Randy Orton. Photo by WWE.com
In one of the most intriguing Royal Rumble matches in recent history, Randy Orton came out of nowhere and won the 30-man battle royal Monday (Manila time) at Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Viper reversed Roman Reigns’ Spear to an RKO and clotheslined him over the top rope. He now earned an opportunity to main event WrestleMania in April.
Orton entered at number 23 and worked for the majority of the match with his cohort Bray Wyatt as they got to the final three, along with Reigns, the 30th entrant in the match.
It was Orton’s second Rumble victory after winning it in 2009.
It was an interesting Rumble match which featured Braun Strowman wreaking havoc early, Goldberg eliminating rival Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker dumping Goldberg, and Reigns sending the Deadman out.
There was only one surprise entry in the match with NXT callup Tye Dillinger coming in at number 10.
In the night’s other matches, John Cena won his 16th WWE Championship after hitting AJ Styles with a pair of Attitude Adjustments.
It was Cena’s first win over Styles in a one-on-one match, which also allowed him to tie WWE legend Ric Flair’s world championship record.
Kevin Owens remained as the WWE Universal Champion after Braun Strowman interfered and chokeslammed challenger Roman Reigns to the announce table and powerslammed him to another table.
United States Champion Chris Jericho was locked inside a shark cage above the ring, but was still able to help The Prizefighter as he dropped a brass knuckle which Owens used to Superman Punch Reigns.
Reigns, though, would push Owens to a pyramid of steel chairs before powerbombing him to the announce table. But just as the Big Dog was waiting for a Spear, Strowman interjected himself to the match and allowed Owens to score the pinfall.
Charlotte also retained her Raw Women’s Championship after dropping Bayley with a Natural Selection on the ring apron.
Neville also proved that he was the true King of the Cruiserweights, submitting Rich Swann to the Rings of Saturn to capture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
In the kickoff show, Nia Jax beat Sasha Banks after nailing her with a Pop-Up Samoan drop.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson also claimed the Raw Tag Team Championship, topping Cesaro and Sheamus after Anderson rolled Cesaro up and held his tights to score the three-count.
Naomi, Becky Lynch, and Nikki Bella defeated SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya after Naomi pinned Bliss after a split-legged moonsault.