The 2022 Royal Rumble kicked off the Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, defending against his former stablemate, Seth Rollins. Rollins came in as the pseudo-face, playing mind games with Reigns by rocking his Shield attire and coming in through the crowd. It was a nice touch that the live audience loved, though I'm curious if this (and the post-match beatdown by Roman) is going to lead to a full-fledged babyface run for him. Personally, of all the iterations of Seth Rollins we've seen, his babyface work has never been my different. Anyway, this was a very solid opener with some good near falls that the live crowd bit on despite it being fairly obvious to me that the company has no intention of having Reigns anywhere but WrestleMania and, very possibly, not even there. I can't understand any sort of argument that Rollins should've won this match after the past couple years of him being a reliable, consistent performer but not to the point of being the one to dethrone the company's top, top guy. I'm not sure the DQ finish and post-match beatdown was needed as Reigns' focus for the next few months really should be 100% on his WrestleMania opponent and Rollins didn't gain anything by not losing anyway, though maybe this was done to set-up Rollins taking some time off and come back as a fan favorite? (3.5/5)
The 2022 Women's Rumble was next and began with Sasha Banks drawing number one and Melina returning at #2. Melina had tears in her eyes from the warm crowd response, but didn't last longer than a minute after, according to Cagematch, over a decade away from the WWE. Other surprise entrants included Ivory (doing her Right to Censor gimmick, which was fun), Molly Holly (who got LEVELED by Nikki ASH in what will hopefully set up at least a TV match between them), Sarah Logan (who was unceremoniously eliminated quickly by the Bellas), and Cameron (the former Funkadactyl, whose elimination by Sonya Deville continued the SmackDown GM's rivalry with Naomi). The biggest surprise, though, was the eventual winner - Ronda Rousey, who got the massive pop that should've been expected for such a high profile return. I loved the little moment Rousey had with Shayna Baszler, a partnership that would work well this time around now that Baszler is established on the main roster. I also dug Rousey spending some time roughing up the Bellas, a nice little nod to her history with those two. Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley had good showings (as did the aforementioned Banks), both making it to the final 5 (along with Baszler). My guess is that Belair will end up challenging Lynch (with Rousey challenging Flair), but I wouldn't be surprised to see Ripley and maybe Doudrop or Liv Morgan added to that mix. Its also possible that Asuka or Bayley will play into the RAW Title scene, the WWE lucking into a situation where they've got quite a crew of challengers that could make for an interesting build towards Mania. This was a really strong Rumble that had a couple of through-lines that spotlighted a wide variety of talent, including legends like Michelle McCool and the Bellas, but also gave us some depth in the current rivalries between Ripley and Nikki ASH and Naomi and Sonya Deville. The surprise entrants paid off, the final 4-5 all came off as deserving to be there, and the crowd was hot from beginning to end. A really, really good Rumble that would be very tough for the men to outdo. (3.5/5)
Becky Lynch defended her RAW Women's Championship against Doudrop in a hell of a match (to my eyes), but not so well-received by the burned out live crowd or some of the reviewers I read. The Rumble was a tough match to follow and Lynch and Doudrop opted to go all out for a very respectable 15-minute match, delivering a physical title fight that would have likely benefitted from not being essentially a heel/heel contest. While the finish was never really in question, Becky's struggle felt real and I felt Doudrop did a solid job showing she belonged in the spotlight and could potentially be a great challenger for either title after WrestleMania, especially if she is presented as a monster going forward. A better match than fans upset about Rousey's win or other events on the show will likely have you believe. (3/5)
The WWE Championship was on the line next as Brock Lesnar defended against Bobby Lashley in something of a "dream match." As a fan of both, like many watching this show, this was the match I was most excited to see. Lesnar and Lashley traded suplexes early, Lashley sporting a busted lip within the first minute. Lesnar went for an F5 but Lashley escaped and delivered a pair of big spears, sending Brock to the outside. Lashley went to charge Lesnar through the barricade, but Brock dodged him and Bobby went to down hard to the arena floor. Lesnar attempted an F5 on the floor but, again, Lashley escaped and sent Brock into the post. Lashley went for a spear in the corner, but Brock dodged and Lashley hit the post. Lesnar wrestled Lashley out of the corner and hit him with another German Suplex and then a second one to put the total count to 4. Lashley delivered a 5th and then a 6th, with Lashley looking to be completely beat. The 7th German Suplex might've been the most violent, Lashley getting rocked onto the back of his neck. Lesnar went for an F5, but Lashley escaped and countered it with the Hurt Lock! Lesnar did a great job selling the move though I wish Lashley had had more offense in the minutes prior to really sell that Lesnar might lose. Lesanr eventually rammed him into the corner to escape and hit the F5, but the referee got clipped! Lesnar got the visual pin, the crowd counting all the way to 5, but the ref was knocked loopy on the arena floor. At this point, Roman Reigns showed up and speared Lesnar to a chorus of boos. Reigns stared down Heyman, who then handed Reigns the WWE Championship to strike Lesnar in the face with. Heyman left with Reigns as Lashley crawled over and got the cover, though it was clear that Lesnar was protected as the "better man" in this match pretty thoroughly. If this had been more even early on, it would've been even better. As it was, Lashley did not come out looking like a true equal to Lesnar or even to Reigns, which devalues the championship quite a bit in my eyes. Lesnar is so captivating that this was still in the average-to-good range even if it wasn't everything it could've been. (2.5/5)
In the "cool down" spot on the card was Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz and Maryse. Even for filler, this felt meaningless and the audience didn't seem too interested in any of it. Having Edge get the clean win at Day 1 was questioned by some fans weeks ago and the lack of drama in this match seemed to confirm that it was a bad idea as there was just nothing enjoyable or interesting about watching Edge and Phoenix beat down on the same heels they dominated a month ago. The crowd popped for an interaction between Miz and Phoenix, though, again, I kinda wished they had gone the other way with it and had The Miz cheap shot (accidentally or on purpose) Beth Phoenix to really draw some heat. Maryse took control after striking Phoenix with a loaded handbag, applying a camel clutch and then doing a nice counter sequence with the Glamazon that I absolutely did not expect. Edge came in on the hot tag, though, and the babyfaces retook control, Phoenix eventually dropping Miz with a powerbomb. Edge hit an elbow drop off the top rope for 2, the match continuing on despite not really needing to. Outside, Maryse attacked Phoenix as Edge continued his work on Miz. Edge went for the spear, but Maryse tripped him up and caused a distraction leading to Maryse hittingEdge with a hurricanrana and then dropping Phoenix with a DDT. Miz hit the Skullcrushing Finale but only got 2. I'll admit that I bit on that nearfall as that would've been a great finish to this match (even if it meant we'd have to watch another bout between these 2 teams). Edge and Phoenix hit a double spear on Miz and then delivered stereo Glam Slams to put this one to bed. This was a touch too long and started out rocky, but it eventually had the crowd's attention. While she wasn't the smoothest worker in the bout, Maryse might've stole the show with her scandalous outfit and dirty tricks. (2/5)
The main event followed with AJ Styles coming as the first entrant in the 2022 Men's Royal Rumble match. The early highlights included a nice TNA callback moment involving Roode and AJ, Montez and Sami Zayn coming out to big pops, and then the crowd basically dying once the ring filled up with guys like Damien Priest, Ridge Holland, and Austin Theory. Johnny Knoxville's entrance got a MASSIVE reaction that woke the crowd up as Knoxville ate a stiff clothesline from AJ and then a huge frog splash from Montez Ford. Holland set Knoxville up on the apron and Zayn struck with a Helluva Kick (only to get eliminated himself immediately after). Angelo Dawkins came out next, the ring apron showing the name "Montez Ford" again...which couldn't have made Dawkins feel very secure about his future. Omos arrived at number 11 and eliminated Dawkins quickly, then choke-shoved Ford out of the ring to a large amount of boos. Omos sent AJ into the ring post and then went to work on the rest of the field as Ricochet showed up at 12. Omos continued to dominate, though, tossing fools all over the place but not out of the ring. Gable came in and convinced everyone to team up against Omos, but that plan didn't work out too well as Omos eliminated Damien Priest (who probably shouldn't have been the guy sacrificed if you ask me). Dominick Mysterio came in and tried to help the whole crew of guys eliminate Omos, though it was a forearm from AJ Styles that finally did it. "Happy" Baron Corbin came in at #15, drawing some heat by eliminating Ricochet, followed by Ziggler, to crickets. On commentary, Cole noted that Austin Theory had been in the ring for 20+ minutes with Styles right there. Speaking of those two, AJ ended up eliminating Theory and then Ridge Holland mere seconds before Sheamus could get into the ring. Sheamus, vowing revenge, went right after AJ but then got sidetracked by Gable and Corbin. Rick Boogs showed up at #18 looking like Freddie Mercury. Boogs and Gable got a chance to do some big muscleman/comedy spots before Madcap Moss showed up at #19. The audience was back in a restless mood at this point as the ring looked a lot like a not-so-great episode of SmackDown. Boogs continued to show off his strength, though, at one point it sure looked like Ziggler might've been sandbagging a bit. AJ and Moss went at it in the corner, eventually leading to Corbin and Moss eliminating AJ to a huge amount of heat. The crowd seemed deflated by it, though the arrival of Matt Riddle got the crowd back into things. Boogs was the next to be eliminated by Corbin and Moss as Drew McIntyre came out at #21, returning from a neck injury. Pat McAfee mentioned that McIntyre would be out for a year, but I don't remember reading any of the sort and it seemed like the audience wasn't all that shocked to see him in the ring either. McIntyre eliminated Corbin and Moss in short order and then beat them up on the outside of the ring as well. Kevin Owens came in and went to work on anybody and everybody, showing his brutality by stomping on Riddle's bare feet. Mysterio came in next, the veteran delivering all sorts of signature offense to huge reactions and nearly eliminating Riddle before getting dropped by a Kevin Owens Stunner. Kofi Kingston came in at #24, a pretty late number considering that Big E was also slated to appear (logic would dictate you would want to spread out their arrivals). Kofi tried to come in off the top rope, but Owens absolutely MURDERED him with a shove to the barricade that Kofi sold like a million dollars. I'm not sure if that was a botch or on-purpose, which makes it all the more brilliant no matter what the answer is. Otis came in next, a guy who was a much bigger deal a couple years ago. Big E came out at #26 to a somewhat muted response - maybe because his new theme music is so indistinguishable compared to the New Day Theme? Big E hit some trademark offense but got Brogue Kick'd to the face to kill his momentum. At #27, Bad Bunny showed up. The audience seemed to want big surprises, but I'm not sure Bad Bunny was it, especially not once he started destroying nearly everybody in the ring, Canadian Destroy-ing Matt Riddle and then eliminating Sheamus and, with help from Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler as well. At #28, Shane McMahon returned, another guy that doesn't really have any business being in the ring but got a big reaction. Shane ended up eliminating Kevin Owens, which got a mixed reaction. At #29, the hometown hero, Randy Orton came out and it absolutely felt like they should've called the audible and give him the W (if it wasn't the plan already). Orton hit Big E with the RKO to eliminate him with relative ease, a shocking elimination, before doing the same to Otis (after Riddle used Otis's back to launch himself into the air to hit an RKO on McIntyre in a terrific spot). At #30, though, the crowd got a MASSIVE shocker as Brock Lesnar showed up. Lesnar eliminated Orton first to a huge amount of boos before Bad Bunny got taken out with an F5. Lesnar eliminated Riddle soon after efore struggling to clothesline a very blown-up Shane McMahon out. With only McIntyre left standing, Lesnar got his win back relatively quickly. There were much better ways to book to that same result as Lesnar had more than enough reason to challenge Reigns for the title at WrestleMania *without* winning the Rumble and the live audience clearly wanted to end this show with something like a "feel good" moment involving any number of guys. I'm a Lesnar fan so I'm not too upset with the ending, but this Rumble had some really questionable booking decisions and could've used some more intriguing surprise entrants. (2/5)
Some might say my Kwang Score of 2.75-out-of-5 is generous. I was higher on the Women's Rumble and Lynch/Doudrop matches than most (though not as enthralled by the mixed tag) and didn't completely hate the Lesnar/Lashley bout either. Still, this show will be remembered for its questionable booking more than any of the actual performances. If it had not been clear through 2021, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were put over nearly every possible other star on the roster in one night. Ronda Rousey returned, but the "buzz" that came from her debut 5 years ago wasn't nearly as strong. As we'd come to learn less than a week after this show, Shane McMahon's surprise return caused more fireworks backstage than in front of the camera and he'd be fired by the end of the month. For any WWE fan, the annual Rumble is a "must see" based on its potential implications alone, but one has to wonder if the pay-off at WrestleMania is going to be worth sacrificing nearly every other male performer just to cement the already-known fact that Lesnar and Reigns are at the top and nobody else is even close.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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