Of all the people to win the Royal Rumble who were involved in or with the Authority, it was Triple H who took the win and claimed the gold. “The Game” entered the match in the final spot and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship, as Reigns, who returned to the match when Sheamus entered at #29, looked on in dismay from the floor, having been also eliminated by Triple H. 

Triple H was already not a full-time wrestler at this point, and his most recent match before the Rumble had been at WrestleMania 31 against Sting. Commentary was all about him, too, and nobody questioned the fact that the COO had entered the bout in the final spot.

WWE just couldn’t put over a younger star, like maybe one of the League of Nations members who had already helped take Reigns out. Del Rio, Rusev, and Sheamus were all the in match in addition to taking out Reigns, and any one of them could have had the rocket strapped to them and elevated alongside The Authority as a new member of the stable. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Del Rio, but he lost the United States Championship earlier in the night and could have won his second Rumble to win the title.

There was barely a response to Triple H’s win at all from the live crowd. Not negative, not too terribly positive, though there were some fans on their feet. Overall, this didn’t seem like it got over. This was at the time where no one was really invested in Reigns anyway, so the decision for Triple H to win here just kind of seemed like one big ol’ “whatever.”