Royal Rumble 2022: A Great Opener Cannot Save Two Lifeless Rumbles

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins open the show with the only match that consistently feels as important as the Royal Rumble branding around it. Rollins arrives through the crowd in Shield gear to the old Shield theme, instantly turning years of shared history into something visible before the bell. Reigns' irritation gives every early counter and taunt a reason beyond simply trading moves.

The wrestling keeps that emotional idea alive. Rollins attacks quickly, uses familiar Shield-era offense and survives enough of Reigns' power game to make the champion look genuinely unsettled. The Pedigree counter to the Spear is an excellent near fall, while Rollins laughing and offering the Shield fist after another Spear pushes Reigns from frustration into rage.

The disqualification is the obvious blemish. Rollins reaches the rope while trapped in the guillotine, Reigns refuses to release the hold and the referee has no choice but to call the match. It works for Reigns' character and leads naturally into the chair assault, but it denies the best match on the card the decisive ending it had earned.

The women's Royal Rumble has enough recognizable returns to stay watchable, but it rarely develops momentum. Melina, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, Ivory, the Bella Twins, Lita and others provide nostalgia, while Mickie James appearing with the Impact Knockouts Championship gives the match a genuinely unusual crossover image. Those moments are memorable in isolation more than they are parts of a coherent sixty-minute story.

The match also exposes how thin the active field feels after a year of roster cuts. Sasha Banks disappears surprisingly early, several returning names last only long enough to complete a cameo, and the middle portion repeatedly resets instead of building toward a central rivalry. Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley supply needed athletic energy, but neither is allowed to become the match's defining figure.

Ronda Rousey's return at number twenty-eight creates the biggest reaction and makes the destination immediately obvious. She eliminates Charlotte Flair to win, setting up WrestleMania while ending the match without much suspense once she appears. The Rumble succeeds as a return vehicle and a collection of cameos, but it falls short as a great battle royal.

Becky Lynch and Doudrop are placed in a difficult position after an hour-long Royal Rumble, and the crowd never fully reconnects with them. The heel-versus-heel dynamic removes the easiest emotional entry point, while Doudrop's challenge never feels likely to end Lynch's title reign so close to WrestleMania. Both women work hard enough to keep the match technically respectable.

Doudrop's size gives Lynch a different problem than most challengers, and the champion has to vary her offense rather than rely on a routine sequence. There are solid power spots, including Doudrop's senton and powerbomb, and Lynch's willingness to bump gives the challenger moments of credibility. The match is also distracted by the WrestleMania sign catching fire after the previous match's pyro, which pulls attention away from the ring.

Lynch eventually wins with a Manhandle Slam from the ropes, a strong finish to an otherwise cold title defense. The execution is better than the atmosphere suggests, but the outcome never feels in doubt and the feud lacks the emotional hook needed to overcome that predictability. It is competent connective tissue rather than a match worth revisiting.

Brock Lesnar against Bobby Lashley begins exactly as the long-awaited heavyweight collision should. They trade suplexes, test each other's strength and move with the urgency of two men whose reputations are built on legitimate combat backgrounds as much as wrestling spectacle. Lashley's early Spears and Lesnar's German suplexes create a convincing sense that either man can overwhelm the other.

The match becomes less satisfying when the story shifts away from Lashley and Lesnar. A referee bump follows the Hurt Lock escape and F-5, then Roman Reigns arrives to Spear Lesnar and use the WWE Championship as a weapon after Paul Heyman hands it to him. The sequence advances the Reigns-Lesnar story efficiently, but Lashley's championship victory becomes dependent on someone else's rivalry.

Lashley pinning Lesnar for the title is still a significant result, and the first half proves the pairing had more direct physical drama available. The problem is that the finish treats their dream match as another branch of the Reigns-Lesnar saga. Good heavyweight wrestling survives underneath the interference, but the bout never gets the clean conclusion its premise deserved.

The mixed tag match understands that its job is entertainment rather than competitive mystery. Edge and Beth Phoenix are clearly the stronger team, while The Miz and Maryse survive by stalling, cheating and finding small openings. That simple contrast keeps the crowd involved even when the bout takes longer than the story really needs.

Maryse provides the pleasant surprise. Her hurricanrana on Edge and DDT on Phoenix create reactions because the match has spent enough time establishing that she would rather avoid direct confrontation. Phoenix also gets to throw Miz around, giving the bout the kind of crowd-pleasing intergender physicality the build had promised.

The tandem Spears and matching Glam Slams send the audience home from the segment happy and give the feud a clear payoff. There is filler in the middle and no serious doubt about the winners, but the four performers know their characters well enough to make the journey enjoyable. On this card, uncomplicated fun counts for quite a bit.

The men's Royal Rumble is where the show loses the argument for being merely average. AJ Styles gives the early portion a dependable center, and Johnny Knoxville and Bad Bunny understand exactly how to maximize celebrity appearances without pretending they belong at the top of the wrestling hierarchy. Beyond those flashes, the match spends long stretches waiting for something important to happen.

Several choices actively drain the field of momentum. Styles is removed by Madcap Moss after carrying the first half, Big E disappears without ceremony only weeks after losing the WWE Championship, Kofi Kingston's annual escape attempt fails almost immediately and hometown favorite Randy Orton barely has time to register before the finish. Shane McMahon's late presence also occupies a premium position that could have elevated an active contender.

Once Lesnar loses the WWE Championship earlier in the show, his arrival at number thirty becomes painfully easy to predict. He eliminates the remaining field in rapid succession and throws out Drew McIntyre to win, accomplishing a WrestleMania destination WWE could have reached without consuming the Royal Rumble itself. The match has isolated fun moments, but as the centerpiece of one of WWE's signature events it is flat, obvious and creatively wasteful.