Cody Rhodes won the 30-man match to earn a main-event spot at April’s show but it was the show-closing angle featuring Sami Zayn that the fans responded to most strongly.
The 2023 Royal Rumble ended with one of the great angles in WWE history, although at press time it does not appear it will be leading to the main event of WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble is WWE’s annual January pay-per-view tradition, where 30 wrestlers (until recently only the male roster, but for the last five years the female roster as well) enter the ring one-by-one to participate in a glorified battle royal, with the winner usually (but not always) getting a championship match in the main event of WrestleMania.