This was the last Royal Rumble held under the first brand extension, which ended in August, but was reinstated in July 2016.

It was won by SmackDown's Alberto Del Rio, who last eliminated Raw's Santino Marella.

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) produced every January by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988.

[6][7] In addition to the Royal Rumble match, the main rivalry from the Raw brand involved the WWE Champion The Miz defending his title against Randy Orton.

The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand involved the World Heavyweight Champion Edge defending his title against Dolph Ziggler.

On the January 28 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager in place of the injured Theodore Long, banned the use of the spear and would strip him of his title if he was caught using it during his match against Ziggler.

On the January 24 episode, Natalya successfully defended the title against Melina, and after the match ended, LayCool entered and announced that they would cash in their rematch clause at the Royal Rumble event.

Edge pinned Ziggler, but Vickie Guerrero pulled the referee, voiding the pinfall at a two count.

Orton performed an Elevated DDT on Miz and The Nexus (CM Punk, Husky Harris, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, and Mason Ryan) appeared.

[1] After that, Natalya defended the WWE Divas Championship against Layla, Michelle McCool, and Eve Torres in a fatal four-way match.

The members of both groups headed out backstage as United States Champion Daniel Bryan entered at #2 to begin the match with Punk.

John Morrison (#7) was almost eliminated by William Regal (#5), but held onto the barricade, walked across it and jumped over to the steps to stay in the match.

As the match progressed, members of The Nexus began to enter including Husky Harris (#9), Michael McGillicutty (#13) and David Otunga (#15).

Punk, Harris, McGillicutty and Otunga cleared out all the other competitors in the ring (Bryan, Chris Masters (#14), Morrison and Mark Henry (#11)).

Booker T entered as a surprise entrant at #21, his first WWE appearance since late 2007, executing a Scissors Kick on Otunga and a Book End on McGillicutty and then performed his signature taunt, the Spinaroonie, but was eliminated by Ryan immediately afterwards.

[1] As the ring filled up with superstars, Diesel entered at #32 as a surprise entrant, his first appearance in WWE since SummerSlam 2003, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett (#30).

The other half of the Tag Team Champions Santino Marella entered at #37, but was hit with a Brogue Kick on entry by Sheamus (#28), and rolled under the bottom rope out of the ring.

This led to the next entrant, Randy Orton, coming out and attacking Del Rio before throwing him into the ring.

Orton fought with Barrett and Del Rio, gaining the upper hand and executing his signature moves.