to join the SmackDown! brand, but after McMahon rejected Steiner's advances, he moved to the Raw brand. At Armageddon, Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Triple H held an Appreciation Ceremony on winning the title but the ceremony was interrupted by Steiner, who announced that his contract said that he would earn a world title shot. As a result, Steiner and Triple H's match for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official for the Royal Rumble. The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Lance Storm and William Regal and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) over the World Tag Team Championship. On the December 23 episode of Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff forced Raw commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to wrestle in a tag team match against Storm and Regal for making bad comments against Bischoff. Ross and Lawler defeated Storm and Regal after interference by the Dudley Boyz. As a result, on the January 6 episode of Raw, Bischoff forced the Dudley Boyz to wrestle 3-Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal), Rico and Batista in a Handicap match. Storm and Regal avenged their loss by costing the Dudley Boyz the match. Later that night, Storm and Regal defeated Booker T and Goldust for the World Tag Team Championship. This led to a title match being signed between Storm and Regal and the Dudley Boyz at the Royal Rumble. The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown! brand was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie. At Armageddon, Torrie and Dawn did a lesbian segment in a hotel room. On the December 19 episode of SmackDown!, Torrie gave bad remarks about her storyline father Al Wilson on getting married with Dawn. On the January 2 episode of SmackDown!, Dawn and Al had their storyline wedding in their undergarments. On the January 9 episode of SmackDown!, Josh Mathews announced that Dawn and Torrie would wrestle in a match at Royal Rumble billed as a "Stepmother" vs "Stepdaughter" match. Event Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards by pinning him after a Dudley Dog. The match aired live on Sunday Night Heat. Preliminary matches The first match was a Royal Rumble qualification match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar. After Paul