WWE gave us two very different first-time Royal Rumble winners in an overall satisfying pay-per-view Sunday night at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

Drew McIntyre completed his 13-year journey to a main-event spot, eliminating WWE champion Brock Lesnar on his way to winning the men’s Royal Rumble match. He’ll likely see The Beast again at WrestleMania 36.

On the women’s side, Charlotte Flair — last year’s runner up — added another piece to her resume by winning the Royal Rumble from the No. 17 spot. Flair’s arc is different from McIntyre’s: She has been on top of the women’s division since she was called up from NXT in 2015.

With the road to WrestleMania in Tampa on April 5 beginning to be paved, here are five takeaways from Sunday’s pay-per-view:

Flair is the best all-around performer in the women’s division and does have history with both current champions. Raw’s Becky Lynch beat Flair and Ronda Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania 35, and Bayley won the SmackDown title from Flair this fall. Still, at a time where WWE’s women’s division needs new stars, it’s Flair — who eliminated “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler to win — likely getting a WrestleMania match against a very familiar opponent.

There is a lot of time between now and then, so let’s see where this all leads. Is there any chance we get a Four Horsewomen fatal-4-way for a unified title? Does a returning Rousey turn this into the wrestling Four Horsewomen finally uniting against their MMA counterparts? Rousey’s friend Baszler, who eliminated a record eight people after entering at No. 30, now has issues with Flair, Lynch and Bayley.

Bianca Belair looked like a stud in this fun match, also eliminating eight people before finally getting knocked out by Flair (can’t wait to see that match eventually). It was great to see Naomi back, and Beth Phoenix is an absolute warrior, continuing with a cut on the back of her head that left her blond hair streaked with red. The match showed off NXT’s women’s division with nine competitors. But no Sasha Banks on the card?

Some other storylines continued: Otis saved Mandy Rose twice before Sonya Deville landed on them to eliminate them both, and Liv Morgan and Lana knocked out each other. Outside of a predictable and stale-feeling winner, there was a lot to like.

Great stories have a compelling beginning, middle and end, and the men’s Royal Rumble match had just that — all centered on making a star out of McIntyre. Lesnar, entering at No. 1, started it by eliminating the next 13 superstars (tying a record), including MVP, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio. A fatigued Lesnar also had to deal with Keith Lee in an amazing moment (Lesnar asked Paul Heyman, “Who’s this motherf—er”?) and Braun Strowman.

Then came a confident McIntyre at No. 16 telling Lesnar, “I’ve waited for this moment, you son of a bitch.” The Scotsman eliminating Lesnar, with help from a Ricochet low blow, on a Claymore Kick set off a huge roar from the crowd. McIntyre followed that up by easily tossing out Ricochet and The Miz while rarely taking his eyes off Lesnar.

The match, which was later highlighted by Edge’s return, ended with McIntyre outlasting a final four including Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Edge. The genuine emotion you saw from McIntyre — fighting back tears — when it was over is the stuff great WrestleMania stories are made of.

Daniel Bryan and Asuka may have not won their respective championship matches, but they reminded you how talented they are.

Bryan gave “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt a superb match that did not need the red lights. The former WWE champion has a way of making the audience believe he can overcome any odds — even The Fiend in a strap match.

After getting his back repeatedly lashed with the strap, Bryan’s counters gave you hope he just might win. The crowd would have exploded if he did, especially when he hooked in the LeBell Lock with the strap. Ultimately Bryan — who limped out of the ring — succumbed to a Mandible Claw slam. The Fiend continues to be booked strongly.

Like Bryan, Asuka continues to deliver when called on in a big spot. She and Lynch had an excellent match in terms of storytelling, though it lacked high spots. Asuka’s skill and intensity gave Lynch something to play off of to tell the tale of doing whatever it took to avenge last year’s Royal Rumble loss. Lynch’s facial expressions were tremendous. Thwarting the green mist attempt with a kick into a Dis-Arm Her for the win was a perfect end to this story.

Edge, The Rated-R Superstar, returned to action in a WWE ring for the first time since April 2011, when he retired because of cervical spinal stenosis. He later had spinal fusion surgery.

Edge, 46, was entrant No. 21 in the men’s Rumble after continually denying the rumors he was cleared to wrestle. He looked to be in tremendous shape, delivering spear after spear, and the emotion of the night written all over his face.

We have seen Bryan and now Edge return from early retirements that were due to serious injuries. Paige, who also had to retire young because of a neck injury, tweeted that seeing Edge was the “coolest thing ever. Gives people hope.”

It’s unclear how much Edge will be around moving forward. The match seemed to set up a WrestleMania encounter with either Orton, after the old Rated RKO team reunited and briefly worked together during the Rumble, or AJ Styles. Either way, this was an amazing moment that Edge ate up and pulled us into.

Roman Reigns and King Corbin’s falls-count-anywhere match was everything you would have hoped for. It felt like the end of this long feud with Reigns getting the rubber-match victory. Virtually none of the action took place in the ring, and they made great use of different areas around the baseball stadium. No garbage cans were employed, but plenty of tables were broken and there was a Porta Potty spot. Robert Roode, Dolph Zigger and The Usos got involved, but did not factor into the finish. Reigns ended it with a spear on the top of the dugout.

Lacey Evans, whose real-life story and daughter are starting to trickle into WWE storyline, has had title feuds with Lynch and Bayley and came up empty in both. Though there were some “Let’s go Lacey!” chants, she has work to do as a babyface after a so-so match. There is still time. A program with Naomi would make more sense for Bayley now.

On the kickoff show, Andrade retained his U.S. championship against Humberto Carrillo, and Sheamus beat Shorty G.

Matt Riddle did not get to confront Lesnar during the Royal Rumble — entering the match after The Beast was eliminated — but Pro Wrestling Sheet reported the two had a verbal altercation after passing each other backstage prior to the pay-per-view.

Biggest winner: Drew McIntyre

Biggest losers: Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans

Match of the night: Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend

Predictions: 5-3

Grade: B+