The Royal Rumble was a hit among the fans as the road to WrestleMania officially kicked off. The Women's Rumble match was an absolute banger with incredible surprises and insane spots. On the other hand, the Men's Rumble match had a zing as well, which marked the return of former US Champion Andrade. Memorable debuts and returns took place. The return of Brock Lesnar was also supposed to happen, but due to the Janel Grant lawsuit, he was pulled off the match

3 things you need to know

• Cody Rhodes won the Men's Rumble match, while Bayley won the Women's Rumble
• Rhodes is now a back-to-back Rumble winner after Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
• While Cody has called out Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, there is a chance that Bayley may challenge Rhea Ripley for the title

Also Read: CM Punk ostensibly suffers horrible injury at WWE Royal Rumble 2024

Brock Lesnar's replacement in the Royal Rumble was a standout superstar from NXT 

Reports came up that Brock Lesnar did not travel to St. Petersburg, Clearwater, for the Royal Rumble at the Tropicana Field. It has been said that the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant over Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis seemingly indicated that Brock Lesnar was also involved, even though he was not directly named in it. It led to the WWE removing from the match. To fill up his spot, WWE reportedly went for NXT standout Bron Breakker. 

Dave Meltzer talked about Breakker's participation in the match on Wrestling Observer Radio following the WWE Royal Rumble. He claimed that although Brock Lesnar was originally supposed to make a comeback at the event, that plan was abandoned in the wake of the lawsuit. Meltzer claims that given that Breakker defeated the opponents which Brock was supposed to, he essentially took Lesnar's place in the contest. Later on, Meltzer clarified that Breakker was not initially scheduled for the game. He pointed out that Lesnar was expected to have a dominant showing, and Breakker covered for him.

"Lesnar's planned creative last night was filled by Bron Breakker. Pretty much his point of entry, eliminations and how he was eliminated were all planned for Lesnar. The Lesnar creative which at this point he's not going to be involved with unless they decide they would bring him back, was Lesnar vs. Dominik Mysterio in Australia and Lesnar vs. Gunther (I don't know factually an IC title match but one would expect) at WrestleMania. Whether Bron Breakker gets those matches is not clear yet," said Meltzer.

Also Read: Cody Rhodes achieves historic back-to-back Royal Rumble triumphs after CM Punk's harsh words

Former NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his way to the ring in the #20 spot in the Men's Rumble match. The young superstar looked like a tank and mauled the rumble participants while also making some eliminations. Following the match, he said he had proven himself and declared the main roster his home.