<Tr> <Td> Royal Rumble (2017) </Td> <Td> Royal Rumble (2018) </Td> <Td> Greatest Royal Rumble </Td> </Tr> <P> Royal Rumble (2018) was a professional wrestling pay - per - view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE featuring wrestlers primarily from the Raw and SmackDown brands, as well as surprise appearances from competitors on the NXT brand . It took place on January 28, 2018, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . It was the thirty - first event under the Royal Rumble chronology, the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match, and consequently, two Royal Rumble matches . </P> <P> Nine matches were contested at the event, including three on the pre-show . In the main event, Asuka won the first - ever women's Royal Rumble match, which was also the second women's match to main event a WWE pay - per - view, and the first to main event one of WWE's "Big Four" pay - per - views . The men's Royal Rumble match was won by Shinsuke Nakamura . Other prominent matches included Brock Lesnar retaining the Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, and AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a handicap match . The event was also notable for the surprise appearance of former UFC star Ronda Rousey following the women's match, officially confirming that she had signed full - time with WWE . </P> <P> As is tradition, the winner of the 30 - man Royal Rumble earned a world championship match at WrestleMania 34 for his choice of either Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship . The event also hosted the first - ever 30 - woman Royal Rumble, in which the winner earned a women's championship match at WrestleMania 34 for her choice of either Raw's Women's Championship or SmackDown's Women's Championship . </P>

Who won wwe universal championship in royal rumble 2018