Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto: Winner and Reaction from 2016 Royal Rumble

Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto met in their third United States Championship match in a little over a week at Sunday night's Royal Rumble event, and Kalisto once again defeated the former WWE World Heavyweight champion.

WWE captured the finish: 

WWE Universe took a photo of Kalisto holding up his belt: 

Ringside Xcess joked that Kalisto's title run will be a short one: 

Kalisto has quickly shot up the singles ranks with Lucha Dragons tag team partner Sin Cara on the shelf due to a shoulder injury. Following a non-title win over ADR on the Jan. 7 edition of SmackDown, the diminutive luchador pulled off a shocking upset on the ensuing Raw to become the new United States champion.

Unfortunately for the former NXT Tag Team champion, his initial run with the belt was brief, as Mexico's Greatest Export won it back the following night at the SmackDown taping.

Despite the fact the League of Nations member was able to get one over on his masked opponent, Kalisto was entitled to a rematch which set the stage for another battle between them at the Rumble.

Del Rio's confidence was riding high after beating Kalisto on SmackDown, and he did his best to get inside the Chicago native's head:

Based on the manner in which Del Rio won the title in the first place, it is certainly understandable why he felt he could beat Kalisto without much trouble.

After a year away from WWE, Del Rio made a shocking return at Hell in a Cell as a surprise challenger to then-United States champion John Cena.

The Mexican aristocrat beat Cena cleanly with a kick flush to his face to become the new U.S. titleholder. While it can undoubtedly be argued that the creative team failed to build upon the momentum created by that moment, it was a huge coup for the 38-year-old veteran nonetheless.

He has failed to recapture that magic and maintain the level of relevance he seemingly had when he initially made his return, but Del Rio has been a big part of Kalisto's ascent up the card.

After floundering in the tag team ranks and being featured inconsistently on WWE programming for months, going up against Del Rio bolstered Kalisto's profile considerably and cast him in a role similar to former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio.

Del Rio and Kalisto combined to produce another strong contest at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, and since Kalisto came out on top one can only assume he and Del Rio will continue to go at it with the patriotic prize hanging in the balance.

The U.S. title may not have the same cachet as it did when Cena held and defended it in a number of excellent matches, but Del Rio and Kalisto both performed well Sunday, which provides hope the prestigious championship can regain some of its luster. 

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