The 2022 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 35th annual Royal Rumble event and took place on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the second Royal Rumble event held in St. Louis, after 2012 at the Scottrade Center.
The event was based around the Royal Rumble match, a modified 30-person battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time and the respective men's and women's winners received a world championship match at WrestleMania. For the 2022 event, the winners 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. After the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship were eligible options in 2020 and 2021, their eligibility was removed after NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand in September 2021. This would also be the last year until 2025 in which the men's winner had two choices, and subsequently the last year in which the Universal Championship was an option, as at WrestleMania 38, the WWE Championship and Universal Championship were unified as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Six matches were contested at the event. The main event was the 2022 Men's Royal Rumble match, which was won by free agent Brock Lesnar, who lasted eliminated SmackDown's Drew McIntyre; earlier in the night, Lesnar lost his WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley, 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 2022 Women's Royal Rumble match was won by Ronda Rousey, who last eliminated SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair; this was Rousey's first WWE appearance since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019. In the opening bout, which was an interbrand match, Raw's Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Universal Champion Roman Reigns by disqualification; however, Reigns retained as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated. Notably, Jackass actor/stuntman Johnny Knoxville and reggaeton singer Bad Bunny appeared in the men's Royal Rumble match 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.
This was the first Royal Rumble to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced at the start of the year to refer to its events airing on traditional pay-per-view and via WWE's livestreaming platforms. It was subsequently the first Royal Rumble to livestream on Peacock in the United States and Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, following the shutdown of the WWE Network in those respective markets, with the American WWE Network closing in April 2021 and Indonesia's just before the Royal Rumble on January 27.
The event received negative reviews from fans and critics, with the men's Royal Rumble being widely panned, while the women's Royal Rumble was criticized for its ending. Despite this, however, the match between Rollins and Reigns was widely praised.
Production Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling premium live event (PLE), produced every January by WWE since 1988; that first event was a television special before it became a pay-per-view (PPV) event beginning in 1989 and then also available via livestreaming on the WWE Network since 2015. It is one of the promotion's original four PPVs, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as 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 and centered on the Royal Rumble match.
Announced on September 27, 2021, the 35th Royal Rumble event was scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the second Royal Rumble in St. Louis, after 2012 at the Scottrade Center. It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. Tickets went on sale on October 15, 2022, through Ticketmaster. This was the first Royal Rumble to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced on January 1 to refer to its events that are available on PPV and via livestreaming.
The Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers. Since 1993, the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2022, the men and women could choose to challenge for either brand's top championship at WrestleMania 38: the men had their choice between Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while the women could choose either the Raw Women's Championship or the SmackDown Women's Championship. In 2020 and 2021, the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship were also eligible options, but in September 2021, NXT was rebranded as "NXT 2.0" and reverted to being WWE's developmental brand, removing their eligibility.
Broadcast outlets The PLE was broadcast on traditional PPV outlets worldwide. It was also available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, and the WWE Network everywhere else. This was the first Royal Rumble to livestream on Peacock in the United States, following the shutdown of the American version of the WWE Network in April 2021. This was also WWE's first PLE 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 its exclusive home for WWE Network in Indonesia beginning January 27, just two days before the event.
Storylines The event included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. 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 SummerSlam in August 2021. 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.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Pat McAfee Jimmy Smith Corey Graves Byron Saxton Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodriguezRing announcersMike Rome Samantha Irvin RefereesDanilo AnfibioShawn BennettJessika CarrDan EnglerDaphanie LaShaunnEddie OrengoChad PattonCharles RobinsonRyan TranRod ZapataPre-show panelKayla BraxtonKevin PatrickPeter RosenbergBooker TJerry Lawler
Preliminary matches