In other prominent matches, Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match to retain SmackDown's Universal Championship and in the opening bout, Drew McIntyre defeated Goldberg to retain Raw's WWE Championship.

[5] Patterson died on December 2, 2020, at the age of 79, which made the 2021 event the first Royal Rumble held following his death.

[6] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set.

Initially, Raw and SmackDown's television shows and PPVs were done at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

[7] A limited number of Performance Center trainees and friends and family members of the wrestlers were later utilized to serve as the live audience.

The select live audience was no longer utilized as the bubble allowed fans to attend the events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena.

Additionally, the ThunderDome utilized various special effects to further enhance wrestlers' entrances, and arena audio was mixed with that of the chants from the virtual fans.

[10] After being hosted at Orlando's Amway Center,[11] the ThunderDome was relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in December.

[14] However, the ongoing pandemic put a stop to those plans, and while dismantling the ThunderDome to have live fans in attendance at Tropicana Field was possible, WWE decided that the massive undertaking to do so was not worth doing for just one night.

Retribution's Reckoning was originally booked to appear in the Women's Royal Rumble match, however she tested positive for the virus and was replaced by Toni Storm.

[19] On the January 8 episode of SmackDown, Universal Champion Roman Reigns took issue with the recent booking decisions made by WWE official Adam Pearce, including a gauntlet match that Pearce had scheduled for that night to determine Reigns' challenger for his title at the Royal Rumble.

Later, Reigns' special counsel, Paul Heyman, confronted Pearce backstage and stated that he was able to pull some strings and that Pearce would also be competing in the gauntlet match along with Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan.

Later in the ring, Pearce and Reigns signed the amended contract, but as Pearce was leaving, he feigned a knee injury, citing that the contract allowed him to choose a replacement for himself in the event of an injury and chose Kevin Owens, who Reigns defeated at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a TLC match thanks to interference from Jey.

Owens then made his entrance and signed the contract to become Reigns' opponent for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.

[23] McIntyre had accepted Goldberg's challenge via satellite as during that same episode, he announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19; following the standard 14-day quarantine procedure, McIntyre was cleared for the Royal Rumble, appearing live on Raw on the January 25 episode to have a final face-to-face meeting with Goldberg before their match.

Before the match could officially begin, McIntyre performed a Glasgow Kiss and a Spear on Goldberg, taking him out of the ring.

As Goldberg attempted a fourth Spear, McIntyre dodged it and performed a second Claymore Kick for a pinfall, retaining the WWE Championship.

Kay attempted to team up with the next three entrants, Shotzi Blackheart (#5), Shayna Baszler (#6), and Toni Storm (#7), to take on the other participants in the match, however they all brushed her off.

As Tamina (#25) made her way to the ring, she attacked Reginald, accidentally dropping Carmella, thus causing her elimination inadvertently.

The final four were Flair, Ripley, Belair, and Natalya, who earned the #30 spot by defeating Tamina the previous day on WWE Backstage.

Heyman then appeared and successfully freed Reigns from the cuffs (after the second referee stopped his count for no reason provided).

Hall of Famer Edge, returning from a triceps tear, and Raw's Randy Orton started the match as the first and second entrants, respectively.

Kane (#18) made a surprise return and after a brief Team Hell No reunion, he chokeslammed Daniel Bryan (#17) but was then eliminated by Priest.

[31] The final five were Edge, Christian, Rollins, Strowman, and Orton (unbeknownst to the rest at this time as he had not returned from his injury earlier).

[32] The following week, Evans defeated Charlotte by disqualification, again thanks to Ric, to earn a Raw Women's Championship match against Asuka at Elimination Chamber.

Bad Bunny then stated the only reason he was there was because his "friend" wanted to be on Miz TV, prompting Damian Priest to come out, making his Raw debut.

He told NXT Champion Finn Bálor and Bálor's TakeOver: Vengeance Day opponent Pete Dunne that he would be watching their match, and regardless of who won, it could influence his decision on which world championship he would challenge for at WrestleMania 37, teasing the possibility that Edge may choose the NXT Championship.

[37] On Friday's SmackDown, Universal Champion Roman Reigns opened the show, accompanied by Paul Heyman and Jey Uso.

[38] At Elimination Chamber on February 21, Edge revealed his choice to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania.

[39] Women's Royal Rumble match winner Bianca Belair spoke about her win and her championship choices.