WWE Royal Rumble recap and reactions: What's old is new again

The WWE Royal Rumble 2022 was an action-packed show, but not all of it was necessarily enjoyable. Here's a recap of the event.

Brock Lesnar celebrates after winning the WWE Royal Rumble match. (Twitter: @WWE)
By Shayne Dias | Jan 30, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The 2022 edition of the WWE Royal Rumble came and went. And shone a bright spotlight on WWE’s major issues in a clear and obvious manner.

First things first: there is absolutely nothing wrong with either Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey – yes, she’s back – winning the titular matches.

Yet the fact that WWE needed two part-time wrestlers to win their biggest matches of the year says a lot about their lack of full-time stars. Or a lack of faith in their full-time stars.

Because, until Rousey’s arrival into the women’s Rumble match, picking out a winner was tough. The same can be said about the men’s match until Lesnar’s arrival at #30.

Why is there such a lack of stars? Well, WWE have released a number of talents who could have been built up. The ones they did not release have not been built up. And so fans aren’t invested enough to care about any of the full-time performers.

It all leads to a situation wherein the part-timers carry the brand. But part-timers are not going to be around forever, and the full-time talent are always one ‘budget cut’ away from a release anyway.

Fans of the WWE product will point out that WrestleMania season is a time for shock returns. And they would be correct. But it is also a time to shine the light on new stars.

Lesnar and Rousey are made performers regardless of their win-loss record. The same cannot be said about 90% of the roster. And that’s by and large on WWE, not the performers.

WWE Royal Rumble – best of the rest

  • The show opened with Seth Rollins facing Roman Reigns for the Universal championship. Straight off the bat, Rollins was playing mindgames – he entered with the Shield music, and in riot gear. The match was good and told a decent story – Rollins incensed Reigns to the point the ‘Tribal Chief’ snapped. The DQ finish was lame, but it added to a bigger story.
  • This is because Reigns played a key part in the WWE championship match. Lesnar and Bobby Lashley were having a hard-hitting encounter but a referee bump saw Reigns intervene, ask Paul Heyman to hand the WWE title to him, and proceed to beat up Lesnar. Lashley is your new champion, but that’s a secondary story. Reigns vs Lesnar is all but set in stone at this point.
  • Becky Lynch beat Doudrop to retain the RAW women’s championship. The match was solid but, given it was placed right after the women’s Royal Rumble match, nobody cared. It was doubly hard to get invested knowing Doudrop – or Piper Niven – was not presented as a threat going into the match.
  • Edge and Beth Phoenix beat The Miz and Maryse in a fun mixed tag team match. Highlights included a hurricanrana from Maryse, a double skull-crushing finale from the It Couple, a double spear from Phoenix and Edge. And of course, a double Glam Slam to finish the match.

The show had it’s moments but there were more downs than ups.

Grade: C-