Royal Rumble(2017)

Royal Rumble(2017) was a pay-per-view that took place on January 29th, 2017, live from El Paso, Texas. The event featured both the Raw and SmackDown brands, and was main evented by the 30-Man Royal Rumble match.



Background
This was the first pay-per-view in the series to bear the Royal Rumble name, and to hold a Royal Rumble match. It was the fourth Power 5 pay-per-view of the series, and marked the official start of the Road to WrestleMania.

Most Royal Rumble entrants had to qualify for their spots, with Samoa Joe from Raw and Shinsuke Nakamura from SmackDown being the first two to be confirmed for the match. John Cena, The Dudley Boyz and Mark Henry all qualified for their spots on the January 9th edition of Raw, with The Undertaker also being confirmed to be in the match. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, The Social Outcasts and Cesaro also punched their tickets to the Royal Rumble a day later on SmackDown. Kevin Owens from Raw and Apollo Crews from SmackDown were announced to be participants before their match on Main Event. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns briefly reformed The Shield to qualify on January 16th, while Chris Jericho qualified as well after defeating Sami Zayn for the United States Title. Triple H and Shawn Michaels teamed up to earn their spots, with Fandango defeating Neville to qualify as well. Finally, Stardust, Kofi Kingston and Bray Wyatt qualified on January 23rd, while Enzo and Big Cass defeating The Dudley Boyz to take their spots. An Extreme Rules Match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn was announced for the event, with the winner entering the Royal Rumble. Randy Orton and Braun Strowman were the last two men to qualify from SmackDown, with two suprise entrants rounding out the field.

After defeating Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Title at Armageddon, Brock Lesnar defeated Rusev to retain his title to close out 2016. The Beast demanded a serious challenge, and faced Goldberg, Bray Wyatt and Rusev in a three on one handicap match. Lesnar lost, forcing him to defend his title in a fatal four way match at the event. Tyler Breeze shocked the world when he defeated Tyson Kidd to win the WWE Title on the final SmackDown of 2016. Kidd would meet former champion AJ Styles in a number one contender's match a few weeks later, which would end in a draw. As a result, Daniel Bryan announced a triple threat title match for the Royal Rumble.

After losing the Intercontinental Title to The Miz at Armageddon thaks to Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin teamed with Apollo Crews to defeat Miz and Ziggler. The Lone Wolf would defeat Ziggler in a singles match a few weeks later to earn another shot at The Miz. Sasha Banks defeated Bayley to win the Raw Women's Title on the final episode of 2016. The new champ would suffer a loss instantly, as Bayley helped Nikki Bella to defeat Sasha. The Hugster would defeat Nikki herself the next week, but it was Nikki who would stand tall, taking out Sasha after the match, before Shane McMahon announced a triple threat at the event. Finally, The Revival would earn a shot at the WWE Tag Team Titles after defeating the champions American Alpha in a non-title match.

Event
Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to keep his Royal Rumble spot to open the show, while Baron Corbin became a three-time Intercontinental Champion when he finally pinned The Miz. Goldberg pinned Rusev with a Jackhammer to win the World Heavyweight Title, and Bayley pinned Nikki Bella to win back the Raw Women's Title. American Alpha would make the only successful defense of the night, Jason Jordan pinning Dash Wilder. AJ Styles became a two-time WWE Champion when he defeated Tyson Kidd with a Styles Clash to mark the fourth title change of the night.

In the main event, it would be Samoa Joe, who entered at number 28, eliminating John Cena, who entered at number 30, to win the Royal Rumble match and headline WrestleMania.