The 2005 Royal Rumble, held on January 30, 2005, was the eighteenth edition of the annual World Wrestling Entertainment Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. It was a joint production of both the RAW and SmackDown! brands. The event emanated from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, which is why it used the West Side Story theme.

Tickets for this event went on sale on December 18, 2004.

Along with the traditional Royal Rumble match, there were other matches booked for the event.

Final card

Singles Match
Shawn Michaels will wrestle Edge.

Casket Match
Heidenreich will wrestle The Undertaker in a Casket Match.

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield will defend the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Randy Orton will wrestle World Heavyweight Champion Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The 2005 Royal Rumble match

This is the list of professional wrestlers who officially qualified for the 2005 Royal Rumble.

On-air personalities

RAW announce team

• Jim Ross (play-by-play commentator)
• Jerry "The King" Lawler (colour commentator)
• Howard Finkel (RAW ring announcer)

SmackDown! announce team

• Michael Cole (play-by-play commentator)
• Tazz (colour commentator)
• Tony Chimel (SmackDown! ring announcer)

Spanish announce team

• Hugo Savinovich (play-by-play commentator)
• Carlos Cabrera (colour commentator)

Royal Rumble match commentators

• Jim Ross (play-by-play commentator)
• Tazz (colour commentator)
• Howard Finkel (ring announcer)

Results

Sunday Night Heat

Maven defeated Rhyno

Singles match

Edge defeated Shawn Michaels via pinfall.

Casket match

The Undertaker defeated Heidenreich after a tombstone piledriver.

• Note: Gene Snitsky and Kane interfered in this match.

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship

WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeated The Big Show and Kurt Angle via pinning Angle thus retaining the WWE Championship.

• Note:The Cabinet and Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak interfered in this match.

World Heavyweight Championship match

World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Randy Orton via pinfall thus retaining the World Heavyweight Championship.

The 2005 Royal Rumble match

Batista eliminated John Cena following a controversial finish, which both Cena and Batista hit the floor at the exact same time. This prompted Vince McMahon to come out to ringside and he "restarted" the match with the final two competitors with Batista ending up the winner.Sources suggest that the double finish was not intended,and Batista lost balance when he was to eliminate Cena.This concerned McMahon,and he injured his knee to come out in a hurry.

See also

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble 2004
The annual World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events

External link

Official WWE Royal Rumble website (http://www.wwe.com/shows/royal_rumble/)