Royal Rumble (2022)

The 2022 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 35th annual Royal Rumble and took place on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was the first Royal Rumble to livestream on Peacock. It was also WWE's first PPV to be livestreamed on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia.

Traditionally, the Royal Rumble match winner receives a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2022 event, the winners of both the men's and women's matches received a choice of which championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 38. The men could choose to challenge for either Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while the women had the choice between the Raw Women's Championship and the SmackDown Women's Championship. NXT's men's and women's championships were dropped from the options after NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental territory in September 2021.

Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Brock Lesnar won the men's Royal Rumble match after losing his WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley earlier in the night, becoming the first former world champion to win the eponymous match on the same night he lost the title. This also made him the ninth two-time Royal Rumble winner, first winning it in 2003, and he set a record for the longest time between Royal Rumble wins (19 years) as well as the least time spent in the match before winning it (2:30). The women's Royal Rumble match was won by Ronda Rousey, in her first WWE appearance since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019. In the opening bout, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Universal Champion Roman Reigns by disqualification; however, as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated, Reigns retained. Notably, Jackass actor/stuntman Johnny Knoxville and reggaeton singer Bad Bunny appeared in the men's Royal Rumble and reigning Impact Knockouts World Champion Mickie James appeared in the women's. This was also the final WWE event for Spanish commentator Carlos Cabrera.

The event received negative reviews from fans and critics, with the men's Royal Rumble being widely panned, while the women's Royal Rumble criticized for its ending. Despite this, however, the match between Rollins and Reigns was widely praised.

Production

Background

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick event produced every January by WWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views (PPV), along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, originally dubbed the "Big Four", and as of August 2021, it is considered one of the "Big Five", along with Money in the Bank. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. Announced on September 27, 2021, the 2022 event was the 35th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 29 at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. In addition to airing on pay-per-view worldwide and the WWE Network in international markets, it was the first Royal Rumble to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. Additionally, this was WWE's first pay-per-view to livestream on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, as it was announced that The Walt Disney Company and WWE inked a multi-year deal to make Disney+ Hotstar as its exclusive home for WWE Network in Indonesia on January 27. Tickets went on sale on October 15 through Ticketmaster.

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2022, the men and women could choose which world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania 38; the men could choose Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while the women could choose the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship. In September 2021, NXT was rebranded as "NXT 2.0" and reverted to being WWE's developmental territory. While NXT's championships—the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship—were eligible choices for the Rumble winners in 2020 and 2021, they were not eligible choices for the 2022 Royal Rumble.

Storylines

The event included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

At Day 1, Jackass actor and stuntman Johnny Knoxville announced that he would be participating in the men's Royal Rumble match. On the following SmackDown, Sami Zayn encountered Knoxville backstage and claimed that Knoxville was not qualified to compete in the Royal Rumble match, nor did he earn the opportunity to be in it. After Zayn lost his match that night, Knoxville ran down to the ring and threw Zayn over the top rope. Ring announcer Mike Rome then announced that Knoxville had officially qualified for the Royal Rumble match, much to Zayn's displeasure.

On the January 7 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair revealed 18 of the women who would be competing in the women's Royal Rumble match, including WWE Hall of Famers and veterans, and notably, reigning Impact Knockouts World Champion Mickie James, marking the first time WWE openly acknowledged one of Impact's championships on their canonical programming. Additionally, Flair declared that she would also participate in the match, stating that she would be the first reigning women's champion to win the Royal Rumble. While the winner traditionally earns a championship match at WrestleMania, Flair stated she would instead select her WrestleMania 38 opponent if she won.

At Day 1, Brock Lesnar defeated Bobby Lashley, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Kevin Owens, and defending champion Big E in a fatal five-way match to win Raw's WWE Championship; this was originally scheduled as a fatal four-way match, but Lesnar was added due to his scheduled match against SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns being canceled as Reigns tested positive for COVID-19. On the following episode of Raw, Lesnar reunited with Paul Heyman, who announced that Lesnar's first challenger for the title would be determined by a fatal four-way match between Big E, Lashley, Owens, and Rollins. Lashley won the bout to face Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.

On the January 7 episode of SmackDown, as Roman Reigns did not have a challenger for his Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, WWE official Adam Pearce informed Reigns that he had selected his opponent. Reigns dismissed Pearce, stating he had already defeated everyone on the SmackDown roster. Later that night, Raw's Seth "Freakin" Rollins confronted Reigns in his locker room, laughing hysterically at Reigns, seemingly confirming he was Pearce's selection. On the January 10 episode of Raw, Rollins confirmed that he would be challenging Reigns for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble in an interbrand matchup. On the January 21 episode of SmackDown, Rollins and Kevin Owens defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) by disqualification thanks to interference from Reigns, thus barring The Usos from ringside during the Universal Championship match as per the stipulation; had Rollins and Owens lost, Rollins would have forfeited his championship opportunity.

At Day 1, Beth Phoenix appeared to aid her husband and fellow WWE Hall of Famer, Edge, when he was being attacked by Maryse while he was engaged in a match with The Miz; Edge ultimately won the match. On the following Raw, Miz and Maryse berated Edge and Phoenix, with the latter challenging Miz and Maryse to a mixed tag team match at the Royal Rumble. Miz accepted, despite Maryse's displeasure.

At Day 1, Becky Lynch defeated Liv Morgan to retain the Raw Women's Championship. On the following Raw, Morgan confronted Lynch, wanting another rematch. Bianca Belair interrupted, also wanting a championship match due to her unsettled rivalry with Lynch that began at the 2021 SummerSlam. A brawl then ensued. Later backstage, Doudrop confronted WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville, demanding a title match herself as she was tired of Belair and Morgan always receiving opportunities. Pearce and Deville scheduled a triple threat match between Belair, Morgan, and Doudrop for the following week with the winner facing Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble. The match was won by Doudrop, thanks to Lynch attacking Belair.