More than just the men's and women's Rumble matches will have an impact on WrestleMania, however. Three world champions will be putting their titles on the line at the Royal Rumble event, trying to move one step closer to entering the biggest show of the year as champions. Drew McIntyre will defend his WWE championship against the legendary Goldberg, Roman Reigns will put the universal championship on the line in a Last Man Standing match with Kevin Owens and the SmackDown women's championship will be up for grabs when Sasha Banks defends against Carmella.
Royal Rumble 2021 will be presented live Sunday night from the WWE ThunderDome inside Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida. It will begin at 7 p.m. ET with a kickoff show starting one hour earlier at 6 p.m. on the WWE Network. CBS Sports will be with you the whole way through the event, providing updates and highlights as the action goes down in the live blog below.
2021 WWE Royal Rumble card, matches
Complete results and grades from each match can be found in the live updates below the card.
- Men's Royal Rumble match
- Women's Royal Rumble match
- Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing match)
The final four in the match came down to Natalya, Belair, Flair and Ripley. Belair eliminated Natalya first and then Ripley and Belair teamed up to knock Flair from the match, leaving Ripley and Belair as the final two women in the match. The two women battled back and forth in an extended segment with several near eliminations before Belair managed to knock Ripley from the ring with a clothesline to win the match. This was a bit of a rocky match at parts, many of the bigger issues being matters of production than in-ring, though some stretches dragged a bit. Belair is a great choice to win and coming down to Belair and Ripley showed how bright the future of the women's division is. Bianca Belair won the Women's Royal Rumble Match. Grade: B
Ripley continued to impress, scoring several eliminations. Belair also continued hanging around despite her No. 2 entry into the match. In the near-elimination spot, Naomi was thrown from the ring but landed on her back with her feet in the air, she then used Belair to climb her way back into the ring. Alexa Bliss entered at No. 27 and as she was preparing to transform as in recent weeks, Ripley eliminated her from behind. Nia Jax entered and she and Baszler went on a run of eliminations to thin the field late before brawling with each other and Jax eventually eliminated Baszler and was the eliminated by Lana before Natalya entered in the No. 30 spot to complete the field.
Ric Flair's music hit -- with Charlotte already in the ring -- though Ric was only there to escort Lacey Evans to the ring, wearing the same robe as Charlotte wore earlier in the night. Charlotte and Evans battled immediately before an angry Flair turned her attention back to the rest of the participants. Mickie James also made her return, coming in at No. 19. Another return came at No. 21 with Alicia Fox, but R-Truth's music hit right after and he announced he was at the wrong Royal Rumble before being pursued by 24/7 title seekers, only to be pinned by Fox to win her the 24/7 belt.
Former WWE superstar Jillian Hall was the first true surprise entrant of the night, forming an alliance with Billie Kay to form "Billie and Jilly." Victoria also made her return, entering the match at No. 10. Participants continued to pile up in the ring with eliminations hard to come by before Jillian Hall was finally the second woman out, followed by Kay and the match settled into a more familiar rhythm after Rhea Ripley entered the match and she and Baszler began to clear out the ring.