Royal Rumble (2015) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It will take place on January 25, 2015 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1] It will be the twenty-eighth annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Royal Rumble will feature professional wrestling matches that involve wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that play out on WWE television. Wrestlers will portray heroes or villains as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[2][3]
As is tradition at this yearly event, the card will be highlighted by the 30-man Royal Rumble match, where this year's winner will receive a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs event, Roman Reigns returned and announced himself as the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match.^[4] On the December 29 episode of Raw, Daniel Bryan announced his participation in the match.^[5] On the January 6 episode of Main Event, WWE United States Champion Rusev announced his participation in the match.^[6] On the January 9 episode of Smackdown, Bray Wyatt and WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett announced their participation in the match.^[7] On the January 12 episode of Raw, Dean Ambrose announced his participation in the match.^[8] On the January 13 episode of Main Event, Gold and Stardust announced their participation in the match.^[9]
At SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Cena received his rematch at Night of Champions against Lesnar, but won via disqualification as Seth Rollins interfered in the match; as the championship cannot change hands on a disqualification, Lesnar retained the title. At Hell in a Cell, Cena defeated Randy Orton to become the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Cena defeated Rollins in a Tables match to retain his #1 contender status. Later in the event, it was announced that Cena will face Lesnar for the title at Royal Rumble. On the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw, Rollins was added to the match as a reward for bringing back the Authority after coaxing Cena on the previous episode, making the match a triple threat.^[10]
On the December 26, 2014 episode of Raw, The Usos defeated The Miz and Damien Mizdow to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. Miz and Mizdow would then invoke their rematch clause, and will face the Usos for the titles at the PPV.^[11]