WWE Royal Rumble results: Randy Orton wins as Goldberg humiliates Brock Lesnar

The Undertaker, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar all fell short in trying to win a title shot at WrestleMania 33

(WWE)

Randy Orton guaranteed himself a world title shot at WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble after eliminating Roman Reigns in a frantic main event that saw Brock Lesnar once again embarrassed by Goldberg and the Undertaker make his return to the Rumble.

Orton clinched his second Royal Rumble victory, backing up his 2009 success, by defeating 29 other men in one of the showcase events on the WWE calendar, but it was nearly Roman Reigns who was celebrating a second victory as he faced Orton in the final two.

After eliminating Bray Wyatt and, more importantly, The Undertaker, Reigns looked favourite for success, but a spear attempt suddenly turned into an RKO and Orton threw Reigns out of the ring to clinch a shot at one of the two world titles at WrestleMania later this year.

The early stages of the match were dominated by Braun Strowman, who earlier in the night cost Reigns his shot as Kevin Owens’s WWE Universal title, as the giant eliminated the likes of Jack Gallagher, Mojo Rawley, Big Cass and Kalisto before seeing off Mark Henry.

Strowman also eliminated the Big Show after picking up the ‘World’s Largest Athlete’, but Baron Corbin would stop Strowman in his tracks and eventually eliminate him with a powerful clothesline.

All the while Chris Jericho had ensured he stayed out of the firing line by crawling out of the ring and hiding, a ply that would ensure the No 2 entry would survive more than an hour to reach the final four.

Royal Rumble entry list:

1. Big Cass (Eliminated No 3)

2. Chris Jericho (Eliminated No 27)

3. Kalisto (Eliminated No 4)

4. Mojo Rawley (Eliminated No 2)

5. Jack Gallagher (Eliminated No 1)

6. Mark Henry (Eliminated No 5)

7. Braun Strowman (Eliminated No 9)

8. Sami Zayn (Eliminated No 25)

9. Big Show (Eliminated No 6)

10. Tye Dillinger (Eliminated No 8)

11. James Ellsworth (Eliminated No 7)

12. Dean Ambrose (Eliminated No 16)

13. Baron Corbin (Eliminated No 21)

14. Kofi Kingston (Eliminated No 11)

15. The Miz (Eliminated No 24)

16. Sheamus (Eliminated No 13)

17. Big E (Eliminated 10)

18. Rusev (Eliminated No 20)

19. Cesaro (Eliminated No 14)

20. Xavier Woods (Eliminated No 12)

21. Bray Wyatt (Eliminated No 28)

22. Apollo Cruz (Eliminated No 15)

23. Randy Orton - WINNER

24. Dolph Ziggler (Eliminated No 17)

25. Luke Harper (Eliminated No 22)

26. Brock Lesnar (Eliminated No 19)

27. Enzo Amore (Eliminated No 18)

28. Goldberg (Eliminated No 23)

29. The Undertaker (Eliminated No 26)

30. Roman Reigns (Eliminated No 29) 

But all eyes were on the explosive Brock Lesnar when he arrived as the No 26 entrant, and The Beast promptly got rid of Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler as he wreaked havoc in the ring. After sending Enzo Amore back from where he came from within seconds, Lesnar’s rival, Goldberg, came out at No 28 to reignite their feud. After embarrassing Lesnar at Survivor Series on his return to the WWE, Goldberg backed up the 89-second victory by spearing Lesnar and immediately eliminating him.

But Goldberg was stopped in his tracks by The Undertaker, with the Phenom’s gong hitting as the lights went out. With Goldberg waiting for him, Undertaker suddenly appeared in the ring behind Goldberg before the two went at it. They eliminated Corbin and Rusev, before The Deadman threw Goldberg out of the ring in another dramatic twist.

But The Undertaker’s attempt would not last much longer. The final entrant proved to be Reigns, and e shocked the Phenom when he eliminated him, much to his anger, and a frosty staredown afterwards suggested this could be the start of something else in the pipeline.

With Reigns joined by Wyatt, Orton and Jericho, we were down to the final four, which soon became final three after a Reigns superman punch did for Jericho from the top rope. After eliminating Wyatt, Reigns looked to be on course for his second Rumble success, only for Orton to turn the tables and clinch victory.

Earlier in the night, John Cena tied Ric Flair’s tally of 16 world championship title reigns by defeating AJ Styles in an early contender for fight of the year. Having suffered a rare, legitimate loss to Styles at SummerSlam last year, Cena had a point to prove, but the defending WWE champion would not go down lightly.

The pair traded finishers, with Cena delivering no fewer than three AA’s to Styles’s two Styles Clash’s, but in the end Cena secured the WWE Championship with an avalanche AA from the middle rope.

As mentioned, Kevin Owens was able to retain the WWE Universal title thanks to interference from Strowman during the no disqualification title defence against Reigns. After falling through a three-storey pile of chairs and being powerbombed through the announcers’ table, Reigns looked on course for victory, only for Strowman to pull him out of the ring and chokeslam him onto another table – all the while with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage.

Charlotte retained her Raw Women’s championship with a comfortable victory over Bayley that finished with a Natural Selection on the ring apron, while the tag team titles changes hands as Cesaro and Sheamus were beaten by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson on the pre-show.

Neville won the WWE cruiserweight championship by forcing former friend Rich Swann to submit, while Nia Jax picked up a win on the pre-show against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi beat Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya in the night’s opening match.

Randy Orton celebrates winning the Royal Rumble (WWE)

Results

Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi beat Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya

Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows beat Cesaro and Sheamus to win the WWE Raw Tag Team titles

Nia Jax beats Sasha Banks

Charlotte Flair beats Bayley to retain the Raw Women’s Championship

Kevin Owens beats Roman Reigns to retain the Universal Championship

Neville beats Rich Swann to win the Cruiserweight Championship

John Cena beats AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship

Randy Orton wins the Royal Rumble