The opening segment had Triple H and Stephanie confronting champion Randy Orton over his recent actions. To make up for it, they booked Orton to face Kofi Kingston in a rematch this week. They also told him he'd make things right with John Cena over what he did to his father. Stephanie suggested that Orton wouldn't have to worry about defending the title or being part of WWE otherwise. During his retorts, Orton brought up that The Authority drove him to act this way. He also mentioned Batista. After Steph and HHH were done speaking to Orton, Batista's music hit and The Animal made his anticipated return. He walked to the ring in street clothes, then hugged Triple H and Stephanie. They left him in the ring with Orton. Batista put him on notice that he's back for the WWE title. He said "I'm back to win the Royal Rumble on Sunday, back to be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and back to headline WrestleMania, so deal with it."
The Shield defeated Big E Langston and the Rhodes Brothers via pinfall. The match broke down with Reigns hitting a spear on Goldust, but Langston knocking down Reigns after. Ambrose tagged Rollins in who hit a curb stomp on langston for the win.
They brought up Daniel Bryan breaking away from The Wyatt Family and attacking Bray Wyatt in a steel cage last week on Raw. They said Bryan will break his silence about his time with the family later.
Daniel Bryan arrived out and discussed how he had to do things he didn't like and keep his friends in the dark to get to Bray Wyatt. He said he had to hang out with three men he despises until he could find the perfect time with Bray Wyatt alone to get to him. He said he finally got that opportunity last week. Bryan then said he heard the Harper and Rowan will be in the Royal Rumble match, so that leaves Bray Wyatt to go one-on-one with him. The lights went out and Bray Wyatt showed up on the big screen. He told Bryan that he needs to go home and hug his mother because everything that happens to him now is his fault.
Fandango defeated Summer Rae via pinfall. The match lasted just over a minute with Fandango able to hit his top rope legdrop for the win. Emma from NXT was shown in the crowd dancing.
Backstage, Stephanie McMahon yelled at Kane for what he did, chokeslamming Punk last week. She said he needs to get ahold of himself since he's now part of management. She said that Kane would need to go out and apologize to CM Punk to prove himself to her.
Kane went out to the ring after a commercial break. He invited Punk out to join him, and Punk did. Kane apologized, but Punk pretended he couldn't hear him, making Kane repeat himself. Punk punched Kane in the face then cleared out of the ring. Kane was going to go after Punk, but Maddox came out and yelled at him to stop. He told Punk he'd give him a match against Road Dogg or Billy Gunn tonight. The New Age Outlaws came out and did rock, paper, scissors. Billy Gunn won so Road Dogg went on guest commentary.
CM Punk defeated Billy Gunn via pinfall. The match lasted under ten minutes. Late in the match, Road Dogg yanked Billy out of the ring to avoid the elbow drop from Punk. Instead, Punk did a running suicide dive out onto Road Dogg. Later in the match, Punk avoided a Fameasser from Gunn, then hit the GTS to win. Post-match, Maddox congratulated Punk on his win. Kane came out and took the mic saying everyone's number for the Royal Rumble is random this year, except for Punk's. He told him that Punk will be the number one entrant in the Royal Rumble this year.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Rey Mysterio via pinfall. Mysterio got the early advantage with a kick to send Del Rio to the outside. He followed with a springboard moonsault. Later, Del Rio took over controling things for a bit, before throwing Rey under the bottom rope to the outside floor. After a commercial break, Del Rio was in control and twisted up Mysterio's mask before tying him up in the tree of woe. Mysterio got some offense going with near falls. However, Del Rio managed to put him in the Cross Arm Breaker for the submission win. Post-match, Batista came down to the ring to confront Del Rio. Del Rio acted like he was going to leave, then went after Batista. The Animal responded by giving him a spinebuster, ripping off his jacket and hitting a Batista Bomb.
Big Show came out as footage was shown of him tossing Brock Lesnar across the ring a few weeks back. Show made fun of how Heyman talks, then said Lesnar is one of the most dangerous guys in WWE, but he doesn't like him. After Show called out Lesnar, Paul Heyman walked out alone. Brock's music hit and Lesnar came out so they started towards the ring. They stopped, then laughed before going backstage. Show yelled for Lesnar to get back out there and get in his face. That brought Brock and Heyman back out. Lesnar got in the ring face-to-face with Show. He gave Show a slight headbutt, then laughed. Show laughed it off. Brock went for a takedown, with Show blocking it. Lesnar then forced Show to the corner for shoulder blocks, but Show picked up Brock and tossed him to the outside. Lesnar was irate outside the ring and tore up the announcers' table, then headed backstage with Heyman.
AJ Lee and Tamina came down to the ring with Tamina covered in cake. They showed how earlier today Bad News Barrett congratulated AJ on being longest-reigning Divas Champion, then told her that the bad news is nobody likes her. AJ got upset and smashed a nearby cake into Tamina's face.
Cameron & Naomi defeated AJ Lee and Tamina via pinfall. At one point, AJ Lee started to act cocky, then started skipping around the ring. Naomi took advantage of her sloppy attitude and rolled her up for the winning pin.
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