Background in
Fresno, California. The
Royal Rumble is an annual
gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) produced every January by
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with
WrestleMania,
SummerSlam, and
Survivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four". It is named after the
Royal Rumble match, a modified
battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2005 event was the 18th Royal Rumble and was scheduled to be held on January 30, 2005, at the
Save Mart Center in
Fresno, California. It featured wrestlers from the
Raw and
SmackDown! brands. The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a
world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2005, the winner could choose to challenge for either Raw's
World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown!'s
WWE Championship at
WrestleMania 21. as the
World Heavyweight Champion The main
feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between
Triple H and
Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud started on the August 16 episode of
Raw, when Orton was kicked out of
Evolution by Triple H. At
Unforgiven, Triple H defeated Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship after interference from Evolution members
Batista and
Ric Flair. At
Survivor Series, Team Orton (Orton,
Chris Benoit,
Chris Jericho, and
Maven) defeated Team Triple H (Triple H,
Edge, Batista, and
Snitsky) in a
traditional Survivor Series elimination match to earn control of
Raw after Orton last eliminated Triple H. At
New Year's Revolution, Triple H won an
Elimination Chamber match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship by last eliminating Orton after interference from Batista and Flair. On the January 10 episode of
Raw, Orton defeated Batista to become the number one contender for the title at the Royal Rumble. On the January 17 episode of
Raw, after a verbal confrontation between the two in the arena, Triple H ambushed Orton backstage. They fought until Orton tried to use a
steel chair, and Triple H fled. On the January 24 episode of
Raw, Orton defeated Flair, despite interference from Triple H. The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL),
The Big Show, and
Kurt Angle, with the three feuding over the WWE Championship. On the December 16 episode of
SmackDown!, Angle challenged JBL to a match for the WWE Championship.
The Cabinet (
Orlando Jordan,
Doug, and Danny Basham) interfered and attacked Angle, causing the match to end via disqualification. They continued to attack Angle after the match until Big Show came out, beat down everyone, and signaled to JBL that he wanted the title. On the December 30 episode of
SmackDown!, a
triple threat match for the title between the three was
booked for the Royal Rumble. Following this, JBL set up Angle to anger Big Show, but Angle angered JBL in response. After realizing this, on the January 20 episode of
SmackDown!, JBL aligned himself with Big Show and confronted Angle; however, JBL
turned on Big Show and beat him down with Angle. On the January 27 episode of
SmackDown!,
SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long booked a
Last Man Standing match between JBL and Angle for later that night. The two eventually turned on each other, and the match ended in a no contest. It was later revealed that the match was Big Show's idea. Another feud heading into the event from SmackDown! was between
The Undertaker and
Heidenreich. Their feud first started at
No Mercy when Heidenreich helped John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeat The Undertaker in a
Last Ride match by attacking The Undertaker and putting him in the
hearse. At Survivor Series, The Undertaker defeated Heidenreich after executing a
Tombstone Piledriver. At
Armageddon, Heidenreich once again cost The Undertaker the WWE Championship against JBL after interfering in a fatal four-way match that involved
Booker T and
Eddie Guerrero, allowing JBL to pin Booker T to retain. SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long let The Undertaker name the stipulation for his match against Heidenreich at the Royal Rumble. As Heidenreich mentioned his fear of caskets, The Undertaker chose to face him in a
casket match for the Royal Rumble their first casket match at the event since the
1998 event involved with
Shawn Michaels and the third occurrence the other was in the
1994 event involved with
Yokozuna. A preliminary Raw brand feud was between
Shawn Michaels and
Edge. Their feud started at
Taboo Tuesday when Michaels was voted over Edge and
Chris Benoit to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship while Edge and Benoit were put into a
World Tag Team Championship match against
La Résistance. During the tag team title match, an angry Edge abandoned Benoit, which Benoit eventually won for his team, and instead interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match, costing Michaels the championship. At New Year's Revolution, Edge competed in an
Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship with Michaels as the
special guest referee. During the match, Edge accidentally
speared Michaels, resulting in Michaels performing
Sweet Chin Music on Edge, who would be eliminated by
Chris Jericho. On the January 10 episode of
Raw, a confrontation between Edge and Michaels ended in the two men brawling around the arena. A match between the two was then booked for the Royal Rumble. ;Royal Rumble Qualification Matches •
Booker T and
Charlie Haas defeated
Luther Reigns and
Mark Jindrak -
SmackDown house show, January 9 •
Shelton Benjamin defeated
Maven -
Raw, January 10 •
Edge defeated
Rhyno -
Raw, January 10 •
Chris Jericho defeated
Muhammad Hassan -
Raw house show, January 16 •
Scotty 2 Hotty defeated
Akio -
SmackDown, January 18 •
John Cena defeated
Rene Dupree -
SmackDown, January 18 •
Rey Mysterio defeated
Chavo Guerrero -
SmackDown, January 18 •
Viscera defeated
Tajiri in a battle royal -
Raw, January 24 •
Batista defeated
Rob Conway and
Sylvain Grenier in a handicap match -
Raw, January 24 •
Muhammad Hassan defeated
Val Venis -
Raw, January 24 •
Kane defeated
Gene Snitsky and
Maven in a triple threat match -
Raw, January 24 •
Paul London defeated
Funaki,
Shannon Moore, and
Spike Dudley in a fatal four-way match -
SmackDown, January 25 ==Event==