The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

Announced on February 15, 2019, the 2020 event was the 33rd Royal Rumble and was scheduled to be held on January 26, 2020, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

[5][6] For the past two years, the men and women had the choice to challenge for the top championships of the Raw and SmackDown brands at WrestleMania.

Instead, as he felt that there was no one on any brand who deserved an opportunity, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar decided to enter himself into the Royal Rumble match as entrant number one.

[13] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defeated the team of Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

[14] In a backstage interview on the following Raw, Lynch stated that she had not been herself the past few months and felt that management had been putting her into tag team matches to protect her from facing Asuka alone and losing.

[14] On the following episode of Raw, both were scheduled to participate in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender against Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship.

[13] Backstage, Carrillo issued a challenge to Andrade for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble, which was made official for the Kickoff pre-show.

Following the match, a hooded figure attacked Wyatt and then revealed himself as a returning Bryan, now with a buzz cut and shorter beard.

[14] On the following SmackDown, both Bryan and Miz stated their desire to take the Universal Championship from Wyatt due to their respective personal issues with him.

They were then interrupted by King Corbin, who felt that he deserved an opportunity for the title due to his victory over Roman Reigns at TLC.

[25] During the triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship, Roman Reigns attacked King Corbin, costing him the title opportunity.

[25] After a seven-month hiatus, Sheamus appeared in a vignette on the November 29 episode of SmackDown, announcing that he would be returning to in-ring action.

[30] Backstage, Kevin Owens told Samoa Joe that he could not wait to eliminate Seth Rollins from the Royal Rumble match—as they had been feuding for weeks on Raw—and that he would go on to win.

[30] Next was the women's Royal Rumble match, which began with SmackDown's Alexa Bliss as the first entrant and NXT's Bianca Belair as the second.

Bryan eventually gained the offense, and applied the LeBell Lock, using the strap to crank back on The Fiend's head.

[30] In the penultimate match, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Asuka (accompanied by Kairi Sane).

[30] The main event was the men's Royal Rumble match, which saw Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) enter at number one.

Lesnar would make quick work of the next few entrants (Erick Rowan, Robert Roode, and John Morrison), eliminating them almost as soon as they entered the match.

The twelfth entrant saw the surprise return of Montel Vontavious Porter (who last wrestled in WWE in 2010), who was quickly eliminated by Lesnar.

WWE Hall of Famer Edge, who was forced to retire from wrestling in 2011 due to a neck injury, made a surprise return as the twenty-first entrant.

[32] At the event, Lesnar defeated Ricochet in ninety seconds, keeping him as the defending champion heading into his match against McIntyre at WrestleMania.

[33] Also on the following Raw, women's Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair teased that she would reveal which champion she would challenge at WrestleMania, however, she stated that she was still deciding.

[31] The following week, Flair stated she had held both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships multiple times and had defeated their current holders, Becky Lynch and Bayley, respectively.

[43] On the March 2 episode of Raw, Carrillo earned another shot at Andrade's U.S. title by pinning him in a tag team match.

[32] After making a surprise return at the Royal Rumble, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) faced Rey Mysterio on Raw in a losing effort.

[47] MVP would then become a mainstay on Raw, forming The Hurt Business faction, comprising Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander.

Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens.

[48][49] Joe's injury proved to be minor, as he returned on the February 10 episode of Raw to aid Owens and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) against Rollins' stable.

[50] On the following SmackDown, Bayley addressed her victory over Lacey Evans, as well as Charlotte Flair's Royal Rumble win.