10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Facts
9. It Had The First IC TItle Match At The Rumble In 14 Years
The show was effectively stolen by the opener, as Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose outlasted Kevin Owens in a hellacious last man standing match. Owens was still selling the effects of the brawl when he entered the Rumble match later, but given some of the dangerous bumps he took, he may not have been "selling", per se.
The brawl was the first Intercontinental title match at the Royal Rumble since 2002, the year in which William Regal won the gold from Edge. From 2003 to 2015, the champion was either in the Rumble match, challenging for the WWE Championship (2008), or there was no champion at all (2003).
Incredibly, the belt was defended at the Rumble every year from 1992 through 2002, changing hands six times in that stretch. After that, as far as Rumbles go, the belt may as well never have existed.