WWE Smackdown: John Cena, AJ Styles face off before Royal Rumble
Mickie James speaks out; Mojo Rawley qualifies for Royal Rumble
Wednesday 25 January 2017 12:40, UK
John Cena vowed to become a 16-time world champion in his final face off with AJ Styles ahead of the Royal Rumble.
Cena will match Ric Flair's record haul of world titles if he defeats WWE Champion Styles - who has held the belt since beating Dean Ambrose in September - live on Sky Sports Box Office on Sunday night.
The 39-year-old claimed Styles was only a placeholder champion, while Styles insisted that Cena was a sorry excuse for a wrestler.
Mickie James, meanwhile, revealed the reason she dashed Becky Lynch's hopes of winning the Smackown Women's Title from Alexa Blisss last week was because the Dubliner did not respect her legacy.
James, a former five-time Women's Champion, claimed she began the Women's Revolution back in the mid-2000s and that the only person who appreciated that was current titleholder Bliss.
Lynch then rushed to the ring to attack James but was ambushed by Bliss and subjected to a two-on-one beat-down by her rivals.
Randy Orton beat Luke Harper with an RKO to win the battle of the Wyatt Family stablemates as the faction's leader, Bray Wyatt, watched on.
Wyatt shook hands with the victorious Viper after the match but then laid out Harper with a Sister Abigail having initially consoled his long-time ally.
Orton, Harper and Wyatt will compete in Sunday's Royal Rumble, as will Mojo Rawley, after he lastly eliminated Breezango members Tyler Breeze and Fandango to win an Over The Top Rope Challenge.
Dolph Ziggler beat Kalisto with a superkick before Apollo Crews foiled The Show-Off's planned chair attack on the masked wrestler.
Plus, Dean Ambrose downed The Miz in a Lumberjack Match to retain the Intercontinental Title - The Lunatic Fringe hitting Dirty Deeds to seal his win after fending off interference from Baron Corbin.
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.
A live blog of WWE Royal Rumble will run on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app during the event, featuring text commentary, social media and short highlight clips.
Watch the 2017 Royal Rumble, live on Sky Sports Box Office on Sunday night
You can order the show 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.
