Royal Rumble (2005) - Event

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Maven defeated Rhyno in a match taped for Sunday Night Heat. The first match that aired was between Edge and Shawn Michaels. Edge mocked Michaels by performing some of Michaels' signature taunts during the match. Edge gained the advantage after an Edge-O-Matic (sitout rear mat slam) outside the ring. Michaels fought back until Edge left the ring. Michaels came after him, but, with the referee's distraction, Edge speared Michaels, both outside and inside the ring. Michaels then knocked Edge off the second rope and executed a diving elbow drop. Edge countered a superkick attempt into an electric chair drop and applied the Edgecator. Michaels broke the hold and attempted a roll-up, but Edge rolled through and pinned Michaels while holding the ropes.

The second match was a Casket match between The Undertaker and Heidenreich. The match started back and forth until Heidenreich sent The Undertaker into the side of the casket. The Undertaker came back, applying the triangle choke until Gene Snitsky interfered and attacked The Undertaker. Snitsky and Heidenreich double-teamed The Undertaker and called for the casket to be opened. Kane was revealed to be inside the casket, and he climbed out. He attacked Snitsky and Heidenreich and fought Snitsky into the audience. Heidenreich sent The Undertaker into the steel steps and pushed the casket into him. Heidenreich put The Undertaker in the casket after applying the cobra clutch. The Undertaker stopped the lid from closing with his arm, gaining control briefly. Heidenreich fought back and put The Undertaker in the casket again. The Undertaker, however, fought out of it and executed a chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver. Shortly after, Undertaker put Heidenreich in the casket and closed the lid to win the match.

The third match was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), The Big Show, and Kurt Angle. In the opening minutes, Angle stayed on the outside of the ring, leaving Big Show and JBL on their own. Angle came into the ring to break up a pinfall attempt, but Big Show kept the advantage over both men. Angle hit Big Show with a television monitor to send him through an announce table, thus leaving Angle and JBL on their own. Big Show returned a few minutes later and continued to control the match. Big Show tackled JBL through the steel barricade and performed a flapjack to Angle onto a steel chair. Shortly after, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak, Doug, and Danny Basham attacked Big Show, and Orlando Jordan helped JBL back into the ring. JBL then executed a Clothesline from Hell on Angle and pinned him to retain the title.

The fourth match was between Triple H and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff banned Evolution (Batista and Ric Flair) from ringside. Orton had control at the start of the match until Triple H countered an RKO attempt by throwing Orton out of the ring. Triple H kept the advantage and targeted Orton's left knee until Orton kicked him into an announce table. Orton kept the advantage until he suffered a kayfabe concussion from missing a DDT. Triple H knocked both Orton and the referee down with a clothesline and took out a sledgehammer from beneath the ring. He tried to hit Orton with it, but Orton pulled him into the ringpost. Triple H performed another clothesline and a Pedigree to win and retain the title.

The final match was the Royal Rumble match. Before the match began, Kurt Angle stole Nunzio's entrance number, taking his spot in the match. After the tenth entrant, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff came to ringside, and SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long also came out soon after. The participants then divided into their brands and fought against each other until they worked together to eliminate Muhammad Hassan, the thirteen entrant. Scotty 2 Hotty, the fifteenth entrant, was attacked by Hassan during his entrance and never entered the match. Angle, the twentieth entrant, dominated upon entering the match until Shawn Michaels eliminated him. Angle came back in later to eliminate Michaels and continued to attack him afterwards. Jonathan Coachman, the twenty-first entrant, spent a lot of his time in the match holding onto the bottom rope as he was not a wrestler. The final four participants remaining were Batista, John Cena, Edge, and Rey Mysterio. Edge fought with Mysterio and threw him over the top rope, but he stayed on the apron. Edge then executed a spear to eliminate Mysterio. Cena and Batista then eliminated Edge as he was attacking them. Cena tried to perform an FU on Batista to the outside, but Batista fought off. Batista then attempted a Batista Bomb to the outside, but was countered with a headscissors takedown by Cena, sending both over the top rope and touching the floor at the same time. The referees for the Raw brand believed Batista to be the winner while the SmackDown! referees believed Cena to be winner. Following this, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came to the ring, in the process legitimately tearing both his quadriceps muscles, and ordered the match to be restarted with the final two participants, Batista and John Cena. Batista tossed Cena over the top rope following a Spinebuster to win the match.