 On the January 7 episode of "Raw", buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with Austin saying he wanted to enter.Later that night, Triple H made his return after missing nearly eight months with an injury and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match.He was interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's Royal Rumble event when he was the reigning WWF Champion.