Royal Rumble 2013

Royal Rumble 2013 was the twenty-sixth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE. It will take place on January 27, 2013 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be the first WWE pay-per-view of 2013, and will feature the traditional Royal Rumble match.

Background
Royal Rumble features professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that are played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension, and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

On July 23, 2012, during Raw 1000, The Rock announced that he will challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. During the same episode WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena each stated that they will face The Rock as defending champion; later that night, The Rock was attacked and laid out by Punk which marked the start of Punk becoming a heel character.

Punk defended the championship for the rest of the year, while on December 23, 2012, The Rock tweeted to CM Punk that he was ready for the Royal Rumble. On the January 7 episode of Raw, Punk retained the WWE Championship by defeating Ryback in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match after interference from The Shield group, who had also interfered during Punk's defence against Ryback and John Cena at Survivor Series; this win secured Punk as the wrestler who would defend against The Rock. On the January 21 episode of Raw while speaking about beating Punk at the Rumble, Rock was assaulted by The Shield. Following the assault, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that if The Shield interfere in the match, Punk will be stripped of his championship.

On the December 31, 2012 episode of Raw John Cena announced he will enter the 2013 Royal Rumble match, making him the first confirmed entrant in the competition, and stated his desire to be WWE Champion. On the January 4, 2013 episode of SmackDown Randy Orton and Sheamus both announced they would participate in the Royal Rumble match as well, both wanting to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On subsequent episodes of Raw and SmackDown numerous wrestlers confirmed their participation: Dolph Ziggler claimed Cena had entered the match to hide from him, so Ziggler entered himself to stop Cena; 3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and Drew McIntyre) announced all three members were entering; Wade Barrett was confirmed on the 20th Anniversary of Raw; The Miz announced on his entry during commentary of Main Event; Antonio Cesaro announced his entry by interview. On the January 21 episode of Raw a Beat The Clock Challenge was held with the winner being able to pick their entrance number. Ziggler defeated The Miz in the fastest time (due to beating Orton's time over Cesaro and Sheamus vs Barrett ending in a time limit draw), but Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero (after Ziggler barged into her office and gloated about winning) declared that his choice was between the first and second entry. On the same episode, Ryback announced his entry into the Royal Rumble after defeating Slater, while The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) and Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) also promised to win the match. On the January 25th, 2013 edition of SmackDown, Kofi Kingston and The Great Khali announced their entries into the Royal Rumble.

Big Show began a feud with Alberto Del Rio after humiliating Del Rio's personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, sarcastically picking him to fight Show for the World Heavyweight Championship during "Champion's Choice Night" on the New Year's Eve 2012 episode of Raw, leading to a disqualification win for Big Show after Del Rio interfered. On the January 11, 2013 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Show in a Last Man Standing match for the championship. Three days later on Raw, Show announced that he would invoke his rematch clause at the pay-per-view. The week after, he made the match a Last Man Standing Match.

Matches

 * Pre-show: Antonio Cesaro (c) defeated The Miz to retain the United States Championship


 * Alberto Del Rio (c) defeated Big Show in a Last Man Standing match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship


 * Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) for the Tag Team Championship


 * CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship
 * If The Shield interferes in the match, Punk will be stripped of the title.


 * 2013 Royal Rumble match
 * Winner receives his choice of a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXIX

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.

Also See

 * List of WWE pay-per-view events
 * WWE Event History
 * Royal Rumble
 * Event gallery

DVD release

 * Amazon.jpg Royal Rumble 2013 on DVD