Royal Rumble (2016)

The 2016 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on January 24, 2016, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was the 29th annual Royal Rumble event.

The main event was the Royal Rumble match itself, in which Roman Reigns defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In a departure from tradition, Reigns, the defending champion, was forced to defend his title within the Royal Rumble match, entering at the number one spot. The winner of the match, in this case Triple H, who entered at number 30, became the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

The event also featured other matches, including Dean Ambrose versus Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Championship, Alberto Del Rio versus Kalisto for the United States Championship (with Kalisto winning the title), and The New Day versus The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship (The New Day retained).

The 2016 Royal Rumble is notable for Triple H's surprise return and victory, marking his ninth world championship reign. It also solidified Roman Reigns' position as a top star, despite facing significant fan backlash at the time, as he was consistently presented as the company's chosen face. The event was generally well-received by critics, though the booking of Reigns and the predictable nature of Triple H's victory were points of contention.