Big Show and The Undertaker have felt Lesnar's force...
Monday 23 January 2017 16:36, UK
Brock Lesnar has competed at five Royal Rumble pay-per-views - and made a huge impact at each of them.
The Beast Incarnate, a confirmed entrant in the 30-man Royal Rumble on Sunday, retained world titles at the 2004 and 2015 events.
Lesnar has also wrestled in the 30-man melee twice and interfered in it once, as well as conquering The World’s Largest Athlete on two occasions.
Read on to check out his Rumble résumé…
2003 and 2014: Battering Big Show
Paul "Big Show" Wight is a monstrous man but he hasn't half taken a pasting from Lesnar at the Rumble. Back in 2003, a youthful Lesnar met The World's Largest Athlete in a Royal Rumble qualifying match, securing victory following a truckload of suplexes and an F5. That victory propelled Lesnar into the evening's 30-man match but he wasn't finished with Show at the Rumble, not by a long shot. Fast-forward 11 years and The Anomaly pulverised the behemoth again, clubbing his rival with multiple chair shots before the bell rang, winning the contest in a shade over two minutes with an F5, and then re-starting the chair attack.
2003: Brock becomes 'The One'
Lesnar entered the 2003 Rumble at No 29 following his earlier decimation of Big Show and proceeded to chuck out Matt Hardy, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin to leave himself and The Undertaker as the final two Superstars standing. The Best Incarnate rarely needs help to pick up wins but he received some on this occasion, with Batista - irate at seeing his hopes of Rumble glory shattered when he was dispatched by The Undertaker - distracting the Phenom long enough for Lesnar to hurl him over the ropes. The Anomaly went on to beat Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania that spring.
2004: Beating Holly and stopping Goldberg
Lesnar kept hold of the WWE Championship in 2004 when he battled Hardcore Holly. The Beast had put Holly on the sidelines with a broken neck in September 2002 forcing the Alabama grappler to miss over a year of action, so the challenger was seeking revenge as well as gold. Holly gained a head of steam when he clocked Lesnar with an Alabama Slam but the tide turned when his neck connected with the ropes, allowing Lesnar to hit an F5. Not content with his night's work, Lesnar attacked Goldberg during the Royal Rumble Match, leading to the WCW legend being eliminated by Angle and Goldberg going on to beat Lesnar at WrestleMania 20.
2015: Lesnar keeps world title – again
The Anomaly crushed Cena at SummerSlam in August 2014 to earn his fourth world title in WWE – and he beat both Cena and Seth Rollins at the 2015 Rumble to remain champion. The Triple Threat match was a belter, with Lesnar hitting a plethora of suplexes before he was cracked with the steel steps by Cena and thundered through the announce desk by Rollins’ flying elbow drop. Lesnar eventually clambered to his feet and shrugged off being smacked twice by Rollins’ Money in the Bank briefcase to pin The Architect. Rollins would earn revenge at WrestleMania 31, though, cashing in his contract to become world champion.
2016: Wyatts foil The Beast
Lesnar looked one of the strong favourites to win the 2016 Royal Rumble Match, the second of his career, and all appeared to be running smoothly when he entered at No 23 and dumped Jack Swagger and Wyatt Family members Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan over the top rope. However, when Harper, Strowman and Rowan’s leader, Bray Wyatt, made his way to the ring, the entire brood ganged up on Lesnar and removed him from the match, shattering his hopes of regaining the WWE Title. Instead, No 30 entrant Triple H left the bout with the belt - The Game dumping out Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to win his 14th world title.
WWE Royal Rumble booking details
WWE Royal Rumble will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 491) and Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 492) from midnight Monday, January 30.
The pay-per-view will cost £19.95 for viewers in the United Kingdom and €24.95 for customers in the Republic of Ireland.
WWE Royal Rumble will repeated on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 491) BUT NOT Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 492) between 10am on Monday, January 30 and 8pm on Thursday, February 2 - 8pm is the start of the final playout.
You can order the show online by visiting this link: https://my.sky.com/orderboxoffice/?DCMP=WWERoyalRumble
You can also book the event over the phone: UK viewers should call 03442 410 888, while customers in the Republic of Ireland should call 0818 220 225. (There may be an additional charge for telephone bookings).
You will also be able to order the show via your Sky remote nearer the event:
Sky+: Press the box office button on your remote, then click the sports tab followed by WWE Royal Rumble.
Sky Q: Press Home on your Sky Q remote, select TV guide, then Box Office and then WWE Royal Rumble. Enter your TV Pin if prompted. (Only bookings via Sky TV remote are recordable using Sky Plus).
Sky TV residential customers only. Commercial customers contact Sky for price and to order. Sky Box Office terms apply. Cable customers should contact their local cable operator.
