Royal Rumble is regarded as the second-most important World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) pay-per-view in a year, only next to Wrestlemania. Inaugurated in the year 1988, Royal Rumble has traditionally seen a rumble match, in which 30 superstars enter the ring to earn the coveted opportunity of earning a world title shot at the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’, Wrestlemania. As per the rules, two wrestlers start the fight, and after every 90 seconds, one superstar keeps entering the ring. A wrestler is eliminated when he is thrown from top of the rope, and both his feet touch down the ground. The last man standing in the ring wins the Royal Rumble. Several superstars including The Rock, CM Punk, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, and John Cena have all won the presitigious event. This year, though, things could be slightly different.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who has been away from the ring since Survivor Series, where he successfully defended his title against Rey Mysterio, made a return on this week’s episode of Raw, along with his manager-cum-advocate Paul Heyman to make an unprecedented announcement for the Royal Rumble.
Addressing the WWE Universe, Heyman said that his client will enter the Royal Rumble this year as champion and put his title on the line against 30-men. He also added that he will enter as the no. 1 entrant in the rumble. Traditionally, the winner of the rumble gets a title shot at Wrestlemania’s main event, so it remains to be seen how this storyline will turn out.
UNPRECEDENTED.@HeymanHustle just announced that #WWEChampion @BrockLesnar is entering the Men's #RoyalRumble Match…and he's doing it as the No. 1️⃣ ENTRANT! #RAW pic.twitter.com/CzDfsQjkyD
— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2020
This is only the second time in history that a title will be defended inside Royal Rumble. It happened back in 2016 when Roman Reigns put his WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line, but at that time, it was a part of the storyline in which Reigns was forced to do so by Triple H and The Authority. Triple H, eventually, entered the rumble at no. 30 in 2016 and won the Royal Rumble and the world title.
This time around, though, Lesnar is not facing any such obstacle, but instead is choosing to do so on his own. No wrestler has ever put his title on the line willingly at Royal Rumble. Heyman says that Lesnar wants to dominate over the entire locker room and this is his plan to do so. It will be interesting to see if the Beast manages to retain his title at the Royal Rumble, and goes on to enter Wrestlemania as the Universal Champion. Several other wrestlers have also announced their participation in this year’s Royal Rumble including Roman Reigns, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet and Drew McIntyre.
