Royal Rumble (2016)

**Royal Rumble (2016)** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming show made by WWE. It took place on January 24, 2016, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was the 29th Royal Rumble event held by WWE. In the main event match, Triple H won his second Royal Rumbe match and his ninth WWE World Heavyweight Championship (his 14th world championship overall). The match also featured the WWE debut of AJ Styles, who previously was a top star in WWE's rival promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

## Background

As is the case every year since the event's beginning, the event's main event was the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal, also known as the Royal Rumble match. The match started with two wrestlers and a new one was added every 90 seconds. To eliminate an opposing wrestler he must be thrown over the top rope and have _both_ his two feet hit the floor, this continued until there was only one man left, who was named the winner.

The Royal Rumble match was originally announced with the usual stipulation, which would have seen the winner receive WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 32. However, as a reaction to champion Roman Reigns attacking Triple H at the end of TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and disrespecting WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon and his family over the following weeks, McMahon decided on the January 5 episode of _Raw_ that Reigns had to defend his title in the Royal Rumble match. Two weeks later, Reigns was forced to enter the match as the number one entrant.

### Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

- – **NXT**

- – **Winner**

|Draw|Entrant|Order|Eliminated by|Times|Eliminations||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Roman Reigns (c)|28|Triple H|59:48|5||
|2|Rusev|1|Roman Reigns|0|0||
|3|AJ Styles|11|Kevin Owens|28:58|2||
|4|Tyler Breeze|2|Roman Reigns and AJ Styles||0||
|5|Curtis Axel|3|AJ Styles|0|0||
|6|Chris Jericho|26|Dean Ambrose|51:20|1||
|7|Kane|9|Braun Strowman|19:07|1||
|8|Goldust|4|Titus O'Neil|0|0||
|9|Ryback|8|Big Show|12:37|0||
|10|Kofi Kingston|6|Chris Jericho|0|0||
|11|Titus O'Neil|7|Big Show|0|1||
|12|R-Truth|5|Kane|0|0||
|13|Luke Harper|19|Brock Lesnar|24:16|4||
|14|Stardust|14|Luke Harper|14:12|0||
|15|Big Show|10|Braun Strowman|0|2||
|16|Neville|13|Luke Harper|10:17|0||
|17|Braun Strowman|20|Brock Lesnar|18:01|5||
|18|Kevin Owens|12|Sami Zayn|0|1||
|19|Dean Ambrose|29|Triple H|29:57|1||
|20|Sami Zayn|16|Braun Strowman|0|1||
|21|Erick Rowan|17|Brock Lesnar|0|2||
|22|Mark Henry|15|rowspan="2"|The Wyatt Family (Braun Strowman, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper)|0|0|
|23|Brock Lesnar|21|0|4|||
|24|Jack Swagger|18|Brock Lesnar|0|0||
|25|The Miz|22|rowspan="2"|Roman Reigns|0|0|
|26|Alberto Del Rio|23|0|0|||
|27|Bray Wyatt|25|Sheamus and Triple H|11:25|0||
|28|Dolph Ziggler|24|Triple H|0|0||
|29|Sheamus|27|Roman Reigns|0|1||
|**30**|**Triple H**|****|**Winner**|**0**|**4**||

## Infobox (wrestling event)

- **name**: Royal Rumble (2016)
- **promotion**: WWE
- **date**: January 24, 2016
- **attendance**: 15,170
- **venue**: Amway Center
- **city**: Orlando, Florida
- **lastevent**: NXT TakeOver: London
- **nextevent**: Fastlane (2016)
- **event**: Royal Rumble
- **lastevent2**: Royal Rumble (2015)
- **nextevent2**: Royal Rumble (2017)