Royal Rumble 2006 Royal Rumble 2006 was the nineteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It was presented by Sony Computer Entertainment ' s " The Con " . It took place on January 29 , 2006 in the American Airlines Arena in Miami , Florida and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown ! brands . As has been customary since 1993 , the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year ' s WrestleMania , ( in this instance : WrestleMania 22 ) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship . Six professional wrestling matches were featured on the event ' s supercard , a scheduling of more than one main event . The primary match on the SmackDown ! brand was Kurt Angle versus Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Angle won after pinning Henry with a roll - up . The predominant match on the Raw brand was Edge versus John Cena for the WWE Championship , which Cena won after forcing Edge to submit to the STFU . The featured match on the undercard was the annual 30 - man Royal Rumble match , which featured wrestlers from both brands . Rey Mysterio , the second entrant , won the match by last eliminating Randy Orton , the thirtieth entrant . 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 " and " SmackDown ! " – 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 and SmackDown ! brands – a storyline division in which WWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name . The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw was between Edge and John Cena , with the two feuding over the WWE Championship . The feud started at New Year ' s Revolution when Cena won an Elimination Chamber also involving 5 other superstars . Immediately after the match , however , Vince McMahon came out and stated that Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania 21 . Edge then came out with Lita and , two spears later , he pinned Cena to become WWE Champion . Then the next night , Edge held a live sex celebration which got smashed up by Cena and Cena delivered an FU on Lita and sent a message to Edge . The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Smackdown ! brand was between Kurt Angle and Mark Henry over the World Heavyweight Championship . The World Heavyweight Championship was originally held by Batista . He defended the title against Henry at a " SmackDown ! " live event in a steel cage match . Henry was disqualified in the match and Batista retained the title but his triceps were injured . As a result , he was forced to vacate the title on the January 13 episode of " SmackDown ! " . Later on , a 20 - man battle royal was arranged to determine the new World Heavyweight Champion . Raw superstar Kurt Angle won the battle royal last eliminating Mark Henry and winning the vacant title thus also starting a rivalry between the two . This also made Angle leave Raw and move to SmackDown ! . The next week , Henry defeated Rey Mysterio to become the Number One Contender to Angle ' s title . Prior to the annual Royal Rumble match , several qualifying matches for the match took place on WWE ' s flagship television programs . The first three qualifying matches were held on the January 9 , 2006 edition of " Raw " . Chavo Guerrero defeated Rob Conway , Shelton Benjamin defeated Val Venis and Kane defeated Snitsky , meaning they had earned a place in the Rumble . A Battle Royal also took place on the January 16 , 2006 edition of " WWE Heat " in addition to a Singles match between Trevor Murdoch and Antonio Thomas , which Murdoch won . Event . Before the event went live on pay - per - view , Finlay defeated Brian Kendrick in a match that aired on " Heat " . The opening match was a 6 - Way Cruiserweight Open match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship which was held by Kid Kash at the time . He issued an open challenge to all previous Cruiserweight Champions for the title . Funaki , Jamie Noble , Nunzio , Paul London and Raw superstar Gregory Helms joined the match to challenge Kid Kash for the Cruiserweight Championship . A memorable spot from this match was Paul London hitting all of the challengers with a shooting star press . Gregory Helms caught and drove him to the mat with a vicious flying neckbreaker . Kid Kash seized the opportunity and nailed London with a Dead Level . He covered London but Nunzio and Funaki broke up the count . Noble held Funaki in the dragon sleeper . Helms attempted a shining wizard on Noble , but he avoided the move . Helms threw Noble out of the ring and then pinned Funaki after a shining wizard to win the Cruiserweight title . The second match was a divas match between Mickie James and Ashley Massaro . Trish Stratus was the Special Guest Referee for this match . Before the match started , Mickie told Trish backstage that she loved her . While the match started , Ashley worked over Mickie ' s arm . While Ashley pounded Mickie into the corner , Trish pulled Mickie . Mickie would later up work out on Ashley ' s back and neck . Ashley made a comeback in the match but finally Mickie powerbomb ed her to win the match . The third match was between The Boogeyman and John " Bradshaw " Layfield . JBL was supported by his valet Jillian Hall . In the match , JBL tried to do everything to measure out Boogeyman . Finally , JBL had Boogeyman measured and went for the Clothesline from Hell but he whiffed on the move and was sent crashing shoulder first into the post . Boogeyman nailed JBL with a pumphandle slam to win the match . After the match , he tried to throw worms in JBL ' s mouth but JBL threw his valet Jillian into the ring and Boogeyman threw worms in her mouth . The fourth match was the 2006 Royal Rumble match . Triple H drew as the No . 1 entrant while Rey Mysterio drew No . 2 . Mysterio and Triple H fought off each other in the beginning of the match . Later on , the two teamed up to eliminate No . 3 entrant Simon Dean . Mysterio eliminated No . 4 entrant Psicosis on his own . Ric Flair drew No . 5 but he made a mistake by charging Triple H near the ropes . Triple H simply sidestepped the charge and eliminated Flair from the match . No . 6 entrant was Big Show and No . 7 entrant was Jonathan Coachman . Coach was quickly eliminated with a swat of Big Show ' s hand . Bobby Lashley drew No . 8 while Big Show ' s World Tag Team Championship partner at the time , Kane drew No . 9 , while making made his tenth appearance in a Royal Rumble match , tying the record for most Royal Rumble appearances with Rikishi . It also marked his eighth consecutive appearance in the Royal Rumble as Kane , breaking the previous record of seven consecutive appearances held by himself , Owen Hart and Rick Martel . Big Show and Kane teamed up to eliminate Lashley and then the two targeted each other trying to eliminate each other at the ropes . Triple H took the advantage and eliminated both men from behind . In addition , Tatanka and Rob Van Dam returned to WWE television in this Royal Rumble match with Tatanka drawing No . 15 while RVD drawing No . 20 . RVD taking down all superstars in the ring ( except Mysterio ) . He went to eliminate Road Warrior Animal , Goldust , and later Carlito . Shawn Michaels entered No . 25 into the match and started attacking his enemies . He went on to eliminate Trevor Murdoch , Johnny Nitro and Shelton Benjamin . As Michaels eliminated Benjamin from the match , Mr . McMahon ' s music hit which distracted Michaels . McMahon made his way to the ring while Shane ( not an official entrant ) eliminated Michaels from behind . Michaels returned to the ring and tried to attack Shane until Triple H beat him and Michaels superkick ed Triple H . As a result , Triple H , Mysterio , Carlito , RVD and Randy Orton remained the final five participants . Carlito worked on RVD but RVD countered and threw him out of the ring with the final four participants remaining . Mysterio and RVD formed an alliance against two former Evolution partners Triple H and Orton . RVD tried to perform a five - star frog splash on Orton , but Triple H attacked RVD and then threw Mysterio into RVD which sent RVD crashing to the floor . Triple H , Mysterio and Orton were the final three participants . Triple H and Orton teamed to eliminate Mysterio but failed to do so , instead Mysterio performed a 619 on both men , and then eliminated Triple H from the match . As retaliation , Triple H assaulted Mysterio and threw him into the steel steps , before rolling him back into the ring for Orton to eliminate . Orton tried to eliminate Mysterio , but Mysterio countered and was able to eliminate Orton to win the 2006 Royal Rumble match . Mysterio paid tribute to Guerrero by winning the match saying that he had won the match for Guerrero . Mysterio broke the record for lasting the longest in a Royal Rumble match , 1 : 02 : 12 . The previous record was 1 : 01 : 30 , set by Chris Benoit at the 2004 Royal Rumble . Finally , Mysterio was the second person to win from the # 2 slot , the first being Vince McMahon in the 1999 Royal Rumble . The fifth match was between Edge and John Cena for the WWE Championship , with Edge defending the title in their New Year ' s Revolution rematch . Cena entered the ring on a large steel catwalk - like scaffold that had been lowered from the ceiling . Before Cena ' s entrance , fireworks started throughout the arena . Cena had the match in control in the beginning but later on he was forced to retreat to the floor on multiple occasions . Finally , Cena had enough and followed him , but Edge used Lita as a decoy . Edge speared Cena into the steel ring steps and following a baseball slide which threw Cena into the crowd . Edge remained in control and set Cena on the top rope but was subsequently pushed down . Cena went for a top rope splash but Edge moved away . Cena would make a comeback and try an FU but failed . Cena made a comeback during the conclusion of the match . He went for a Five Knuckle Shuffle but was distracted when Lita jumped on the apron to draw Cena ' s attention . Edge recovered as Cena and Lita argued , but when Edge charged , Cena sidestepped and Edge ran into Lita . Cena took advantage of the situation and quickly hit Edge an FU and then put him into an STFU . Edge couldn ' t escape so he submitted making Cena the new WWE Champion . The main event was between Kurt Angle and Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship . Angle defended the title in this match against Henry . The match marked the first time that two former Olympians battled for a world title in history . Angle began the match in trying to put Henry down but instead Henry dumped him to the floor , where Angle was beaten by former manager Daivari . Henry controlled Angle using his power but Angle managed to apply the ankle lock . After Henry kicked out after an Angle Slam , Angle locked in ankle lock once more . Daivari jumped up on the apron drawing the referee ' s attention and when Henry broke the hold again , he sent Angle crashing into the referee . At that point , Kurt got a chair . Daivari tried to stop him but Kurt hit Daivari instead with a chair . When Kurt tried to use the chair , Henry blocked the attempt and tossed Angle to the mat . As Henry advanced though , Angle hit him a low blow followed by two chair shots . Angle went for the pin but Henry kicked out . Angle untied one of the turnbuckle pads on the middle rope . Angle ended up in that corner , but as Henry charged , Angle sidestepped and tripped him into the exposed steel . Angle rolled up Henry to retain the World Heavyweight Championship but as Angle celebrated , there was all darkness and The Undertaker ' s music hit . Undertaker made his return to WWE television , in his first appearance since Armageddon . He intimidated Angle and then the ropes went down and the ring collapsed . Aftermath . Chris Benoit and Booker T continued their feud over the WWE United States Championship . Benoit went on to win the title from Booker at No Way Out . Rey Mysterio was awarded a match against Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship which was scheduled to take place at WrestleMania 22 but before that , Mysterio defended his spot against Randy Orton at No Way Out . Orton won the match and Rey ' s title shot . Mysterio would later be readded to the match , forming a Triple Threat match between Angle , Mysterio and Orton . At No Way Out , Angle successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker , but lost the title to Mysterio at WrestleMania . In February , the " Road to WrestleMania " tournament was arranged to determine a new number one contender to Cena ' s WWE Championship . This was an 8 - man tournament on " Raw " . Triple H , Rob Van Dam and Big Show faced each other in the final round of the tournament which was a triple threat match . RVD performed a Five Star Frog Splash on Big Show , but when he made the pin , Triple H pulled the referee . While the referee was distracted , Big Show was able to kick out . Triple H took advantage and performed a Pedigree on RVD to win the tournament and become the number one contender to the WWE Championship . At WrestleMania 22 , Cena defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship via submission after forcing Triple H to submit with the STFU .