26 January,2019 05:35 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
John Cena (Pic/WWE.com)
The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced every January since 1988 by professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal whose participants enter at timed intervals.
After the initial event was broadcast as a television special, the Royal Rumble has been shown on pay-per-view and is one of WWE's "Big Four", along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.
Let's have a look at the action-packed matches at the Royal Rumble 2019.
1) 2019 Men's and Women's Royal Rumble Match
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A tradition dating back to 1988, the high-stakes free-for-all event starts with two Superstars and other Superstars enter the ring at equal intervals. Both the men and women will battle it out in the traditional 30-competitor, over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble matches with Wrestle Mania championship opportunities on the line. The winners will face the champion of his or her choice on The Grandest Stage of Them All in April. Some of the confirmed entrants in the men's Royal Rumble match are John Cena, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Elias, Jinder Mahal, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Lashley, Titus O'Neil, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, R-Truth (No. 30)
2) Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor
The universal title picture took another swerve when Braun Strowman ripped the door off of Mr. McMahon's limo during Monday Night Raw resulting in The Chairman stripping The Monster Among Men of his Universal Title bout against Brock Lesnar. Eventually, Balor won a Fatal 4-Way match and is now the No.1 contender to face Brock Lesnar at 2019 Royal Rumble. This puts Finn Balor in an interesting spot considering he was removed from this exact match one year ago in favour of Strowman and Kane.
3) WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan will once again go to war with a determined AJ Styles in another classic title fight at Royal Rumble 2019. Although AJ Styles fell short in the rematch at WWE TLC, The Phenomenal One is laser-focused on reclaiming his title. AJ Styles is coming off an explosive Fatal 5-Way Match to earn the right to once again challenge Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble 2019. Will Styles finally get retribution on Bryan? Or will his chances at reclaiming the WWE Title prove fickle?
4) RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey vs Sasha Banks
Ronda Rousey defends her Raw Women's Championship against her toughest challenger, Sasha Banks. Banks became the No. 1 contender to the Raw women's title when she defeated Nia Jax, and now will compete in one of the biggest matches of her career. Rousey herself is no pushover, she's a former Olympian and UFC Champion and has also seamlessly made the transition from MMA to WWE.
5) SmackDown Women's Champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch, The Irish Lass Kicker will square off against Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble event. This could be a final opportunity for Lynch to clinch the title that helped her ascend to the status of "The Man." Meanwhile, The Japanese star won the inaugural all-female Royal Rumble match back in 2018 and now returns to the 'Rumble as the SmackDown Women's Champion.
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