RoyalRumble 2017 - RR - DA

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WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens def. Roman Reigns (No Disqualification Match, with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage)



SAN ANTONIO — Thanks to Braun Strowman’s destructive invasion, WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens proved his doubters wrong yet again, walking out of Royal Rumble and his No Disqualification Match against Roman Reigns with Raw’s top prize.

WWE’s prizefighter and Chris Jericho did their best to take advantage of the contest’s No Disqualification stipulation, initially delivering a 2-on-1 assault against The Big Dog before the bell sounded.

Reigns battled back, however, allowing the timekeeper to start the match and the United States Champion to be hoisted above the squared circle, trapped inside a locked shark cage.

The titleholder and his challenger wasted no time getting down to business, fighting through the crowd and outside the ring.

Both KO and “The Guy” took full advantage of the contest’s unruly proviso, while The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla could do nothing but cheer his best friend on from his steel surroundings above the ring.

Reigns looked to be in control of the contest before Owens delivered a Frog Splash off the top rope onto the black-clad Superstar, who was strewn on top of a table outside the ring.

Amazingly, the resilient Reigns managed to kick out, but continued to receive a brutal beating from KO.

As if Reigns going face-first into a steel chair wasn’t enough, Jericho dropped brass knuckles from his perch above the ring to Owens.

Wearing the foreign object around his hand, KO would ultimately connect with his own version of the Superman Punch on Reigns.

The former WWE Champion would not be kept down, though, once again battling back and throttling Owens with a wicked Samoan drop onto a steel chair.

As the two foes continued their epic fight, more than 52,000 fans in attendance at the Alamodome erupted into a frenzy when Owens countered Reigns’ Spear, hitting a Stunner on his opponent.

The instant classic moved to the corner of the ring, where Reigns delivered a brutal Superman Punch on The Prizefighter.

KO fell from the top rope, crashing down through a pyramid of steel chairs that had been set up outside the ring.

Jericho could do nothing but watch in horror from above as Reigns went a step further and powerbombed an embattled Owens through one of the announce tables.

Reigns then set up the titleholder for some finishing touches, but just as the challenger aimed to strike with a potential championship-clinching Spear, Braun Strowman suddenly emerged and pulled Reigns from the ring.

After throwing the No. 1 contender into the steel post, The Monster Among Men viciously chokeslammed him on top of another announce table.

Strowman then finished the job, drilling Reigns with a running powerslam through a table set up in the corner of the ring.

A barely-recovered Owens then proceeded to crawl on top of a motionless Reigns, picking up the pinfall victory.

Thanks to another opportunistic victory, The Kevin Owens Show will be front and center as The Road to WrestleMania 33 kicks into high gear.

Yet it also begs the question: As The Show of Shows nears, where will Braun Strowman ultimately fit in?

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Randy Orton won the 30-Superstar Royal Rumble Match



SAN ANTONIO – The Wyatt Family is headed to the main event of WrestleMania 33, but not the member you might expect.

In front of 52,020 WWE fans at the Alamodome, recently converted Wyatt acolyte Randy Orton won his second Royal Rumble Match and punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 33.

The Viper’s victory was the capper to a Rumble Match that had no shortage of delights, shocks and surprise entrants, and truly made good on the promise of “Friend vs. Friend, Foe vs. Foe, Every Man for Himself.”

Don’t believe us? Let’s review:

• The question of “Who can eliminate Braun Strowman?” was answered, emphatically — Baron Corbin, with an assist
...from Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn

• Goldberg obliterated Brock Lesnar again, eliminating him almost immediately after he entered the match, and The
...Undertaker did the same to Goldberg

• Kofi Kingston staved off elimination in spectacular fashion

• Beloved NXT Superstar Tye Dillinger entered at — yep — No. 10

• Jack Gallagher repped the Cruiserweights by hitting Chris Jericho in the crotch with William the Umbrella

• After Cesaro & Sheamus eliminated all of The New Day, The Celtic Warrior tried to toss out his own partner, and a
...face-to-face ensued after Jericho dumped them both

• The WWE Universe was treated to not only five big-man showdowns – Braun Strowman vs. Mark Henry, Strowman vs.
...Big Show, Goldberg vs. Lesnar, Goldberg vs. The Undertaker, and The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns – but also the
...surreal (and short) sight of Enzo Amore vs. The Beast Incarnate

However, once The Wyatts entered the match — Bray himself was the first at No. 21 — the complexion of the melee changed almost instantly.

Orton RKO’d everyone in sight after his own entrance, seemingly clearing the way for the ultimate triumph of The New Face of Fear.

The on-the-outs Luke Harper seemed as though he was on a mission to re-earn Wyatt’s trust at No. 25, but then he went and clobbered the patriarch himself with a discus clothesline.

He would have also administered Sister Abigail had Orton not stopped the betrayal with an RKO.
(Goldberg later eliminated Harper.)

The other, complexion-changing moment of the match was the unexpected arrival of Roman Reigns at No. 30, just hours after losing his bid for the WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens.

Not only did The Big Dog eliminate The Undertaker, he cleaned house of several stragglers to bring the bout to a 1-on-2 confrontation with Wyatt and Orton.

Gunning hard for his second Royal Rumble Match win, Reigns managed to power his way out of the Sister Abigail-RKO combo and eliminate The Eater of Worlds.

The Apex Predator struck Reigns quickly thereafter, administering an RKO and tossing the former WWE Champion over the ropes to secure his main-event ticket to The Showcase of the Immortals.

They say that anything can happen in WWE, and although there are some who may claim Orton, as a veteran, was a favorite to win, consider the idea that, should he challenge for the WWE Championship, the champion himself may not be who it is right now after WWE Elimination Chamber.

Added the variable of how Wyatt will respond to his lieutenant achieving a goal he badly wanted for himself, and it’s truly anyone’s guess as to what happens next.

Rumble Match Statistics

Full list of Royal Rumble Match participants and eliminations

...No.... --------	...Name... -------------------------------------	Eliminated -------------------------------------------------	Eliminated By ------------------------------------------------	Time ---------
1	Big Cass		Strowman	9:57
2	Chris Jericho	Sheamus - Cesaro	Reigns	1:00:13
3	Kalisto		Strowman	8:17
4	Mojo Rawley		Strowman	6:16
5	Jack Gallagher		Henry	3:20
6	Mark Henry	Gallagher	Strowman	3:17
7	Braun Strowman	Big Show - Ellsworth - Henry Kalisto - Dillinger - Big Cass Rawley	Corbin	13:11
8	Sami Zayn		Undertaker	46:55
9	Big Show		Strowman	1:42
10	Tye Dillinger		Strowman	5:27
11	James Ellsworth		Strowman	0:15
12	Dean Ambrose		Lesnar	26:55
13	Baron Corbin	Strowman	Undertaker	32:39
14	Kofi Kingston		Sheamus - Cesaro	16:13
15	The Miz		Undertaker	32:44
16	Sheamus	Woods - Kingston - Big E	Jericho	12:13
17	Big E		Sheamus - Cesaro	9:46
18	Rusev		Goldberg	22:31
19	Cesaro	Woods - Kingston - Big E	Jericho	6:44
20	Xavier Woods		Sheamus - Cesaro	4:47
21	Bray Wyatt		Reigns	24:11
22	Apollo Crews		Harper	5:46
23	Randy Orton	Reigns	WINNER	20:52
24	Dolph Ziggler		Lesnar	4:21
25	Luke Harper	Crews	Goldberg	9:56
26	Brock Lesnar	Enzo - Ambrose - Ziggler	Goldberg	4:30
27	Enzo Amore		Lesnar	0:18
28	Goldberg	Lesnar - Rusev - Harper	Undertaker	3:21
29	The Undertaker	Corbin - Goldberg - Miz - Zayn	Reigns	8:46
30	Roman Reigns	Undertaker - Jericho - Wyatt	Orton	5:05

----------------------------
Total match time 1:02:06