The Royal Rumble is one of most highly anticipated Pay Per View events in WWE every year and the 2017 version certainly did not disappoint. After a few disappointing Pay Per Views towards the end of last year, the WWE really took things to another level at the Royal Rumble, leaving a lot of fans in shock as to the results of matches, especially the winner of the Royal Rumble, was not expected.
Also read: Womens vs Men's matches to return to WWE in 2017?
There were 5 championships on the line and also the highly anticipated 30 man Royal Rumble which would see the likes of Brock Lesner, Goldberg and The Undertaker get into the ring to battle it out for a world championship match at WrestleMania 33.
Here are the results for all the matches
Prior to the start of the main matches at the Royal Rumble, there were three kickoff matches, including a title defense for Cesaro and Sheamus as they put their WWE Raw Tag Team Championship on the line against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
- Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella & Naomi def. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya via pinfall
- Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. Cesaro & Sheamus (c) via pinfall to become the new WWE Raw Tag Team Champions
- Nia Jax def. Sasha Banks via pinfall
Royal Rumble results
4. Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Bayley via pinfall to retain her WWE Raw Women's Championship
Charlotte started the match strong, but Bayley was quick to respond and she almost got the three count early in the match after she hit Charlotte with a Macho Man-inspired elbow drop. Following that move, Charlotte was busted open on her mouth and she locked in the Figure Four Leg Lock and then converted it to her signature Figure Eight but after taking assistance from the rope the referee broke them apart.
Bayley then countered with a moonsault from Charlotte by bringing her knee in the way which only resulted in her injuring it. Charlotte did not care a bit and she went on to attack that knee of Bayley. Charlotte then hit her with a Natural Selection on the apron to pick up the win and now has a 16-0 record in women's championship title defenses at pay-per-views.
5. Kevin Owens (c) defeated Roman Reigns via pinfall to retain his WWE Universal Championship
Before the match could start, Owens and Chris Jericho attacked Reigns, but Roman quickly turned things around and put Jericho into the shark cage that was set to hang above the ring.
The match continued amongst the crowd and then outside the ring, before Owens picked up a little momentum and hit an incredible frog splash onto Reigns through a table. In an attempt to help his friend, Jericho threw some brass knuckles to Owen who used it to hit a superman punch but only managed a two count.
Reigns gained some momentum as the match progressed hitting Owens with a Samoan drop through the chair and followed that up with a superman punch of his own but only got a two count. A surprise move from this match was that Owes hit Reigns with a Stone Cold Stunner.
As the match continued, Reigns was lining up Owens for a spear to finish the match off and that's when Braun Strowman appeared from the crowd and pulled Reigns outside of the ring. He choke slammed Reigns through the announce table then power slammed him through a table in the ring and Owens got the cover just in time to retain his WWE Universal Championship.
6. Neville defeated Rich Swann (c) by submission to become the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion
Neville has become a fan favourite ever since he joined the WWE with his highflying moves and this cruiserweight match was certainly one of the best since the division returned to the WWE. Neville dominated most of the match, but after Swan hit a Swan Song super kick followed by a Phoenix Splash to the outside of the ring he turned things in his favour.
Neville got things back in control after he hit a superplex off the top rope and then locked in the double-arm choker as Rich Swann tapped out.
7. John Cena defeated AJ Styles (c) via pinfall to become the new WWE Champion
After a slow start to the match, both superstars took things to the next level. AJ Styles got things going as he countered an Argentine backbreaker into a torture rack into a spinning sit-down power bomb. John Cena then came back strong and hit his first of many Attitude Adjustment finishers and Styles followed that up with a Phenomenal Forearm and Cena turned an Electric Chair into a Face Buster and all of this only resulted in a two count.
Both wrestlers then turned to submissions in the hope of getting their opponent to tap out. Styles started off by locking Cena with a calf crusher but Cena managed to reverse that into an STF and then Styles locked Cena in his own STF which Cena turned into a Figure Four Leg lock.
After a lot of submission manoeuvres, Cena went to the top rope but Styles hit him with a power bomb and then the Styles clash but only managed a two count.
With Cena a bit frustrated at this point, he went for another Attitude Adjustment but Styles countered it into a Styles Clash but was too tired to get the cover allowing Cena time to recover.
Styles then went to the top rope for another Phenomenal Forearm but Cena caught him and hit him with a Attitude Adjustment and instead of pinning him he hit him with another Attitude Adjustment and finally managed to get the three count as John Cena became the second man in history to win 16 world titles.
8. The 30 man Royal Rumble was won by Randy Orton who eliminated Roman Reigns to book his shot for a chance world championship match at WrestleMania 33.
It was a huge surprise as Randy Orton managed to get the win in the Royal Rumble match. Prior to the 30 man Royal Rumble, a lot of WWE fans had predicted that The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar or Goldberg would emerge as the winner, but it was not to be.
Despite The Undertaker, Brock Lesner and Goldberg entering the ring after Randy Orton, The Viper managed to stick in there to get the win. The likes of Braun Strowman, Big Show and Mark Henry and all the other big wrestlers got eliminated early on in the match.
Roman Reigns was the last contestant to enter the ring and despite being on the back end of a rather unfair fight, he managed to put up one against Randy Orton, but eventually he gave in as Orton was able to eliminate him to become the winner of the 2017 Royal Rumble.
