WWE Royal Rumble 2015: Results, Recap And Surprise Returns

The 2015 Royal Rumble featured a different WWE World Heavyweight champion and a first-time winner of the 30-man battle royal, but it felt like a repeat of last year’s PPV. The event ended with much of the audience booing, even after a babyface won a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.

Many fans in attendance and watching at home were not happy to see Roman Reigns win the Royal Rumble. Unlike last year, Daniel Bryan was in the battle royal, but he didn’t outlast many other wrestlers, entering the match at No.10 and getting eliminated by Bray Wyatt, right before Goldust came in at No.16.

Reigns’ victory overshadowed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, which was one of the best matches on any recent PPV. Fans were so upset with the finish to the Royal Rumble that #CancelWWENetwork became Twitter’s No.1 trend in the country.

The Royal Rumble match did have its high points, featuring the surprise returns of Bubba Ray Dudley, DDP and the Boogeyman. Below are the complete results from Royal Rumble 2015, as well as a recap for each match.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match)

WWE continues to book Lesnar as a monster who can’t be stopped. At one point in the match, Lesnar survived three consecutive Attitude Adjustments and a Curb Stomp, and still kicked out. The biggest spot of the match occurred when Rollins dropped an elbow onto Lesnar, who was lying down on the Spanish announce table. After being attended to by doctors, Lesnar made his way back into the ring, hit Rollins with an F5 and retained his title.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Royal Rumble Match

The air was taken out of the match halfway through when Bryan was eliminated. Reigns eliminated Kane and Big Show to seemingly win the match, and when they came back into the ring, The Rock made a surprise appearance and helped save his cousin. Rusev, who had rolled under the ropes and had never been eliminated, came back into the ring, but was quickly eliminated to end the match. The Rock raised the arm of the former Shield member, but the two were booed, much like Batista was a year ago.

Winner: Roman Reigns

The Usos vs. The Miz & Mizdow (Tag Team Championship Match)

The Miz wouldn’t tag Mizdow into the match, and though Mizdow made a few saves, The Usos won with a splash off the top rope. The breakup between the losing tag team appears imminent, as The Miz would later get mad at Mizdow for not giving him his spot in the Royal Rumble.

Winner: The Usos

The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension

The match went as expected, with The Ascension topping the team that got the best of them on the last episode of “Monday Night Raw.” Billy Gunn was pinned after getting hit with The Fall of Man.

Winner: The Ascension

Paige & Natalya vs. The Bella Twins

Nikki scored the pinfall after hitting Natalya with a forearm to the jaw.

Winner: The Bella Twins

The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose (Kickoff Match)

The crowd was firmly behind the heels in this pre-show match. With Xavier Woods and Adam Rose standing ringside for what was a two-man tag team match, Kidd pinned Kingston for the win.

Winner: Cesaro & Tyson Kidd