Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley dominate the Royal Rumble

WWE's Royal Rumble kicked off on Saturday and proved to be a smashing success.

WWE announced Monday that Royal Rumble was the highest-grossing and most-viewed Royal Rumble in company history. Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley won the 30 man and 30 woman Royal Rumble matches at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. After a long layoff due to a torn pectoral muscle, Rhodes returned to action and Ripley became the first woman to start the Rumble as the first entrant in the contest and win. She eliminated Liv Morgan, who was the second entrant, to win.

In the main event, Roman Reigns defended his undisputed championship against Kevin Owens. After the match, he and The Bloodline beat Owens but Sami Zayn would turn on the Tribal Chief and get a big pop from the crowd in the process. In turn, Zayn received a beatdown as well.

WWE benefited immensely from all of that action.

The event set a new all-time gate record at more than $7.7 million, far exceeding the previous Royal Rumble high in 2017 by more than 50%, the company said in a news release obtained by Fox Business. The event's audience saw a 52% increase in the event compared to the previous record set in 2022. The company said that WWE's merchandise sales were up 135% compared to last year's Royal Rumble and sponsorship revenue was up 200% versus 2022. A part of it came from the MTN DEW Pitch Black match with Bray Wyatt and LA Knight. The Royal Rumble clock was sponsored by Applebee s.

The potential sale of the company is rumored to be the cause of the increase in viewership.

WWE s next events are Elimination Chamber on February 18 and WrestleMania on April 1 and 2.