home | wrestling | flashback_reviews | wwe | royal-rumble

WWE Royal Rumble 2022

by Scrooge McSuck

WWE Royal Rumble 2022

Presented LIVE on the WWE Network/Peacock Streaming Service on January 29th, 2022 from the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, MO. Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton are covering the action across both brands.

WWE Universal Championship Match:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins:

Roman is only 516 days into his reign as Universal Champion. No Usos at ringside. Rollins with the troll job of 2022, coming through the crowd in his Shield riot gear, making him the babyface by default (I'm casual at this point, but I assumed he was a heel based on his Mania 38 build). Seth gets the better of fisticuffs in the corner, hits the sling-blade and knocks Roman over the top rope with a clothesline. Rollins follows with a pair of suicide dives, feeds him back in, and jumps straight into an uppercut. Roman with the Drive-By, knocking Rollins to the outside for a breather. Roman follows, attempting a Superman Punch off the steps, but Rollins counters and drops Roman on the announcer's table with a Powerbomb! "Rollins and Ambrose and Reigns did that to so many opponents over the years!" Back inside, Rollins comes off the top with a Frog Splash for a near-fall. Roman avoids the Phoenix Splash, only to charge into a boot. Rollins with the Buckle Bomb and DA STOMP but Roman rolls the shoulder up at two! Roman counters a second stomp with a clothesline and unloads with a flurry of mounted rights. Roman effortlessly plants Rollins with a Powerbomb for his first near-fall of the match.

Roman now has words for Rollins, who responds with laughter. Roman takes the bait and gets caught in a triangle choke, but he fights to his feet and breaks the hold with another Powerbomb. Rollins gets a ringside tour of the post, barricade, and steps. Jimmy Smith is selling this like Roman is a triumphant babyface finally giving Seth his comeuppance, but the crowd clearly favors Rollins. Back inside, Roman with the Superman Punch for two. Roman tracks Rollins to the floor, hitting him with a Spear. Rollins counters a second Spear with the Pedigree, but that only gets two. Romans avoids the Stomp and Rollins fights out of a uranage. Crisscross and Roman with a second Spear. Rollins mocks Roman despite his inability to get to his feet, offering a fist bump. Roman hooks the guillotine in the center of the ring, but Rollins somehow gets a hand on the rope. Roman refuses to break and it's a cheap DQ at 14:25. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! "He deserves this!" OK, Roman makes a fair point. Roman isn't done, fetching a chair and hammering Rollins into the canvas like a spike. I'm not a fan of this kind of finish, but the match was fantastic. ****

30-Woman Royal Rumble Match:

We've got 90-second intervals this year, depending on the booking of course. Will we see our first 2-time winner of the Women's Rumble (previous winners being Asuka, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair)? #1 is Sasha Banks (rocking a Sailor Moon cosplay) and #2 is Melina. Not wasting time with the guest appearances, I see. Also not a fan of wrestlers simping for each other. Melina busts out the split-leg entrance for old time's sake and seems proud of herself. Still not a fan of the "I'm emotional for the moment" breaking of character from both. It's all shtick until Sasha busts Melina in the face with a knee and dumps her at 0:51. Sasha adds insult to injury, doing her own leg-split pose. #3 is Tamina. I don't think she's doing the Melina entrance. Sasha cuts her off and hits a Meteora on the floor. Tamina survives an elimination tease but Sasha continues to dominate her with a bulldog and running knees in the corner. #4 is Kelly Kelly. "First Women's 24/7 Champion!" Yes, great accomplishment. Kelly goes after Tamina and slowly hits the ropes before botching the one spot she can do (spinning head-scissors). Next she does the hanging head-scissors and Sasha thankfully dumps her on her head at 5:07. #5 is Aliyah. Is she the longest tenured NXT Superstar before getting called up? She hits an awful Thesz Press and does the world's worst t-shirt twirl spot I've ever seen. I swear I'm not intentionally dumping on this match, it's just bad right now. #6 is Liv Morgan. She sprints to the ring and goes after Sasha, but can't get her over the top rope. Liv points to the sign, so mark your bingo card while you have a moment. Sasha does the three amigos because why the f*ck not. Crowd barely reacted because the countdown started. #7 is Queen Zelina. Remember that Queen of the Ring Tournament where all the matches combined to be about 30-minutes of bell-to-bell action? Tamina fireman carries Sasha to the apron and Zelina boots her off for the surprising elimination at 9:44. I think a lot of people expected much more than a 9-minute stint, but I enjoyed Sasha' boo-hoo face. #8 is Bianca Belair. She takes shots at everyone and hits Vega with a delayed suplex. #9 is Dana Brooke. She does stuff and nobody cares. It's been almost 7-years at this point, how did she survive all the roster cuts? #10 is Michelle McCool. Hopefully she can do better than our last guest stars. Dana is knocked but her business partner Reginald saves her. Why waste the gimmick on someone who isn't over? McCool busts out a Styles Clash on Vega and dumps Dana for real at 14:57.

#11 is Sonya Deville. It's Part 946 in our "heel authority figure abusing their powers" saga. She's got it out for Naomi, and decides to sit in on commentary until she feels like competing. #12 is Natalya. She looks like she's trying to be heel this week. Maybe she's jealous of her sister's OnlyFans success (kidding... I think this match pre-dated that). Liv busts out a sunset flip for no good reason in a Battle Royal setting. Tamina tries dumping Belair but Natalya ends up eliminating Tamina at 18:53 while Belair hangs on. #13 is Cameron. That "Somebody Call My Momma" song lives on! She busts out a Code Breaker and we get our zillionth wheelbarrow bulldog. Sonya decides to get in the ring, targeting Naomi's former friend (turned enemy) and tosses her at 21:00. #14 is Naomi. WHAT A COINCIDENCE. She's jogging with a purpose and wastes time checking on Cameron before getting in the ring. Naomi hits a Disaster Kick and eliminates Sonya at 22:32. That was a short 90-seconds. #15 is Carmella. I should note we're halfway through and we've only encountered one story inside this match. The rest is "stuff happening" and "guest appearances." Zelina is happy to see her, BUT THE COMMENTARY DOESN'T ACKNOWLEDGE WHY for nearly a minute (they are the reigning Champions). Carmella is our second heel in 5-minutes to refuse entering in a timely manner, choosing to remain at ringside. #16 is Rhea Ripley. PLEASE CLEAN HOUSE. She goes after Carmella and feeds her into the ring. Rhea survives a 3-on-1 and casually dumps Carmella and Zelina at 26:38. #17 is Charlotte Flair. She's the reigning Smackdown Women's Champion. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Are they suggesting Charlotte has the power of picking her opponent at WrestleMania if she wins? She finally rids us of Aliyah at 28:29. Naomi gets sent to the apron. Before she can bust out another trick to avoid elimination, Sonya reappears and finishes the job at 29:19. Good, the gimmick is played out anyway. #18 is Ivory. Sorry, RIGHT TO CENSOR IVORY. Talk about someone who took a dumb gimmick and played it to perfection. She does the trash talk routine until Rhea dumps her at 31:13. Ivory might be the old Rumble participant (for Women) at 62. #19 is Brie Bella. She's a house of fire and can't wait 10-seconds before ripping off her husband's old WWE shtick since she can't do anything to get herself over. Somehow Charlotte, Rhea and Belair mixing it up is taking the backseat to the other action. #20 is Mickie James. She's the reigning Impact Women's Champion and clearly the trash bag incident isn't enough to prevent a payday. LOVE THE CAMERA CUTTING AWAY AS SHE HOLDS UP THE BELT. McCool cuts her off for old time's sake but James whacks her with a spinning heel kick and McCool is gone at 35:08. I don't know if she was supposed to hang on for a little bit, but her feet touched as she was hanging from a head-scissors.

#21 is Alicia Fox. By this point, Fox is considered a "Legend" internally and I guess some fans believe it. I'm surprised we haven't had a ton of "everyone plays dead while new entrances get their ish in" spots. Natalya appears to take a nasty shot to the eyes based on the referee checking on her on the apron. #22 is Nikki A.S.H. Rhea stops to watch, allowing Nikki to run in from behind. Ripley avoids elimination and Nikk bails out to avoid disaster. #23 is Summer Rae. We're throwing the term "Legend" around too much. This is her first appearance in over 5 years, having mostly retired. She trades slaps with Natalya and hits her standing heel kick. Charlotte nails Summer from behind and Nattie dumps her at 40:36. Seems like almost every guest appearance ended in a 90-second or less appearance. #24 is Nikki Bella. At least she's a little more colorful than Brie. The Bellas hit Belair with a flapjack and dump Fox at 42:36. #25 is Sarah Logan. This is a guest appearance, between stints. She's already rocking the feral appearance and wastes time smiling at Liv Morgan, allowing Brie and Nikki to dump her at 44:08. That's what we call a jobber appearance. Liv tries avenging her former best friend and gets dumped as well at 44:30. #26 is Lita. That's FOUR STRAIGHT guest appearance entrances. That's how thin the roster was after the massive cuts of 2021. Lita blocks Mickie's corner head-scissors and DDT's her off the apron at 45:09. OK, that was a nice spot. #27 is Mighty Molly. Five straight. Nikki ambushes her on the floor and throws her into the steps. Nikki rolls her in and easily throws her out at 48:07. There's zero effort in the booking other than "come out, get tossed" for a lot of these women. Molly looks like she can still go and gets to do nothing. #28 is Ronda Rousey, making her first appearance in almost two years. She goes after Nikki and Nikki and knocks out A.S.H. at 50:01. Brie finishes off her own sister at 50:17 as payback for the first Women's Rumble. #29 is Shotzi. She comes off the top with a flying body press on Belair and Ripley. Rousey tosses Brie at 51:32 in another spot I feel was meant to be more but a slip of the apron cut it short. #30 is Shayna Baszler, rounding out the field.

Baszler and Rousey work together, with Baszler doing all the heavy work while Rousey has Ripley down in the corner. They tease fighting each other until Charlotte interrupts. Natalya goes after Rousey and gets thrown to the apron, saved by Shotzi for some reason. Rousey dumps Shotzi at 52:14 in another anticlimactic spot and Belair accidentally finishes Natalya's night at 52:26. Rousey has a choke on Belair… until Natalya runs back in and gets tossed again. What was the point of that? Did she just continue with the planned spot or what? Lita busts out the flying head-scissors. She teases a moonsault but Ripley shoves her to the apron and Charlotte boots her off at 55:55. Nice footwork from Lita to get all that in. Rousey blocks an elimination with a head-scissors on Ripley. Charlotte from behind, knocking Ripley to the apron. Rousey gets sent to the post and Ripley to the floor at 56:49, leaving a Final Four of Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, and Shayna Baszler. One of these things is not like the other. Charlotte gets the flip to the apron and fights for survival. Belair plants Shayna with a spinebuster but the handspring moonsault is countered. Charlotte sneaks up and tosses Belair and Shayna at 58:22. Charlotte charges into the corner with a boot, but Rousey blocks and throws her out for the victory at 59:40. Well that was quite the rushed finish. Probably the worst of the Women's Rumbles, with too much of a crutch on guest appearances, a lack of creative use for said appearances, some sloppy elimination spots where planned spots were cut short, and until the final 20-minutes felt like a bunch of meaningless time filler with no in-match storylines to get excited about other than the brief altercation between Naomi and Sonya. Surely the men's Rumble will do better later in the night. **

Raw Women's Championship Match:
Becky Lynch (c ) vs. Doudrop:

You could've put a gun to my head and forced me to answer "what was the Women's Title Match at the 2022 Royal Rumble" and I'd be forced to pull the trigger myself, because there's no way I'm remembering this one. I don't know who came up with the name "Doudrop" for Piper Niven, but the name sucks. I guess we're lucky she wasn't made into the modern era Bertha Faye because of Vince's lack of appreciation for not just larger women, but people with accents. Is this ANOTHER heel vs heel match? Lockup and Doudrop sends Becky to the canvas. Doudrop blocks a waist-lock and puts Becky down with a shoulder block. She sets up for the running body press but Becky bails out. Becky staggers Doudrop with a shot from the apron but gets caught climbing the ropes. Becky avoids being crushed in the corner and again rolls to the floor. Doudrop continues to dominate and Becky AGAIN rolls out. Doudrop goes for a cannonball but meets nothing but the steps. Becky "makes Doudrop pay" by slapping on a chin-lock. Becky's body press backfires but a sleeper proves effective. Doudrop fights to her feet and forces a break in the corner. She meets the post on a failed charge and Becky hits a missile dropkick for a one-count. Becky's poor attempt at over-selling disbelief is something to behold. She wastes time talking trash and gets dropped with a Doudrop suplex. Doudrop with a slam and running senton for two. Becky catches Doudrop in the Disarm-Her and transitions into the cross arm bar. Doudrop powers to her feet and counters with a sit-out Powerbomb for two. Cannonball in the corner gets two. Becky brings up the knees on a Vader Bomb and hits a Molly-go-Round for two. They fight in the ropes for an extended period where a DQ would be in order. Becky hangs Doudrop up on the top rope and hits a flying leg drop for two. Doudrop with a Big Ending for two. Becky stops Doudrop from coming off the ropes and hits a Man-Handle Slam for three at 13:00. Good action. This would've been a fine David vs Goliath story, except BECKY HAS BEEN A HEEL SINCE SUMMERSLAM. ***

WWE Championship Match:
Brock Lesnar (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Bobby Lashley (w/ MVP):

I usually don't fall for the hyperbole from the Vince talking heads, but this is quite the dream match based on the backgrounds of both men and how they missed each other during their first stints in WWE. If you're confused by the Brock and Heyman relationship, don't worry, it won't last long. Brock won the title from Big E as a make-good for the last-minute change to the card of Day 1. Long lockup and neither man wins control. Brock grabs a waist-lock and hits the first German suplex. They lockup again and Lashley with a receipt. Brock hits consecutive Germans and Lashley responds with a flurry of rights. Lashley counters the F-5 and hits Brock with a pair of Spears, knocking him out of the ring. Lashley charges with full steam and goes crashing through the timekeeper's barricade. Lashley somehow regains control, only to meet the post and get thrown with five more German suplexes. Lashley escapes an F-5 and applies the Hurt-Lock, but Brock manages to turn Lashley into the corner, squashing the referee in the process. Brock with the F-5, and that lays the referee out completely. Roman Reigns appears out of nowhere, hitting Lesnar with a Spear and revealing Heyman's relationship with Lesnar was a sham all along. Roman grabs the WWE Title and smacks Lesnar across the head with it. Lashley covers, and another referee magically appears to count the fall at 10:14, crowning Bobby Lashley the WWE Champion for the 2nd time (it would be short-lived, losing it back to Brock at Elimination Chamber). This was the typical Brock match (except he's the clear babyface), so mileage will vary. **½

Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse:

I've forgotten about this one. Edge and Miz had some beef that led to a match at Day 1, then Beth got involved and the couples have taken turns trying to one-up the other (including a "Brood" Bath). It's "The It Couple vs The Grit Couple". There's a slogan nobody remembered 5-minutes later. Maryse runs as soon as the bell rings. Edge doesn't appreciate Miz trash talking Beth and attacks. Whip is reversed and Maryse grabs a handful of hair, allowing Miz to knock him to the outside. Back inside, Miz has a good time taunting Beth while throwing the It-Kicks. Edge surprises him with a roll-up, but Miz quickly regains control with a combo neck breaker. Maryse with another cheap-shot, drawing Beth's attention. Too bad this is a standard rules tag match and she's forced to return to her corner. Edge hits the DDT out of nowhere and tags in Beth, forcing Maryse into action. Poor Maryse probably hasn't done proper bump training in a while. Whip to the ropes and Beth with a spinning side slam but Miz makes the save. Miz doesn't take Beth seriously and gets tackled into the corner where Beth lays in with a series of blows. Maryse from behind with the loaded purse but it only gets a two-count. Maryse wastes time by flaunting herself to the audience. Is anyone really complaining about that? Beth fights out of a chin-lock and we get a clothesline double-down. Edge with the hot tag, running wild on Miz. Beth powerbombs Miz out of the corner and Edge comes off the top with an elbow drop for two. Maryse sweeps Beth off the apron as Edge hits a flapjack. Miz avoids the Spear and Maryse comes off the top with a flying hurricanrana. WHA?!?! Maryse with the sweeping DDT on Beth Phoenix! Miz with a Skull Crushing Finale on Edge for a near-fall. Beth comes back in, hitting Maryse with a Spear. Double Spear to the Miz, and we get synchronized Glam Slams for the finish at 12:30. This didn't do much for me until the final few minutes. It wasn't bad, but the hype painted this as a big deal and it ended up being a decent TV match. **½

30-Man Royal Rumble Match:

Same rules as the Women, except the roster wasn't decimated to the point it needed over a dozen guest appearances to give us a field of 30 participants. #1 is A.J. Styles and #2 is Shinsuke Nakamura (reigning Intercontinental Champion). That's a heck of a duo to kick off the action. They trade kicks to start. Styles avoids a running knee and connects with a sliding forearm. #3 is Austin Theory. He's not just looking to win, but to impress Mr. McMahon. He hits Styles with a rolling dropkick and plants Shinsuke with a spinning back suplex. #4 is Robert Roode. Pat McAfee likes his chances more than I do. He hits a pair of spine-busters and slows down to have a moment with fellow TNA alumni A.J. Styles. Styles controls the exchange and dumps Roode easily at 4:32. #5 is Ridge Holland. He's wearing the protective face-mask thanks to having his nose broken by Ricochet on Smackdown. He throws Theory around as Styles uneventfully eliminates Shinsuke at 5:54. #6 is Montez Ford. We're still waiting on star power and/or something interesting happening. He flips around and hits Theory with a dropkick, but can't get him out. Holland catches him off the ropes with a tilt-o-whirl powerslam. #7 is Damian Priest (reigning United States Champion). He tries tossing Styles, unsuccessfully, and we've got hugging in opposite corners. #8 is Sami Zayn. Sorry, this is 2022 Sami, not 2023 Sami. HE'S A CONSPIRACY THEORIST! Ford brings the smoke but Sami survives. This crowd has been DEAD for most of the Rumble, and with good reason. #9 is Johnny Knoxville. Business is about to pick up! Knoxville with a double leg takedown and mounted rights. He drops an elbow on Sami and POINTS TO DA SIGN! Styles steps up to the plate and nails the phenomenal strikes. Montez with a Frog Splash. Holland places Knoxville on the apron and Sami finishes him with the Helluva Kick at 13:17. Styles from behind to toss Sami at 13:28. #10 is Angelo Dawkins. Will the Street Profits clean house? Probably not. Nothing exciting from this entrant, just more hugging.

#11 is Omos. OK, now we might see the house cleared. Dawkins is dumped at 16:09. Ford gets caught off the top rope and eliminated at 16:35. Styles gets whipped across the ring and cracks his ribs against the post, rolling to the floor in the process. #12 is Ricochet. He staggers Omos with a missile dropkick but is dropped face-first trying a follow-up attack. #13 is Chad Gable (half of the reigning Raw Tag Team Champions). He tries to rally the troops against Omos. Priest actually goes along with it, gets laid out with a clothesline and tossed at 19:38. DUMB BABYFACES ARE THE WORST. #14 is Dominik Mysterio. Everyone joins forces to toss Omos at 20:17. Why not do that with Priest in the first place?! More hugging in the corner. We've had two minutes of excitement in 20+ minutes. #15 is Happy Corbin. He's already making his SEVENTH Rumble appearance?! Austin Theory appears to be the go-to punching bag. Ricochet gets too flippy and Corbin dumps him at 22:02. #16 is Dolph Ziggler. This is his FIFTEENTH RUMBLE. He rocks Corbin with a Super Kick and that's all the excitement for this entrant. Corbin with Deep Six to Dominik before tossing him at 23:50. Styles eliminates Theory at 24:13. #17 is Sheamus. IT'S FIGHT NIGHT IN ST. LOUIS! Styles with the Pele Kick and clothesline to eliminate Holland at 24:55, just as Sheamus gets to the ring. OH WELL. He runs wild a bit. #18 is Rick Boogs. Hopefully this is short. He flips Gable around and flexes. Gable goes for a hanging arm bar but Boogs counters and slams Gable back in the ring. Wrong concept. Boogs with a one-handed press slam and the camera misses Gable getting dumped at 27:11. GOOD WORK, DUNN. Thanks for the replay, shouldn't have missed it in the first place. #19 is Madcap Moss. What a ridiculous outfit. Moss and Corbin run wild as a team. Boogs tries the press slam spot on Ziggler but we all know it takes more than that to get rid of Dolph. Corbin counters the Phenomenal Forearm and MOSS tosses Styles at 29:07. #20 is Riddle. There's so many people in this match I can't stand. Corbin and Moss go to work but Boogs saves. Moss sends Boogs to the apron and Corbin finishes him at 30:44.

#21 is Drew McIntyre. "The "Happy Folks" smile got turned upside down!" Drew is back from a neck injury that kept him out of action for about 2-months. Corbin throws bodies at Drew, but it only delays the inevitable. Moss gets sent out at 32:18, then Corbin at 32:22. Drew isn't through, bringing the fight to the floor. #22 is Kevin Owens. He meets McIntyre in the aisle for a quick brawl. Into the ring and Owens catches him with the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Riddle gets his foot stomped. #23 is Rey Mysterio. He runs wild with his signature flying head-scissors and cross body press. Owens cuts him off with the K.O. Stunner. #24 is Kofi Kingston. Is Kofi Mr. Royal Rumble, even if he's never won the Rumble? He tries a springboard but Owens shoves him off at 37:10. He was supposed to catch the barricade, but his feet touched. Time to retire the gimmick. #25 is Otis (the other half of the Raw Tag Team Champions). Beardless Otis will never look right to me. I just see Francis from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. #26 is Big E. Despite being the most recent former WWE Champion, it feels like he has no hope of winning. Big E with a belly-to-belly suplex and splash on Owens. Sheamus cuts him off with a Brogue Kick. Rey wakes up and Sheamus punishes him with back breakers. #27 is Bad Bunny. I forgot about this cameo. He hangs Sheamus up on the top rope and flies off the top with a cross body. Bad Bunny avoids the K.O. Stunner and takes Owens down with a spinning head-scissors. Riddle wants to be bros but Bad Bunny hits him with a Canadian Destroyer. Sheamus wants some more and gets eliminated at 42:59 after missing a Brogue Kick. This is a long 90-seconds. Dolph gets tripped into the ropes for Rey to hit a 6-1-9 and Bad Bunny tosses him at 43:52. #28 is Shane McMahon. OH. MY. GOD. I forgot about this. Otis eliminated Rey off camera at 44:15. Shane brings the potatoes to Owens and Riddle. SHANE. MCMAHON. OUT. FIGHTING. RIDDLE. Owens wants more and gets tossed at 45:05. #29 is Randy Orton and his killer mustache. RKO to Big E and he's tossed at 47:03. RKO to Otis and he's dumped at 47:28. Bunny is doing the Road Dogg strategy of 2000 and hanging onto the bottom rope. #30 is Brock Lesnar. I wonder who is winning this one. Brock slaughters people with clotheslines and suplexes. Lesnar clotheslines Orton out at 49:10. Bad Bunny steps up to Brock and gets hit with an F-5 before getting sent packing at 49:43, leaving a Final Four of... hold that thought, Brock dumps Riddle at 49:52. We're left with Brock, Drew, and SHANE MCMAHON. Brock eliminates Shane at 50:12 after one failed attempt. I didn't know St. Louis was known for sandbagging hulking brutes. Drew and Lesnar rekindle their Rumble rivalry. Lesnar avoids the Claymore Kick and dumps Drew with the F-5 to win at 51:14. This might not be the worst Rumble ever, but it was close. If this felt like a mess void of thought, I guess the agents structuring the match couldn't work together, and one of them, Shane McMahon, infuriated Vince so much that he was sent home with no future plans. VINCE SENT HIS OWN SON HOME FOR RUINING A MATCH. Think about that for a moment. *½

Final Thoughts: Except for the hot opening match (that ended under BS circumstances), one of the least enjoyable Rumble PPV's I can remember. It's bad enough when the show has a bad Royal Rumble Match to bounce back from, BUT TWO OF THEM? There's a couple of decent spots sprinkled throughout both matches, but the women's felt like an empty field padded by outside talent, and the men's was a lot of nothing happening, with the two celebrity participants being the strongest portions of the match. Solid thumbs down.

back to Royal Rumble Index