WWE Royal Rumble 2023 Results And Storylines

Updated on:

The Royal Rumble 2023 was a big event in the world of professional wrestling. Produced by WWE, the event brought together wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as part of the Alamodome’s 30th-anniversary celebration. This was the fourth time the Royal Rumble event was held in San Antonio and the third time it was held at the Alamodome.

One of the biggest changes for the 2023 Royal Rumble was that it was the first time the event was live-streamed on Binge in Australia. This was because the WWE Network service in Australia merged with Binge, a streaming service owned by WWE’s Australian rightsholder Foxtel. Additionally, this was the first Royal Rumble to be on the air past midnight Eastern time.

The traditional main event of the Royal Rumble is the Royal Rumble match itself. However, this was the seventh Royal Rumble in which the match was not the main event. Instead, the main event was a match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, where Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

There were five matches in total at the event. On the undercard, Raw’s Rhea Ripley won the women’s Royal Rumble match, while Raw’s Cody Rhodes won the men’s. This was the opening bout of the event. Additionally, the event saw the return of color commentator, Pat McAfee, who joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves on commentary. The event also saw the returns of Cody Rhodes, Edge, Beth Phoenix, Chelsea Green, Nia Jax, and Logan Paul, who made his first Royal Rumble appearance. Michelle McCool also made an appearance in the women’s Royal Rumble match, while WWE Hall of Famer and NXT commentator Booker T appeared in the men’s.

One of the biggest changes for the 2023 Royal Rumble was that the winners of both the men’s and women’s matches received a choice of which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 39. The men could choose to challenge for either Raw’s WWE Championship or SmackDown’s Universal Championship, while the women had their choice between the Raw or SmackDown Women’s Championship. This added a new level of excitement to the event and made it even more interesting for fans to watch.

Storylines of Royal Rumble 2023

The Royal Rumble is a big event in the world of wrestling and it’s just around the corner. This year’s event is set to be even more exciting with a new match called the “Pitch Black” match. The Pitch Black match is being promoted by WWE’s YouTube channel in partnership with Mountain Dew, to coincide with the return of the “Pitch Black” flavor. The match will be held at the Royal Rumble and it’s going to be intense.

One of the biggest matches of the night will be between LA Knight and Bray Wyatt. This match has been building up for a couple of months, with Wyatt allegedly attacking Knight. Wyatt had claimed that it was someone named Uncle Howdy who was behind the attacks, but Knight wasn’t buying it. On the December 30 episode of SmackDown, Knight challenged Wyatt to a match at the Royal Rumble and Wyatt accepted. But, things took an unexpected turn when Howdy appeared and attacked Wyatt. It was later confirmed that this would be the Pitch Black match. This will also notably be Wyatt’s first televised match since WrestleMania 37 in April 2021. Knight said the only thing he knew about the match was that it would essentially be a street fight “kind of in the dark”. On the January 6 episode of SmackDown, commentator Michael Cole further stated that the match would be anything goes that end via pinfall or submission, but nothing else was known.

Another match that will be highly anticipated is between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns. The two have had past issues and Owens was one of the members of the opposing team in a WarGames match against Reigns’ team, The Bloodline. The Bloodline was victorious at Survivor Series thanks to Sami Zayn—Owens’ former best friend—betraying Owens to show his loyalty to The Bloodline. Despite the loss, Owens continued to target The Bloodline over the next few weeks and Owens teamed with a returning John Cena to defeat Reigns and Zayn on the December 30, 2022, episode of SmackDown, where Owens pinned Zayn. The following week, Owens challenged Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, which was made official.

In the women’s division, Alexa Bliss will take on Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship. Bliss defeated Bayley to become the number one contender for the Raw Women’s Championship on the December 12, 2022, episode of Raw. After the match, Bliss was congratulated by the champion Bianca Belair and as the two hugged, Bray Wyatt’s logo appeared on the TitanTron (due to Bliss’ past association with Wyatt) and Bliss positioned Belair for a Sister Abigail but came back to her senses before performing the move. The following week, Belair and Bliss were interviewed backstage, where at the end of the segment, Wyatt’s logo again appeared on the screen and Bliss hit Belair over the head with a vase of flowers. During her championship match against Belair on January 2, 2023, episode, Bliss was distracted by people wearing Uncle Howdy masks, and after Wyatt’s logo appeared on the TitanTron, Bliss attacked the referee, forcing a disqualification and allowing Belair to retain. After the match, Bliss attacked Belair, performing two DDTs on the steel stairs. On the January 16 episode, Belair challenged Bliss to a championship rematch at the Royal Rumble and Bliss accepted. The two then brawled with Bliss getting the upper hand after an appearance by Howdy.

Finally, fans were excited to see Cody Rhodes make his return from injury as an entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match. Rhodes had been recovering from a torn pec injury suffered before Hell in a Cell in June 2022 and had been teasing his return on Raw for several weeks. The Royal Rumble was set to be a thrilling event, with many exciting matches and storylines to look forward to.

Royal Rumble 2023 Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
1Cody Rhodes won by last eliminating Gunther30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 3901:11:42
2Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight by pinfallMountain Dew Pitch Black match05:05
3Bianca Belair (c) defeated Alexa Bliss by pinfallSingles match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship07:35
4Rhea Ripley won by last eliminating Liv Morgan30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women’s championship match at WrestleMania 3901:01:03
5Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman and Sami Zayn) defeated Kevin Owens by pinfallSingles match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship19:15

Men’s Royal Rumble 2023 match entrances and eliminations

DrawEntrantBrand/StatusOrderEliminated byTimeElimination(s)
1GuntherSmackDown29Cody Rhodes01:11:425
2SheamusSmackDown21Gunther52:30:003
3The MizRaw1Sheamus04:220
4Kofi KingstonSmackDown4Gunther14:530
5Johnny GarganoRaw14Dominik Mysterio and Finn Bálor29:58:000
6Xavier WoodsSmackDown3Gunther10:280
7Karrion KrossSmackDown2Drew McIntyre04:220
8Chad GableRaw7Brock Lesnar08:410
9Drew McIntyreSmackDown22Gunther39:10:003
10Santos EscobarSmackDown5Brock Lesnar04:560
11Angelo DawkinsRaw6Brock Lesnar03:170
12Brock LesnarRaw[33]8Bobby Lashley03:343
13Bobby LashleyRaw11Seth “Freakin” Rollins07:131
14Baron CorbinRaw9Seth “Freakin” Rollins00:060
15Seth “Freakin” RollinsRaw27Logan Paul37:17:002
16OtisRaw12Drew McIntyre and Sheamus03:060
17Rey MysterioSmackDown10Unable to compete[1]00:000
18Dominik MysterioRaw23Cody Rhodes25:44:001
19EliasRaw13Drew McIntyre and Sheamus00:390
20Finn BálorRaw18Edge07:452
21Booker TNXT15Gunther00:420
22Damian PriestRaw17Edge04:031
23Montez FordRaw16Damian Priest00:470
24EdgeRaw19Finn Bálor and Damian Priest[2]01:042
25Austin TheoryRaw26Cody Rhodes15:401
26OmosRaw20Braun Strowman02:460
27Braun StrowmanSmackDown24Cody Rhodes and Ricochet11:141
28RicochetSmackDown25Austin Theory09:131
29Logan PaulRaw28Cody Rhodes10:561
30Cody RhodesRaw—Winner15:075

Women’s Royal Rumble (2023) match entrances and eliminations

DrawEntrantBrand/StatusOrderEliminated byTimeElimination(s)
1Rhea RipleyRaw—Winner01:01:037
2Liv MorganSmackDown29Rhea Ripley01:01:033
3Dana BrookeRaw2Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky0
4EmmaSmackDown3Dakota Kai0
5Shayna BaszlerSmackDown6Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky0
6BayleyRaw13Liv Morgan5
7B-FabSmackDown1Rhea Ripley00:360
8Roxanne PerezNXT4Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky0
9Dakota KaiRaw10Becky Lynch5
10Iyo SkyRaw11Becky Lynch5
11NatalyaSmackDown5Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky0
12Candice LeRaeRaw7Iyo Sky0
13Zoey StarkNXT16Sonya Deville0
14Xia LiSmackDown14Zelina Vega0
15Becky LynchRaw12Bayley2
16Tegan NoxSmackDown8Asuka0
17AsukaRaw28Rhea Ripley3
18Piper NivenRaw25Raquel Rodriguez2
19TaminaRaw15Michelle McCool0
20Chelsea GreenFree agent9Rhea Ripley00:040
21Zelina VegaSmackDown17Lacey Evans1
22Raquel RodriguezSmackDown26Rhea Ripley3
23Mia YimRaw24Piper Niven2
24Lacey EvansSmackDown20Raquel Rodriguez2
25Michelle McCoolFree agent22Rhea Ripley2
26Indi HartwellNXT18Sonya Deville0
27Sonya DevilleSmackDown21Asuka3
28ShotziSmackDown23Mia Yim1
29Nikki CrossRaw27Liv Morgan1
30Nia JaxFree agent19Asuka, Lacey Evans, Liv Morgan, Mia Yim, Michelle McCool, Nikki Cross, Piper Niven, Raquel Rodiguez, Rhea Ripley, Shotzi, and Sonya Deville0

Also, read How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-Collar Work?