Drew McIntyre Eliminates Roman Reigns to Win 2020 WWE Men's Royal Rumble Match

Drew McIntyre won the 2020 men's Royal Rumble match at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Sunday, thus earning the right to challenge for the WWE or Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.

The Scot last eliminated Roman Reigns, incapacitating him with the Claymore Kick before throwing him over the top rope to the floor.

WWE champion Brock Lesnar was dominant to open the match, eliminating one star after another until Keith Lee and Braun Strowman arrived. Together, the three giants largely canceled each other out, but The Beast Incarnate saw off both to tie the record number of eliminations with The Monster Among Men at 13.

McIntyre delivered the final shot to Lesnar's hopes of breaking the record, though. Ricochet hit The Beast with a low blow and The Scottish Psychopath followed with a Claymore Kick and sent the WWE champion over the top rope.

The Rumble is always guaranteed to deliver at least one big surprise, and this year saw Edge step inside the squared circle for the first time since retiring due to injury in 2011. The Rated-R Superstar was the 21st man in the ring.

He showed why he was nicknamed The Ultimate Opportunist when he dumped former tag team partner Randy Orton to the outside after the field dwindled to four men.

This year's Rumble was highlighted by the fact Lesnar made the surprising move to declare himself for the match as the No. 1 entrant despite not needing to win in order to compete in a main event match at WrestleMania.

That created an additional opportunity for the other 29 Superstars in the match since they were not only vying for a title shot but also to prove they could stand up to and defeat The Beast.

On the go-home edition of Raw, Ricochet laid down a challenge to Lesnar, but the WWE champ was initially dismissive. Once The One and Only suggested he was afraid, though, he took him down with a kick to the groin.

That led many to wonder if it was a sign of things to come in terms of Lesnar running through the 29 other entrants and again cementing his superiority over the rest of the roster.

In order to do so, however, he would be tasked with going up against a cavalcade of top stars, including McIntyre, Reigns, Orton, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Strowman, Shinsuke Nakamura and many others.

The Royal Rumble is always one of the biggest events of the year, but with the added wrinkle of Lesnar's presence, the 2020 edition arguably felt even more important than usual.

McIntyre was once known as "The Chosen One" in WWE, but after his release from the company in 2014, it seemed he would never reach his full potential.

The Scot evolved on the independent scene, though, and it was clear when he returned to WWE in 2017 that he was a changed man. However, it wasn't until now that he was finally given an opportunity to take the top spot and run with it.

It was clear in the weeks leading up to the Rumble that WWE was grooming McIntyre, as he beat Orton and Styles in a Triple Threat match and also started getting more mic time and greater opportunities to show off his personality.

The Scottish Psychopath has essentially become a tweener rather than a full-on heel, but he may be a babyface in the near future based on how good he is as an overall performer.

While McIntyre has the choice to challenge for either world title, a clash with Lesnar for the WWE Championship seems like the money match, and it will be a surprise if it doesn't happen at WrestleMania on April 5. 

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