the tag title match was "a lot of fun", and the United States title match "good, if you can appreciate Lucha", otherwise "a lot of Kalisto's offense isn't believable". Scherer expressed mild disappointment towards the Divas Championship match, writing that it was not an "NXT style match", and described Ric Flair forcibly kissing Becky Lynch as "sexual assault". For the Royal Rumble match, Scherer noted that the booking of the match failed to help Roman Reigns, writing that "Vince thought he booked [the Rumble] for the people to cheer for Reigns", but that "the Orlando crowd made Triple H the "face". Scherer added that he was not surprised at Triple H's entry and win of the main event.[17]

File:A.J. Styles Aug 2015.JPG
A.J. Styles, making his WWE pay-per-view debut, entered the Royal Rumble match at #3. Styles had briefly wrestled in WWE in 2002[18] before rising to stardom in NJPW, TNA and other promotions.

James Montgomery of Rolling Stone wrote that "the Royal Rumble was an entertaining show, paced by the battle royal and bolstered by its undercard". He described the opening match as "a thoroughly entertaining I.C. battle" and the tag-team title match as "a creative match that had its moments, but hopefully signaled the end of this feud". He described the United States Championship bout as "a hard-hitting match that featured a great false finish", and expressed his desire for Kalisto to have an extended run with the championship. For the Royal Rumble match, Montgomery wrote that it was a "pretty good Rumble. Storylines began and advanced." He described the arrival of AJ Styles as "surreal" and praised Dean Ambrose's performance, writing that "his future appears to be brightening by the minute". However, he expressed disappointment at the use of Brock Lesnar in the match and added that "Triple H's victory at the Royal Rumble will no doubt cool some folks' reactions to the event as a whole".[3]

James Caldwell of PWTorch.com praised the Intercontinental Championship match, writing: "What a match. Just a non-stop battle capturing the story of this feud" and rating it as 4 and a quarter stars out of five. Caldwell rated the tag-team title match at 2 and a quarter stars out of five, describing it as "an up-and-down match with the main issue of no reason to view New Day as heels". He gave the United States Championship match 2 and three-quarters out of 5, calling it as a "solid, unspectacular singles match", and wrote that the Divas Championship match "was more of a bridge to what was next" in reference to the appearance of Sasha Banks. Caldwell gave the Rumble main event 3 and three-quarters out of 5, commenting that there were "overall, too many downpoints for this year's Rumble hurting some up-points". He wrote that "the Rumble started really well, got ridiculous in the middle with the now-annual compromise of the Rumble, and ended with the crowd not sure what to do with the players in the mix outside of Ambrose".[19]

Will Pruett of Pro Wrestling Dot Net described the event as "a delightful show from beginning to end". The Rumble match was described as "very fun" and the best since 2010. Pruett raised questions over the booking of Roman Reigns, noting that he "failed to truly be heroic" twice at the event. In comparison, Pruett felt that Triple H came across as "the conquering hero" and "avenging party" in the storyline against Reigns. Regarding Dean Ambrose, Pruett felt he "was presented as more of a star on this show than he has been in a long time", commenting that "unlike Roman Reigns, who walked away, Ambrose fought hard and still kept fighting to the end". He described the opening match between Ambrose and Owens as "insane". Pruett wrote that AJ Styles, in his "debut", "instantly seemed like he fit on the roster", although was "not presented in the upper echelon of WWE". For other matches, Pruett called Kalisto's win "a major surprise"; while lamenting that "the lines of the WWE women's division were blurred once again" as to who fans should support between Sasha Banks and Charlotte after their post-match antics.[2]

Some reviewers were more critical of the event. John Powell of Slam! Wrestling rated the show 6 out of 10, expressing his disappointment in the outcome of the main event match which he felt represented WWE "going out of their way to frustrate fans and keep their product in a continued state of uninspired monotony". Powell rated the Rumble match 6 out of 10, claiming that it "had its moments here and there" but also noting inconsistencies with the past 28 Rumbles, such as allowing Roman Reigns to rejoin after "missing the majority of the match". The Intercontinental title match was the best rated on the show at 8.5 out of 10, and was described as a "very brutal affair with Owens and Ambrose hammering each other into oblivion with chairs, kendo sticks and tables". The tag title match was called "standard, hum-drum" and rated 5 out of 10; the United States title match was "a classic David versus Goliath encounter", rated 6 out of 10, and the women's title match was described as "unexceptional" with a poor ending, rated 3 out of 10. The pre-show match was also rated 3 out of 10, described as a "snorefest" and a "mess". Lastly, Powell described AJ Styles' "debut" as "one of the highlights of the night", and noted the positive crowd responses to Becky Lynch and Damien Sandow.[20]

WWE Hall of Famer Bret 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".[21]

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 good Rumble should": firstly helping to "advance or create undercard storylines heading into Wrestlemania", secondly helping to "generate a handful of legitimate title contenders for the year to follow": Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens and A.J. Styles. For the negatives, Johnson highlighted storyline irregularities: Triple H winning cleanly without any "underhanded advantage"; Reigns "voluntarily" leaving a title match, returning later "not selling any injuries whatsoever", the League of Nations not eliminating Reigns; and no Lesnar rampage post-elimination.[22]

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[23][24]
1P Mark Henry and Jack Swagger defeated Darren Young and Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) Fatal 4-Way tag team match to qualify for the Royal Rumble match[25] 7:58
2 Dean Ambrose (c) defeated Kevin Owens Last Man Standing match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[26] 20:50
3 The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (c) (with Xavier Woods) defeated The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) Tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship[27] 10:53
4 Kalisto defeated Alberto Del Rio (c) Singles match for the WWE United States Championship[28] 11:30
5 Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair) defeated Becky Lynch Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship[29] 11:40
6 Triple H won by last eliminating Dean Ambrose 30-man Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship[30] 1:01:42
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • P – indicates the match took place on the pre-show
Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by[30] Time[30] Eliminations[30]
1 Roman Reigns (c) 28 Triple H 59:48 5
2 Rusev 1 Roman Reigns 01:30 0
3 AJ Styles 11 Kevin Owens 28:58 2
4 Tyler Breeze 2 AJ Styles and Roman Reigns 01:18 0
5 Curtis Axel 3 AJ Styles 01:30 0
6 Chris Jericho 26 Dean Ambrose 51:20 1
7 Kane 9 Braun Strowman 19:07 1
8 Goldust 4 Titus O'Neil 06:18 0
9 Ryback 8 Big Show 12:37 0
10 Kofi Kingston 6 Chris Jericho 08:26 0
11 Titus O'Neil 7 Big Show 09:06 1
12 R-Truth 5 Kane 00:59 0
13 Luke Harper 19 Brock Lesnar 24:16 4
14 Stardust 14 Luke Harper 14:12 0
15 Big Show 10 Braun Strowman 04:58 2
16 Neville 13 Luke Harper 10:17 0
17 Braun Strowman 20 Brock Lesnar 18:01 5
18 Kevin Owens 12 Sami Zayn 04:58 1
19 Dean Ambrose 29 Triple H 29:57 1
20 Sami Zayn 16 Braun Strowman 04:55 1
21 Erick Rowan 17 Brock Lesnar 04:35 2
22 Mark Henry 15 Braun Strowman, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan 00:47 0
23 Brock Lesnar 21 09:31 4
24 Jack Swagger 18 Brock Lesnar 00:17 0
25 The Miz 22 Roman Reigns 08:55 0
26 Alberto Del Rio 23 07:02 0
27 Bray Wyatt 25 Triple H and Sheamus 11:25 0
28 Dolph Ziggler 24 Triple H 07:10 0
29 Sheamus 27 Roman Reigns 08:46 1
30 Triple H - Winner 09:03 4
  • (*) - Strowman, Harper and Rowan returned to the ring to eliminate Brock Lesnar, after they were eliminated by Lesnar.
  • (**) - The Miz stayed around ringside before officially entering the ring.
  • (***) - Sheamus was attacked by Roman Reigns before officially entering the ring.
  • (****)- The League of Nations attacked Roman Reigns making him stature out of match but in the end Reigns was back in the ring and attacked Sheamus

See also

References

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  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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