Daniel Bryan is the first wrestler to declare for the 2021 Royal Rumble.
During a backstage interview on tonight’s SmackDown, Bryan announced that he’s officially entering the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble match. Bryan said winning a Royal Rumble is the one thing he’s never done in his career that he’s absolutely dying to do. Bryan said he’s going to do everything he can to climb this mountain.
Bryan made the announcement after defeating Jey Uso on tonight’s SmackDown. There was a pre-match angle where Uso attacked Bryan while he was making his entrance, but Bryan chose to still have the match. For the finish, Bryan avoided a superkick and hit a running knee on Uso to get the win.
Bryan’s interview where he declared for the Royal Rumble was interrupted by Sami Zayn. Zayn accused Bryan of having it out for him and having something to do with WWE making Zayn defend the Intercontinental title against Big E in a lumberjack match on tonight’s show. Zayn said karma will take care of Bryan and Bryan will fail at the Royal Rumble.
Big E defeated Zayn for the Intercontinental title in tonight’s main event.
The 2021 Royal Rumble is taking place on Sunday, January 31. There will be men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches at the pay-per-view.