INQUISITR.COM / Sports

WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Results: Triple H Beats Roman Reigns, AJ Styles Shows — R-Truth Wins Invisible Belt?

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 15:12 PST, Jan 24, 2016

The WWE Royal Rumble 2016 results are in, and Triple H entered as position number 30, providing a predictable little shock to the ring. This was hardly the most memorable moment of the night since AJ Styles showed up as rumored, and R-Truth entertained all by “winning” a ladder match several months too late.

Triple H’s Royal Rumble win may have been predicted, but it was not the surprise ending everyone was hoping for. The WWE rumor mill had suggested that we’d see Daniel Bryan’s return tonight, or that we’d see other surprise entries. Other WWE rumors suggested AJ Styles or Shawn Michaels would make an appearance, which was correct since Styles did in fact start out in the number three position. But in the end, Triple H hounded Roman Reigns for receiving that spear.

Why did everyone seem to think Daniel Bryan would return for Royal Rumble? Recently, the WWE teased fans by saying, “What better addition to Bryan’s fairy tale career is there than for him to return to the match he never won to reclaim the title he never lost?” Dave Metlzer also reported that Daniel Bryan’s health status was good enough for a return despite the WWE head of medical, Dr. Joseph Maroon telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that Bryan should not be cleared.

“Daniel Bryan was cleared by the doctors at UCLA, which does not mean that he’s cleared (to return to the ring.) The story that he’s going to see Dr. Maroon this weekend is not true. He may get cleared — he doesn’t have to go to Dr. Maroon to get cleared. It’s just a question of if they’re going to clear him or not. I don’t expect him at the Royal Rumble, but he could be. He had a whole bunch of tests with the concussion specialists at UCLA, and they deemed him okay.”

Triple H Vs. Roman Reigns

Before the WWE Royal Rumble results were in, WWE rumors suggested Triple H would win the Royal Rumble match and take Roman Reigns’ belt. Reigns had quite the setup before ever entering the ring today. Only 14 out of 30 wrestlers in the WWE Royal Rumble match were announced ahead of time, with Reigns having to start in the number one position.

There was quite a bit of pressure on Reigns’ shoulders, since he had to win to retain his Championship belt. In addition, if Reigns won the Rumble for the second consecutive year, then he would match the record set by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Reigns also holds the record for the highest number of Royal Rumble eliminations, so it was possible he could have beaten his own record by topping 12 eliminations.

Perhaps because of all this history, the League of Nations felt it was their duty to stomp Reigns into the ground at the halfway point. The beatdown was severe enough that Reigns even exited the arena for most of the Royal Rumble only to return near the end. But eventually it came down to Reigns, Triple H, and Dean Ambrose. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Ambrose who managed to hang on the longest before Triple H won.

IN A RELATED REPORT BY THE INQUISITR

WWE News: WWE Teasing A Daniel Bryan Return At ‘Royal Rumble’

WWE 2016 ‘Royal Rumble’ Pay-Per-View Results — Updated LIVE!

WWE News: Full NXT Results & Spoilers From ‘Royal Rumble 2016’ Weekend Taping

Memorable Moments

When Brock Lesnar turned the ring into Suplex City he was almost playing with the Wyatt family members. He eliminated all of them, but when Bray Wyatt came on the scene he quickly summoned the family back together. At one point, there was almost Bray Wyatt Vs. Brock Lesnar matchup with no one interrupting, and everyone was revved up when it looked like Lesnar was about to meet Sister Abigail. Unfortunately, this memorable moment was ruined when Sheamus brogue kicked his way back in only to have the Wyatts toss Lesnar right out.

Kofi Kingston also had some fun riding horsey-style with the New Day. He should have been out at one point, but he was caught by his teammates and rode around the ring for a while.

AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble entry may have started up front, but what made the match memorable was his exit. Kevin Owens came in limping, but it was not long before he sent Styles flying out of the ring.

Despite Triple H officially taking the WWE Championship belt, the real winner of the night was R-Truth. He went straight for that invisible belt in the ladder match and climbed that ladder before anyone knew what was happening. He may have been tossed out shortly later, but it was probably the most memorable event that took place this night.

[Image via WWE]

Share this article: WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Results: Triple H Beats Roman Reigns, AJ Styles Shows — R-Truth Wins Invisible Belt?
daniel bryan Shawn Michaels roman reigns aj styles Triple H
More from Inquisitr