Royal Rumble 2010

Royal Rumble 2010 is the twenty-third annual Royal Rumble event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 31, 2010 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Background
Royal Rumble will feature professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that will be played out on Raw, SmackDown, ECW and WWE Superstars—World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers will portray a villain or a hero as they follow a series of events that build tension, and culminate into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers will be from WWE's Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.

According to a teaser trailer produced by WWE, the pay-per-view will feature the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 male wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor. The winner will earn a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVI.

Christian will defend the ECW Championship against Ezekiel Jackson. On the December 15, 2009 episode of ECW, general manager Tiffany made an announcement that the ECW brand would host a competition called the "ECW Homecoming", in which the winner will face Christian for the ECW Championship at Royal Rumble. Featuring current and former superstars from the ECW brand, the first round of the competition consisted of eight singles matches. The winners of the matches would then qualify to the "Homecoming Finale" on the January 12, 2010 edition of ECW, where they would fight in an eight-man battle royal that will determine the competition winner. The first two qualifying matches were featured later that night with Ezekiel Jackson defeating Vladimir Kozlov and Kane defeating Zack Ryder. On the December 22, 2009 episode of ECW, Jack Swagger returned in a losing effort to Yoshi Tatsu, while Vance Archer advanced with a victory over Goldust. On the December 29, 2009 episode of ECW, Matt Hardy and Evan Bourne defeated Finlay and Mike Knox respectively to qualify. The two remaining qualifying matches were held on the January 5, 2010 episode of ECW and saw Shelton Benjamin defeating Chavo Guerrero and CM Punk defeating Mark Henry to qualify. Ezekiel Jackson won the "Homecoming Finale", last eliminating Kane, to earn the right to face Christian at Royal Rumble.

It was announced on December 31, 2009 on the company's official website that The Undertaker would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship at Royal Rumble; the means of determining the challenger was stated to be via the "Beat the Clock Sprint", a series of matches that sees who ever wins their match in the fastest time would be declared number-one contender. The sprint, held on the January 1, 2010 edition of SmackDown, consisted of four matches, in which CM Punk, Kane, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Matt Hardy and Batista could qualify for if they won their matches in the quickest amount of time. CM Punk defeated Matt Hardy in his match, setting the time at 7:20. The next match featured Kane and Ziggler; both failed to beat the time limit, thus ruling both men out of winning the match and advancing to the match against for the World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Jericho later lost to Rey Mysterio with one second to spare. Mysterio defeated Jericho in 7:19, setting the new time to beat. The final match was Batista versus R-Truth, where the match resulted in another time-limit draw, due in part to interference from Mysterio. Despite Mysterio being ruled number-one contender, onscreen consultant Vickie Guerrero overruled the standing, announcing another contenders match the following week between Mysterio and Batista, who had disputably won his match. The rematch between the two on the January 8, 2010 episode of SmackDown was declared a no contest following both men being incapacitated. Another rematch between the two was held on the following week, this time inside a steel cage. Mysterio won the match, earning him the right to face The Undertaker at Royal Rumble.

The main event for Raw was determined on the January 11, 2010 edition with guest host Mike Tyson announcing the winner of a Triple Threat match later that night between John Cena, Kofi Kingston, and Randy Orton would advance to face Sheamus at Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. Orton ultimately won with the help of Legacy, who took out Cena and Kingston for him.

Since November of the previous year, WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool had been relentlessly insulting Mickie James over a perceived weight issue. The two had a match at WWE TLC, which saw McCool win, continuing the torment. James confronted McCool on the January 15 edition of SmackDown during a mocking monologue about James, leading to the champion assaulting her. It was also confirmed that day that McCool will defend her title again at Royal Rumble against James.

Results
(c) - refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
 * Dark Match: Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Eve Torres, and The Bella Twins defeated Alicia Fox, Natalya, Maryse, Jillian, and Katie Lea Burchill
 * Christian (c) defeated Ezekiel Jackson to retain the ECW Championship
 * The Miz defeated MVP to retain the United States Championship (7:36)
 * Sheamus (c) defeated Randy Orton by DQ to retain the WWE Championship
 * Mickie James defeated Michelle McCool (c) to win the WWE Women's Championship (0:28)
 * The Undertaker (c) defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (11:25)

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

ECW Homecoming Tournament
Qualifying Matchs
 * The tournament was used to determine who would be the #1 Contender for the ECW Championship at the Royal Rumble. The rules were: sixteen former and current ECW Superstars will compete in a series of one-on-one matches, with the eight winners advancing to "The Homecoming Finale" Battle Royal on January 12. Ezekiel Jackson won the battle royal and was named the #1 Contender for the ECW Title at the Royal Rumble 2010.
 * Ezekiel Jackson defeated Vladimir Kozlov (w/ William Regal) (1:35)
 * Kane defeated Zack Ryder (w/ Rosa Mendes)
 * Vance Archer defeated Goldust (2:51)
 * Yoshi Tatsu defeated Jack Swagger (14:14)
 * Matt Hardy defeated Finlay (5:15)
 * Evan Bourne pinned Mike Knox (3:45)
 * Shelton Benjamin defeated Chavo Guerrero
 * CM Punk defeated Mark Henry


 * Winner of the Battle Royal: Ezekiel Jackson by last eliminating Kane

Also See

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

DVD release

 * Royal Rumble 2010 (DVD & Blu-Ray) (March 2, 2010)