10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2016

10. Roman Reigns Broke A 26 Year Streak

It's easy to forget that the Royal Rumble had no WrestleMania ties until 1993, or that winners didn't actually get anything of tangible value until 1992. In 2016, WWE decided to stick then-champ Roman Reigns in the match as a punishment from The Authority. That broke a 26 year long streak for the show.

Roman became the first reigning WWE Champion to compete in the Rumble since Hulk Hogan in 1990.  Ric Flair in '92 doesn’t count, because he wasn’t WWF Champ until winning the match. 2016 was also, however, the first time since Flair's year that the top title was up for grabs in the titular match.

Twenty six years. Wow.

WWE settled into a groove from '93 onwards of using the Rumble as a vehicle to set up who'd challenge for the top prize come 'Mania. 2016 bucked that longstanding trend by putting Reigns out there to defend the belt against 29 other wrestlers. He'd end up losing out to heel kingpin Triple H on the night.