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Royal Rumble (2020)

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Royal Rumble (2020)
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
DateJanuary 26, 2020
CityHouston, Texas
VenueMinute Maid Park
WWE Network event chronology
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NXT TakeOver: Portland
Royal Rumble chronology
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—

Royal Rumble (2020) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It will take place on January 26, 2020 at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.[1][2][3] It will be the thirty-third event under the Royal Rumble chronology.

Production

Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view, produced every January by WWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four".[4] It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. Both the men's and women's matches generally feature 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2020, the men and women can choose to challenge for either brand's top championship at WrestleMania 36: the men have their choice between Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while the women can choose either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship. 2020 will be the thirty-third event in the Royal Rumble chronology and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.[5][6]

Storylines

The show will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[7][8] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[9]

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 two world championships that the winner can challenge for at WrestleMania 36.[10]

At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defeated the team of Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[11] 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.[12] The following week, Lynch challenged Asuka to a match with her Raw Women's Championship on the line which Asuka accepted.[13] The match was scheduled for the Royal Rumble.[14]

SmackDown

At Survivor Series, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship.[15] On the following SmackDown, after Bryan accepted another rematch for the title at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The Fiend appeared and attacked Bryan, ripping out his hair.[16] The Miz, who had been intertwined in the feud, appeared the following week and said that Bryan had not been seen since The Fiend's attack and in turn became Wyatt's opponent in a non-title match at TLC,[17] where Wyatt (as his Firefly Fun House character and not The Fiend) defeated Miz. Following the match, a hooded figure attacked Wyatt and then revealed himself as a returning Bryan, now with a buzz cut and shorter beard.[11] On the following SmackDown, both Bryan and Miz stated their desire to take the Universal Championship from Wyatt due to their respective personal issues with him. They were then interrupted by King Corbin, who felt that he deserved an opportunity for the title due to his victory over Roman Reigns at TLC.[18] On the December 27 episode, Bryan defeated Miz and Corbin in a triple threat match to earn another Universal Championship match against The Fiend at the Royal Rumble.[19] On the January 17 episode, after The Fiend confronted Bryan's old tag team partner Kane, Bryan appeared and delivered a running knee to The Fiend, who retreated. Frustrated, Bryan decided to change the stipulation of their match to a strap match.[20]

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.[19] The following week, Reigns announced his participation in the Royal Rumble match. Later that night, Reigns teamed with Daniel Bryan to face Corbin and Dolph Ziggler which ended in a no-contest. Following the match, Corbin and Ziggler attacked Reigns only for The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) to return and aid Reigns by attacking both Corbin and Ziggler.[21] On the January 10 episode, Corbin announced his participation in the Royal Rumble match and stated that Reigns was scared to face him again, hence why Reigns was also competing in the match. In response, Reigns challenged Corbin to a rematch at the event which Corbin accepted.[22] On the January 17 episode, a tables match between Reigns and the returning Robert Roode was contested with the winner deciding the stipulation for their match at the event. Reigns won and chose a Falls Count Anywhere match.[20]

On the SmackDown following Survivor Series, SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Team SmackDown women's captain 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.[16] The following week, Evans questioned Bayley's leadership as champion. Later, Banks confronted Evans after the latter's match, after which, Bayley ambushed Evans.[17] On the December 13 episode, Bayley dismissed Evans' comments and defeated Dana Brooke in a non-title match.[23] After Bayley defeated Brooke in a rematch the following week, she and Banks taunted Brooke until Evans came out and challenged Banks to a match which ended in a double countout.[18] On the December 27 episode, Bayley and Banks defeated Evans and Brooke in a tag team match.[19] Evans and Brooke then won a triple threat tag team match the following week also involving Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross with Brooke pinning Banks.[21] Evans was then scheduled to face Banks on the January 10 episode. Banks, however, no-showed and Bayley appeared on the TitanTron taunting Evans. In response, Evans went backstage where the two brawled.[22] 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.[20]

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.[16] 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 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.[21] 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.[20]

Matches

No.Matches*Stipulations
1Men's Royal Rumble match30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 36[24]
2Women’s Royal Rumble match30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women's championship match at WrestleMania 36[25]
3"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel BryanStrap match for the WWE Universal Championship[26]
4Becky Lynch (c) vs. AsukaSingles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship[27]
5Roman Reigns vs. King CorbinFalls Count Anywhere match[28]
6Shorty G vs. SheamusSingles match[29]
7Bayley (c) vs. Lacey EvansSingles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship[30]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

Announced competitors in the Men's Royal Rumble match

22 of the 30 entrants have been announced as of September 16, 2024.

Brand
  – Raw
  – SmackDown
Wrestler[24] Date Notes
Roman Reigns January 3, 2020 Announced on SmackDown
Brock Lesnar1 January 6, 2020 Announced on Raw and will enter the match at number 1
AJ Styles
Erick Rowan
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Ricochet
Drew McIntyre
Elias January 10, 2020 Announced on SmackDown
King Corbin
Dolph Ziggler
Otis
Tucker
Rusev January 13, 2020 Announced on Raw
Bobby Lashley
Aleister Black
Buddy Murphy
Braun Strowman January 17, 2020 Announced on SmackDown
Shinsuke Nakamura
Seth Rollins January 20, 2020 Announced on Raw
Kevin Owens
Samoa Joe
  • 1 – Lesnar will enter the match at #1.

Announced competitors in the Women's Royal Rumble match

4 of the 30 entrants have been announced as of September 16, 2024.

Brand
  – Raw
  – SmackDown
Wrestler[25] Date Notes
Charlotte Flair December 30, 2019 Announced on Raw
Alexa Bliss January 10, 2020 Announced on SmackDown
Nikki Cross
Sarah Logan January 13, 2020 Announced on her Twitter

References

  1. ^ Barron, David. "WWE's Royal Rumble coming to Minute Maid Park in 2020". Houston Chron. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  2. ^ "WWE Royal Rumble coming to Minute Maid Park in 2020". KHOU. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  3. ^ "Minute Maid Park to host WWE's Royal Rumble event in 2020". ABC13 Houston. February 18, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Ian. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. p. 160.
  5. ^ "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  6. ^ Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  7. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  8. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  9. ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Powell, Jason (January 6, 2020). "01/06 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of Brock Lesnar's return, Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio for the U.S. Championship, The Viking Raiders vs. The Street Profits vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a Triple Threat for the Raw Tag Titles, first show of 2020". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE TLC live review: The Kabuki Warriors vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs Asuka in a TLC match for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin in a TLC match, Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz, Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley in a tables match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  12. ^ Powell, Jason (December 16, 2019). "12/16 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and AOP alliance follow-up, the night after WWE TLC". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  13. ^ Powell, Jason (December 24, 2019). "12/23 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins for the U.S. Championship, Randy Orton and The Viking Raiders vs. AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson, Kevin Owens vs. Mojo Rawley in a No DQ match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  14. ^ Powell, Jason (December 30, 2019). "12/30 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of the Bobby Lashley and Lana wedding, Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy, the final Raw of 2019". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  15. ^ Powell, Jason (November 24, 2019). "WWE Survivor Series results: Powell's live review of Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio in a No Holds Barred match for the WWE Championship, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Bayley in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (November 29, 2019). "11/29 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of a new face in Bray Wyatt's Firefly Funhouse, New Day's open challenge for a Smackdown Tag Title match, Roman Reigns opening the show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  17. ^ a b Powell, Jason (December 6, 2019). "12/6 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler, four-way for a shot at the Smackdown Tag Titles, Bray Wyatt toys with The Miz". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  18. ^ a b Powell, Jason (December 20, 2019). "12/20 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review Big E and Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro in a non-title match, Bayley vs. Dana Brooke in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  19. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (December 27, 2019). "12/27 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin vs. The Miz for a WWE Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble, Lacey Evans on Alexa Bliss's talkshow". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  20. ^ a b c d Powell, Jason (January 17, 2020). "1/17 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. Robert Roode in a tables match, Bayley vs. Lacey Evans in a non-title match, Big E vs. John Morrison, Kane appearance". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  21. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (January 3, 2020). "1/3 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Lacey Evans and Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Barnett, Jake (January 10, 2020). "1/10 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Barnett's review of The Usos vs. King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison on Miz TV, Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  23. ^ Barnett, Jake (December 13, 2019). "12/13 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Barnett's review of the WWE TLC go-home show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  24. ^ a b "2020 Men's Royal Rumble Match". WWE. January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  25. ^ a b "2020 Women's Royal Rumble Match". WWE. December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  26. ^ Pappolla, Ryan (December 27, 2019). "Universal Champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan". WWE. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  27. ^ Benigno, Anthony. "Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka". WWE. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  28. ^ "Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (Falls Count Anywhere Match)". WWE. January 10, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  29. ^ "Shorty G vs. Sheamus". WWE. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  30. ^ Chik, Jon. "SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans". WWE. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
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