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The 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view took over Tropicana Field last night as WWE presented their first big event of the calendar year.
It is now known that Bianca Belair and Edge will be challenging for a World Championship of their choosing at WrestleMania 37 in April, after the two stars were victorious in their respective Royal Rumble matches and are now officially on The Road to WrestleMania.
The Women's Tag Team Championships were also the only titles to change hands on the night since Sasha Banks, Roman Reigns, and Drew McIntyre were all able to successfully retain against their latest challengers.
The Royal Rumble was a show that had it all and despite the lack of audience and rumors that surprises would be few and far between, the main event matches didn't disappoint and included the returns of some of WWE's forgotten women's legends.
As ever, there were several head-scratching moments throughout the show that have left many WWE fans wondering what the next step for certain stars is, so here are just five mistakes from the 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
#5. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax won the Women's Tag Team Championship... Again at The Royal Rumble
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax were built as a destructive tag team that took over WWE's main roster in the absence of Charlotte Flair back in 2020. WWE allowed the two women to overcome every challenge in their path until The Queen stepped up and aligned herself with Asuka.
After just a month of being Tag Team Champions, Lacey Evans' tactics were the reason why Charlotte Flair lost the titles back to the former Champions as part of The Royal Rumble kick-off show.
The head-scratching decision here is the fact that Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler needed Evans' help to win the match, since Baszler was about to tap to the Figure 8, before The Sassy Southern Belle appeared.
It's also worth noting that the RAW Women's Champion was thrown over the announce table and not seen again in the match. It's like WWE forgot that Asuka was once undefeated in NXT, and could have gotten up and saved her Championships after that kind of bump.
It's unclear what the future holds for Asuka and Charlotte without their Championship, but it appears that The Queen has to deal with her father and his newest associate first of all.
#4. Roman Reigns was able to defeat Kevin Owens at The Royal Rumble without any help
Roman Reigns took on Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match at last night's Royal Rumble pay-per-view where his Universal Championship was on the line.
Despite all of the build to the match centering around Adam Pearce setting Reigns up and Owens being the victim of a two-on-one assault at the hands of Main Event Jey Uso, Reigns was able to go it alone.
Jey Uso didn't even appear to be part of The Royal Rumble match on last night's show, but his brother Jimmy Uso wasn't part of the show either, despite many rumors suggesting that the former Tag Team Champion would return in January.
Reigns has been the biggest heel on SmackDown in recent months because he has used Jey Uso to his advantage and made it clear that he doesn't have to do the work himself. Last night, Reigns proved that he is able to step up when he needs to. But now that he's defeated Owens in this way, there is no reason why this feud should continue.
Does this mean that the story between Reigns and Pearce is over? And where were The Usos?
#3. The Fiend didn't make his return at The Royal Rumble
Randy Orton was part of last night's Royal Rumble match after entering at number two and, after being attacked by Edge, he was taken to the back but able to make his return at the end of the match.
WWE obviously made these two stars the opening numbers of the match in order to allow them to finish the feud that they started a long time ago, before Edge was injured at Backlash.
The issue here is the fact that WWE was so focused on Orton's feud with Edge that there was no room for The Fiend to make his return or be part of the match. The Fiend's storyline with Randy Orton has dominated Monday Night RAW for several weeks, even without the former Universal Champion being part of the show, but last night there was no sign of the supernatural star.
Instead, Orton was almost able to win The Royal Rumble, when he came down to the last two. But Edge was able to throw him out of the ring without the help of any outside sources.
#2. Why was Alexa Bliss even in The Royal Rumble match?
Alexa Bliss was one of the female superstars who declared her spot in the Women's Royal Rumble match ahead of the show, so it made sense when she made her way to the ring and was considered to be one of the favorites to win.
Bliss almost won the RAW Women's Championship a week ago thanks to her new dark persona, and she was about to unleash it inside The Royal Rumble, when she was unceremoniously dumped out by Rhea Ripley.
Bliss was in the match for a matter of minutes before being eliminated and didn't appear again on the show. It's interesting since Randy Orton cost the former Champion the match on RAW but she didn't enter the Men's Royal Rumble match in order to exact any kind of revenge.
It was as though WWE forgot that Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss were part of a feud last night, since The Apex Predator's facial burns had managed to heal quite quickly as well.
#1. Goldberg kicked out of one of WWE's most protected finishers at The Royal Rumble
It was perhaps one of the best decisions of The Royal Rumble pay-per-view to have the WWE Championship match kick off the show. Goldberg was able to make his usual entrance to take on Drew McIntyre in McIntyre's return to competition after testing positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago.
The WWE Hall of Famer got in a few spears and a Jackhammer in the opening stages of the match, which made the WWE Universe believe that he could be handed another Championship, but this wasn't the case.
Drew McIntyre delivered a Claymore to the legend and it appeared as though the match was over, until there was another kick out.
The Claymore has been the main move that that has made McIntyre stand out above the crowd over the past year, and it's pushed him forward as WWE Champion. Goldberg is 54 years old and he was able to kick out of what has been seen as one of the most protected finishers in the company.
Goldberg may not have won the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble, but he did show that Drew McIntyre now has a weakness.
