WrestleMania 32: 12 Booking Steps For John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
9. Roman Reigns Wins The 2016 Royal Rumble Match (Unexpectedly)
With John Cena as reigning WWE Champion by the show’s end, having successfully defended the belt against Seth Rollins, the Rumble match would feature the following Superstars, appearing in the following order:
1. Cesaro
2. Sami Zayn (surprise entrant, returning from injury)
3. Xavier Woods
4. Viktor
5. Jack Swagger
6. The Miz
7. Roman Reigns
8. R-Truth
9. Eric Rowan
10. Damien Sandow
11. Tyson Kidd
12. Kevin Owens
13. Big E
14. Konnor
15. Dean Ambrose
16. Bray Wyatt
17. Curtis Axel
18. Zack Ryder
19. Darren Young
20. Finn Balor (surprise entrant, in full ‘Demon Balor’ body paint)
21. Randy Orton
22. Ryback
23. Sheamus
24. Rusev
25. Luke Harper
26. Neville
27. Samoa Joe (surprise entrant, making his main roster debut)
28. Titus O’Neil
29. Dolph Ziggler
30. Brock Lesnar (surprise entrant, arriving unannounced and without any build-up)
Order of elimination, and who eliminated them:
1. Viktor (eliminated by Sami Zayn)
2. Jack Swagger (eliminated by Tyson Kidd & Cesaro)
3. The Miz (eliminated by Damien Sandow)
4. Sami Zayn (eliminated by Kevin Owens)
5. Tyson Kidd (eliminated by Big E)
6. Damien Sandow (eliminated by Cesaro)
7. Cesaro (eliminated by Bray Wyatt)
8. Xavier Woods (eliminated by Roman Reigns)
9. R-Truth (eliminated by Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns)
10. Eric Rowan (eliminated by Dean Ambrose)
11. Curtis Axel (eliminated by Finn Balor)
12. Zack Ryder (eliminated by Kevin Owens)
13. Konnor (eliminated by Roman Reigns)
14. Big E (eliminated by Randy Orton)
15. Darren Young (eliminated by Bray Wyatt)
16. Randy Orton (eliminated by Sheamus)
17. Luke Harper (eliminated by Samoa Joe)
18. Neville (eliminated by Sheamus)
19. Sheamus (eliminated by Dolph Ziggler)
20. Finn Balor (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
21. Titus O’Neil (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
22. Dolph Ziggler (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
23. Ryback (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
24. Rusev (eliminated by Samoa Joe)
25. Kevin Owens (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
26. Bray Wyatt (eliminated by Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose)
27. Dean Ambrose (eliminated by Brock Lesnar)
28. Brock Lesnar (eliminated by Samoa Joe)
29. Samoa Joe (eliminated by Roman Reigns, immediately after Joe eliminates Lesnar)
30. Winner: Roman Reigns
Reigns would sneak up behind Samoe Joe and dump him out of the ring just as Joe (and the fans) would be celebrating Joe’s monumental elimination of Brock Lesnar. This would set up Reigns’ confrontation with Cena, and would by consequence set up a feud between Joe and Lesnar, who’d brawl their way back to the backstage area.