The 34th Royal Rumble took place inside the WWE Thunderdome and due to the pandemic, it was the first time that the event had no live fans. Be that as it may, an exceptional WWE Championship fight between Drew McIntyre and Goldberg, an over-the-top battle between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns, and two Rumble matches loaded with shock returns gave WWE fans plenty of value for their money
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24/7 Champion
R-Truth lost his place to Peter Rosenberg as the 24/7 Champion at Royal Rumble 2021. During the recap telecast of the Women’s Royal Rumble. R-Truth made his way to the panel to interrupt the conversation, which is something he is usually known for. With Truth’s back turned to the desk, Peter Rosenberg saw his moment and took R-Truth off with a low blow and pinned him down to become the new 24/7 Champion on his return to WWE.
Women’s Tag Team
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The Royal Rumble pay-per-view started with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match between former champions Asuka and Charlotte Flair and newly-crowned champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. With the Women’s Rumble match still to come people expected this one to be a clean and friendly battle but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Ric Flair showed up out of nowhere and meddled with the match and interruptions from Flair and Lacey Evans set up Jax and Baszler for the title win with Jax pinning Charlotte.
Women’s Royal Rumble
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After entering at #3, Bianca Belair won the Women’s’ Royal Rumble. The last three in the ring were Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair. Ripley and Belair paired up to get Charlotte out of the way. At that point, they fought to and fro for the last couple of moments, which were amazing. The initial part of the match revolved around Billie Kay, who entered the arena but not the ring, hanging out at the broadcaster’s work area and passing out her 8×10 to Jerry Lawler. As the ring piled up with stars like Shayna Baszler and Toni Storm, Kay attempted to persuade them to group with her, without much success. At last, shock participant Jillian Hall consented to be her accomplice and the two got out of the ring. This duo came to an end only after a long seven minutes when Kay betrayed her partner and eliminated Hall. With 13 participants in the ring, things heated up after the entry of Ripley and Charlotte at numbers 14 and 15. Lacey Evans at that point entered wearing Charlotte Flair’s robe – however she would later be wiped out by Baszler. Belair was somehow managing to survive in the ring as she and Rhea Ripley were the final two women in the ring. She made four eliminations in her long stay inside the ring ending in a close contest with Ripley with each coming close to near elimination. In the end, Belair, who entered at No 3, outlasted Ripley (No 14) which means that she will have a chance up against Asuka to win the Championship belt at Wrestle Mania 37.
Men’s Royal Rumble
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In the 33rd edition of the Royal Rumble, we witnessed the return of Edge, and a year later the superstar goes on to win the Royal Rumble despite being the first man into the ring. The WWE Hall of Famer created history by winning the Royal Rumble match for the second time in his career. He last won it a decade ago, in the year 2010. The action was down to Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Christian, and Edge. Strowman who was the last person to enter the ring seemed likely to win the match but was eliminated by the famed duo of Edge and Christian. Rollins saw an opportunity and eliminated Christian before getting thrown out of the ring by Edge. Randy Orton, who was away from the ring, tried to come in and settle the game with an RKO but Edge managed way out of it and won the Royal Rumble. The R rated superstar made 3 eliminations during his long 58-minute stay inside the ring. This year we also witnessed the returns of legends like Kane, Hurricane, and Carlito. Kane also hugged his former tag team partner Daniel Bryan before finishing him off with a chokeslam. Edge will now face either Drew McIntyre or Roman Reigns at Wrestle Mania 37.
WWE Universal Title
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Roman Reigns retained his title after defeating Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match at Royal Rumble 2021. During the match, the champ utilized his superman punches to the most despite the Canadian wrestler coming back into the fight over and over again. Reign kept going with the punches putting a lot of damage to Owen’s head. Before the match, when Owen went to the ring, Roman Reigns tried to spear him but ended up receiving a powerbomb. Both were wrestling outside the ring at one point, however, Reigns rapidly tossed Owens into the steel step giving him the upper hand and then hammered him with a spear. Roman was frustrated as Kevin managed to dodge a couple of shots from Reigns but soon got caught up by the bar on his face but again managed to kick out. Reigns then slammed the steel chair into his opponent’s back. Kevin had handcuffed Reigns so the champion pushed the referee and gave Kevin Owens a low blow after which he pinned him down and won the match to retain his title.
WWE Championship
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The WWE championship match ended with the two giants, Drew Mckintire and Goldberg shaking hands as a display of mutual respect. Goldberg believes that Drew McIntyre is a true champion as he becomes one of the greats to defend a title against Goldberg. The match started in an unorthodox way when Goldberg tried to spear Mcintire before the encounter but was met by a claymore. The Scottish warrior was then put into the barricade by a spear after which he demanded a clear start to the match. After the bell rung, he received two spears and a jackhammer from the angry Goldberg but it wasn’t enough to end the fight. The Champion then was about to receive a claymore which could have ended things there but he got out of the way and reversed the attack with a claymore kick which was enough for Drew Mckintire to defend his title against Goldberg.
[Image Credit: WWE]
Shashank Iyer