Bianca Belair won the 2021 Royal Rumble Match

Published Jan. 31, 2021 9:39 p.m. ET

WWE

WWE THUNDERDOME AT TROPICANA FIELD — The EST of WWE Is headed to WrestleMania.

In only her second appearance in WWE’s annual over-the-top-rope melee, Bianca Belair outlasted a Superstar-studded field to win the 2021 Royal Rumble Match. Making the feat more remarkable was the way she did it: entering at No. 3 and lasting more than 56 minutes, setting a record among female Rumblers.

Preceding Belair in the fray were her recent rival, Bayley (No. 1), and the returning Naomi (No. 2), both of whom gave a good accounting of themselves before being eliminated (Bayley at the hands of Belair around the 30-minute mark, and Naomi by Nia Jax &Shayna Baszler after more than 47 minutes).

With a new entrant arriving every 90 seconds, the action never let up, except, perhaps, for Billie Kay (No. 4), who split her time between joining commentators at the announce desk and propositioning other entrants to be her teammate before entering the ring. (Kay’s overtures were rejected by everyone until former Divas Champion Jillian Hall agreed to form a short-lived “Billie & Jillie” union.)

Hall was only one of several surprise entrants, ranging from two-time Women’s Champion Victoria and WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson, to NXT Superstars like Toni Storm and Ember Moon, to the returning Lana, not seen since being taken out by Jax last month. Former Divas Champion Alicia Fox not only saw action, but even won championship gold, albeit briefly, by pinning 24/7 Champion R-Truth, who mistakenly thought he was entering the night’s other Royal Rumble Match. (Truth regained the title moments later before being chased away from ringside by a swarm of would-be contenders.)

Several Superstars threatened to change the complexion of the Royal Rumble in the blink of an eye. Jax and Baszler teamed up to run roughshod for a period of time, until Jax, underscoring the every-Superstar-for-herself dynamic of the match, sent Baszler flying. (In a fateful twist, Jax was later disposed of by Lana — payback, no doubt, for Jax’s many beatdowns of Lana in the past.)

The ominous arrival of Alexa Bliss (No. 27) drew the attention of all the other competitors, who quickly piled on Bliss. Just as she was about to metamorphize into her sinister alter-ego, however, Rhea Ripley upended her.

The Nightmare eliminated the most Superstars of the match, tossing seven in total. She very nearly went the distance, too, ending up in the final four alongside Belair, last year’s Royal Rumble Match winner Charlotte Flair (No. 15) and the final entrant, Natalya.

Ripley dumped Natalya and, after a tense back-and-forth, joined forces with The EST of WWE to ditch Flair. With a prized match at WrestleMania hanging in the balance, Ripley and Belair traded one big move after another until Belair clotheslined The Nightmare out of the ring to claim the monumental, career-changing win.

Full list of Royal Rumble Match participants and eliminations

No.

Superstar

Eliminated

Eliminated By

Time

Bayley

Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan

Bianca Belair