entry number of his choice. Jericho chose #2 because #1 was already given to Michaels. The main feud heading into the event from the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit over the WWE Championship. At Armageddon, Angle defeated Big Show after interference from Brock Lesnar, to win his third WWE Championship. Prior to Armageddon, Angle had promised Lesnar that he would get his suspension lifted if he aided Angle in defeating Big Show. Angle had also promised to give Lesnar the first title shot after winning the championship. However, despite helping Angle win the title, Lesnar was not given his title shot as promised. On the December 19 episode of SmackDown!, Angle announced that he had hired Paul Heyman as his manager and that the two had conspired to get Lesnar reinstated just prior to Armageddon, only to reinforce a stipulation that Heyman had written into Lesnar's contract that he would not receive a title shot if he had lost to Heyman's other client, Big Show, at Survivor Series. Instead, Angle signed to defend against Big Show, who was irate about being used by Heyman and Angle, but went along due to promises made to him by Heyman. Later that night, Angle lost to Benoit in a non-title match by disqualification when Big Show interfered in the match and attacked Benoit. However, Lesnar rescued Benoit from the post-match assault by Angle and Big Show and brutally assaulted Angle, injuring him. On the December 26 episode of SmackDown!, as a result of Angle's injury, the SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon cancelled Angle's scheduled title match against Big Show and decided that Big Show would wrestle Benoit to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble; Benoit won the match. The main rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Triple H and Scott Steiner over the World Heavyweight Championship. On October 24, WWE had announced on its official website that Scott Steiner had signed a three-year contract with WWE. After eight years away from the company, Steiner returned to WWE as a free agent at Survivor Series and attacked Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski for insulting New York City. Steiner was then approached by both the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and the SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon, each looking to sign Steiner to their respective brands. He initially decided