The 2005 Royal Rumble was the 18th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on January 30, 2005, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2005 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown!'s WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21.

Five professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the 2005 Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. Raw's Batista, the 28th entrant, won the match by last eliminating SmackDown!'s John Cena, the 25th entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Triple H won by pinfall to retain the title. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a triple threat match for the WWE Championship between reigning champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Kurt Angle, and Big Show, which JBL won by pinning Angle. No tag team match was featured on the card, which made this the first PPV since The Wrestling Classic in 1985 to not include one.