Royal Rumble 2008 Royal Rumble 2008 was the twenty - first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on January 27 , 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City , New York and featured talent from the Raw , SmackDown and ECW brands . The event was also the first WWE pay - per - view broadcast in high definition . As has been customary since 1993 , the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year ' s WrestleMania , ( in this instance : WrestleMania XXIV ) for his choice at either the WWE Championship , the World Heavyweight Championship , or the ECW World Championship . Five professional wrestling matches were featured on the event ' s supercard , a scheduling of more than one main event . The main event was the annual 30 - man Royal Rumble match , which featured wrestlers from all three brands . John Cena , the thirtieth entrant , won the match by last eliminating Triple H , the twenty - ninth entrant . The predominant match on the Raw brand was Randy Orton versus Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship , which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO . The primary match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Edge won by pinfall after spearing Mysterio in mid - air . The featured matches on the undercard were Montel Vontavious Porter versus Ric Flair in a Career Threatening match and John " Bradshaw " Layfield versus Chris Jericho . Background . Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre - existing scripted feuds , plots , and storylines that were played out on " Raw " , " Friday Night SmackDown " , and " ECW on Sci Fi " – World Wrestling Entertainment ' s ( WWE ) primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension , and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches . The event featured wrestlers from WWE ' s Raw , SmackDown , and ECW brands – a storyline division in which WWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name . The main feud on the " Raw " brand was between the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton , with the two feuding over the WWE Championship , which was held by Orton . Orton retained the title at Armageddon against the returning Chris Jericho after being disqualified , when the then - " SmackDown ! " broadcaster John " Bradshaw " Layfield ran - in , and booted Jericho in the head . Orton retained the championship , as a result , due to titles not changing hands on disqualifications . On the same night earlier , Jeff Hardy had defeated Triple H to earn the opportunity to face Orton at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship . The following night , on the December 17 , 2007 edition of " Raw " , Hardy teamed up with Shawn Michaels to take on Orton and Mr . Kennedy . Hardy gained advantage over Orton , and pinned the champion after a Swanton Bomb to earn the victory for himself and Michaels . Two weeks later , on the last " Raw " of 2007 , Hardy and Orton met face - to - face in an in - ring segment . Orton looked set to RKO Hardy , but Hardy countered , and delivered the Twist of Fate to Orton . Later in the night , Hardy looked set to defeat Santino Marella , until Orton appeared on the " Raw " TitanTron and stated that he had kicked Jeff ' s brother Matt where his appendix used to be , proceeding further to punt him in the head . The following week on a special " Raw Roulette " edition of " Raw " , Hardy defended his Intercontinental Championship against Umaga in a Steel Cage match . Hardy managed to overcome the odds in the Cage , jumping off the top of the cage onto Umaga and hitting a Whisper in the Wind to defeat Umaga . On the January 14 , 2008 edition of " Raw " , Hardy agreed to face Orton that night with his Intercontinental Championship on the line . However , as soon as the bell rang for the match , Orton immediately low - blowed Hardy , getting himself disqualified . Orton tried to deliver an RKO to Hardy on the concrete floor outside that he had exposed by removing the black floor padding , but Hardy retaliated and the two began to brawl up the ramp . When Orton looked set to kick Hardy in the head , the Intercontinental Champion countered and back - dropped Orton onto the arena floor below . Hardy then climbed 30 - feet above on the " Raw " set , and then Swanton Bombed off the side of the set onto Orton below . The following week on " Raw " , Hardy and Orton were scheduled to " shake hands " , but Hardy instead shook the hands of " people he respected more than Orton " , like Lilian Garcia , Jerry Lawler , Jim Ross , and several fans in the crowd before re - entering the ring to confront Orton . A frustrated Orton ordered Hardy to shake hands with him , but Hardy performed a Twist of Fate on the WWE Champion instead . The main feud on the " SmackDown " brand was between Rey Mysterio and Edge with the two feuding over the latter ' s World Heavyweight Championship . Mysterio won a Beat the Clock Challenge on the January 4 , 2008 edition of " SmackDown ! " defeating Edge with 90 seconds to go , and securing an opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble . The rivalry between Chris Jericho and John " Bradshaw " Layfield started in Jericho ' s WWE Championship match against the defending champion , Randy Orton , at Armageddon . During the match , Orton whipped Jericho over the " SmackDown ! " announce table straight into JBL . As Jericho tried to get up , he ended up " nudging " JBL out of his way . Later in the match , Jericho had Orton trapped in the Walls of Jericho , when , JBL stormed into the ring and gave a kick to Jericho ' s face , thus giving the win to Jericho , but via disqualification , and hence , Jericho did not win the WWE Championship . This led to an argument the next night on " Raw " , where Jericho , who was angry about not becoming the new WWE Champion , ended up stating to JBL , who confronted Y2J via satellite from the " Raw " TitanTron , that " John , you are no longer a wrestling god , you ' re a wrestling afterthought " . Afterward , JBL gave his farewell address as " SmackDown " color commentator on the December 21 , 2007 airing of " Friday Night SmackDown " and announced his return as an active wrestler on " Raw " . When JBL made his return to " Raw " on December 31 , entering in his personal limousine with balloons and confetti shooting from the ceiling , and proceeded to address the crowd , Jericho quickly interrupted his promo and the two got engaged in a brawl along the barricade . The following week , Jericho was put into a handicap match against Snitsky and JBL . The match started with Snitsky and Jericho in the ring , but , soon after Jericho hit a Springboard dropkick on Snitsky , JBL came into the ring and attacked Jericho from behind . JBL get the better of this confrontation as he hit Jericho on the head with the ring bell and tied a cable wire around his neck . JBL then dragged Jericho , by the wire , from near the ring to the " Raw " set , where he assaulted him some more . Jericho suffered from a bruised larynx , burns around his neck , and had difficulty speaking for a week . Prior to the annual Royal Rumble match , several qualifying matches for the match took place on Raw . The first qualifying match was on the December 31 , 2007 edition of " Raw " as Umaga quickly defeated Jim Duggan to earn a place in the Rumble . Snitsky also defeated Drew McIntyre at a house show in White Plains , New York to also qualify for the Royal Rumble . Triple H failed to beat Ric Flair ; therefore he was no longer allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble match , per the order of Raw General Manager William Regal . After Triple H destroyed part of the lower TitanTron on the January 14 " Raw " , however , Vince McMahon announced he would allow Triple H a second chance at the Royal Rumble if he could defeat his opponent on the January 21 edition of " Raw " . The Game defeated Snitsky , Mark Henry , and William Regal in a gauntlet match to gain entry . Event . Before the event went live on pay - per - view , Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang defeated Deuce ' n Domino in a dark match . The first match that aired was a non - title " Career Threatening " match between the WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter ( MVP ) and Ric Flair , in which had Flair lost , he would have had to retire from wrestling . At the start of the match , Flair started out working on MVP ' s left arm . Flair attempted to get the Figure - Four Leg lock on MVP , but MVP turned it into a small package for a two count . MVP knocked out Flair with a Running Big Boot in the corner and went for a pin , but Flair managed to get his foot on the rope just in time when the referee Charles Robinson counted to three . After the three count , the referee did not call for the bell as he had noticed Flair ' s leg on the bottom - rope and restarted the match . The match ended when MVP tried going for the Playmaker , but Flair countered the attempt into the Figure - Four Leg Lock , to which MVP eventually tapped out . Hence , Flair won and kept his career alive . The second match was between John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) and Chris Jericho . The match began with Jericho trapping Layfield in the Walls of Jericho . JBL got to the ropes , however , and slid out of the ring with Jericho quickly following him . JBL strangled Jericho with the ring ropes and later , plunged him onto the ropes . Jericho recovered and clotheslined JBL out of the ring . When they got in again , JBL threw Jericho into the ring post , as a result of which , Jericho was busted open . JBL tried to take advantage of this situation , but Jericho still fought back . The fight went outside the ring , where JBL began clearing the " ECW " announce table . Jericho grabbed a steel chair and hit Layfield with it . The referee immediately disqualified Jericho , who ignored the fact that he had lost the match and started to strangle JBL with some wires by the ring , in the same process Layfield did to Jericho on " Raw " . The third match was for the World Heavyweight Championship with champion , Edge taking on Rey Mysterio . During the match , Vickie Guerrero stood up from her wheelchair , attempting to comfort Edge . Mysterio had Edge set up for the 619 , and Vickie jumped in the way , risking herself . Edge then recovered , and speared Mysterio for the pinfall . The fourth match was between the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton for the latter ' s WWE Championship . Early in the match , Hardy performed a Baseball Slide on Orton who hit head - first into the barricade outside due to the impact . Knowing he couldn ' t win the WWE Championship via a countout victory , Hardy brought the knocked - out Orton into the ring . Later , Orton took advantage in the match , as he applied a Body Scissors on Hardy , followed by a choke - hold . Some of the other main highlights of the match were Hardy performing a Whisper in the Wind on Orton that hit him on the head ; and , later hitting a Moonsault from the top - rope to Orton outside the ring . When Hardy brought Orton back in the ring and tried to deliver a Twist of Fate , Orton suddenly reversed it into an RKO and pinned Hardy to retain his WWE title . The main event was the Royal Rumble match . The first two superstars who began the match were Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker ( who were the final two superstars in the previous year ' s Royal Rumble ) where they remained in the match for a little over 30 minutes . During the match Michaels eliminated Shelton Benjamin for the third consecutive royal rumble match . The ninth entrant , Hornswoggle was the smallest wrestler to ever compete in the rumble match , and eliminate another superstar . He remained hidden under the ring throughout the match . He would however assist in eliminating The Miz ; as he did this , Mark Henry and Big Daddy V grabbed Hornswoggle . As they prepared to throw him over the top rope , Finlay illegally entered the match , as he was not due to enter the match yet , and hit Henry and Big Daddy V with a shillelagh . He then left alongside Hornswoggle and it was later announced that Finlay was disqualified for using the shillelagh , and Hornswoggle was eliminated ( leaving the match with Finlay ) . The twenty sixth entry , Chavo Guerrero , was the first world champion wrestler to compete in the Royal Rumble match since 1990 , when Hulk Hogan won the match . Triple H , the twenty ninth entrant , dominated as he entered the match , eliminating Big Daddy V , Batista , Mick Foley , and Kane . This was Kane ' s tenth consecutive Royal Rumble match , which is a record . The turn of the Royal Rumble match came when John Cena , who was originally scheduled to be sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle until later in the year , entered the match as the thirtieth entrant making his " triumphant return " . He set a record for the shortest time that the eventual winner spent in the rumble match . He spent 8 : 28 in the ring , passing Brock Lesnar ' s record of 8 : 59 . He ended up squaring off with Triple H , as the final two men left in the match . Triple H would attempt to Pedigree Cena , but Cena would counter it into an FU that saw him throw Triple H over the top rope , thus winning the Royal Rumble match and a World Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV .