The Real Winners and Losers from 2021 WWE Royal Rumble

The 2021 WWE Royal Rumble represented the beginning of the Road to WrestleMania 37. And Sunday's pay-per-view rewrote the narrative everyone had for this year's Show of Shows on a night when stars truly shined through in big moments.

However, while some thrived, others were exposed or not given a true opportunity. The Royal Rumble can only highlight so many, and even those in the spotlight did not always capitalize.

Both Rumble matches gave a chance to new wrestlers. Bianca Belair won the women's match in an incredible performance, last eliminating Rhea Ripley, who nearly broke The EST of WWE's elimination record from last year.

Edge was able to overcome opening the men's contest at No. 1 and an onslaught of young talent to win his second Rumble. Perhaps even more impressive, though, was the return of Christian, who made it to the final five in his first sanctioned match in years.

Drew McIntyre also got a major rub by defeating Goldberg. The legend deserves credit for doing the job for The Scottish Warrior, but he didn't look great in the ring and should take this as a sign that his time in the ring is almost done.

The women's tag team division has new champions: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Charlotte Flair and Asuka with the help of Lacey Evans. But it was just further proof that WWE has no idea what to do with the division and the titles.

The Royal Rumble has set the future for WWE in 2021, and it will be fun to see what comes next after this memorable show.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from the show.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler knew to isolate one of the two great competitors they were facing. After sending Asuka over the announce table, Lacey Evans helped to seal the win by knocking out Charlotte Flair with a Woman's Right to set up a Jax leg drop for the victory.

Just one month since dropping them, The Irresistible Force and The Queen of Spades regained the tag team titles. When Charlotte returned to win the belts in December, it was clearly the way WWE wanted to get her to the Grand Slam title. It was never about keeping her as champion.

Much like the other women's titles, the WWE women's tag team champions became another tool to pad the stats of The Queen. The women's tag division needs serious champions with clear booking across all three brands.

Jax and Baszler have been struggling to work together, and it is unlikely they will keep the titles long. The opportunity to put over a new tag team against two of the absolute best is now gone.

Hopefully, a team emerges from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic that can rewrite the direction of this messy division. For now, though, the WWE women's tag team division is completely out of sorts.

Goldberg started this fight off early by spearing Drew McIntyre through the steel barricade. However, at the bell, even after a Spear and a Jackhammer, the WWE champion kicked out. The Scot planted the veteran with a pair of Claymores for the victory.

The Scottish Warrior has only had a few true rivals during his two title reigns. Defeating a protected legend gets him to the next level. This was another step in establishing McIntyre as one of the top men in WWE today.

He has now defeated Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins, four of greatest names in wrestling. While he won't be WWE champion forever, he should no longer fall down the card, at least without a serious burial.

This could be seen as a major loss for Goldberg, though. He looked winded before he got to the ring. He only hit Spears and a Jackhammer, and none of it looked clean. He nearly planted the WWE champion on his head on the Jackhammer as he did with The Undertaker at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia in 2019.

By the end of Sunday's match, the 54-year-old had fallen to his knees several times. He looked like a man who shouldn't be in a wrestling ring. While the point was to put over McIntyre, he nearly injured the champion and clearly hurt himself while barely taking a bump.

Bianca Belair arrived in the women's Rumble match at No. 3 and managed to make it all the way to the end. She eliminated Bayley, Natalya, Charlotte Flair and finally Rhea Ripley to win. The EST of WWE cut a promo about how much this meant to her to make it to the top.

This was exactly what it needed to be: Belair was made into a star. She was in the match longer than anyone else ever has been at 56 minutes, 49 seconds. She took out top competitors and ultimately earned her spot among the best in the company.

She wasn't the only one who was put over, though. Ripley arrived at No. 14 and eliminated seven wrestlers along the way. She looked like the most dominant woman in the business, throwing around some of the biggest women in WWE history.

When the two eliminated Charlotte together, they stood where so few women have. It felt like a John Cena/Batista moment. While only one woman could win, both looked like they might be headed for gold at WrestleMania on April 10-11.

This was a special moment in arguably the best women's Royal Rumble match to date. With great booking that let many women stand out and showcase their cardio in a long competitive match, Belair and Ripley were the absolute standouts.

Kevin Owens came to fight, attacking Roman Reigns from the outset. The two men battled backstage to the stadium where KO got run over by a golf cart but recovered enough to hit a Senton Bomb off a forklift.

In the end, though, his strategy to handcuff Reigns to a post was not enough as Paul Heyman saved the champion, and The Head of the Table knocked KO out with a Guillotine Choke.

This was a great match from Owens, who brought everything he had. He and Reigns have been so good together, but this was their absolute best. They fought at their peak in a contest that was fun, creative and did not pause for a moment.

While KO ultimately lost, he had one of the best matches of his career in a world title clash. It was a special performance from one of the best. Even if he did lose, he showed why he deserves another world title run soon.

All of this is contingent on forgetting the last couple minutes of this contest, though. Unfortunately, this match fell apart at the end due to the handcuff spot. After an incredible performance, the match slowed to a crawl and then ended with an awkward knockout.

Edge and Randy Orton opened at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the men's Rumble match to continue their longstanding feud.

The Viper was injured early, and it looked like The Rated-R Superstar would be left without help. But Christian arrived at No. 24 for his first sanctioned return to in-ring action since 2014.

It was a special moment, with the two friends back in the ring together and making it all the way to the end. After Seth Rollins took out Christian and Braun Strowman, Edge eliminated The Messiah and Orton to win the whole contest.

Obviously, this was something momentous for Edge, but last year may have been even more special. This time, it was Christian's turn to get in the ring again. Whether he competes again or not, Captain Charisma looked good and got to put one last impressive performance on his resume.

It looks like Edge is headed for a match at WrestleMania 37 against Roman Reigns or Drew McIntyre. Either would make for an interesting spotlight at The Show of Shows. Of the two titleholders, though, the WWE champion is in more need of fresh challengers.

While it is unlikely to happen, it would be fantastic if Edge went after McIntyre while Christian decided to have one last run on SmackDown and took a shot at The Tribal Chief.