WWE Royal Rumble Review - January 29, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. Universal Champion Roman Reigns by Disqualification

First and foremost, Rollins coming out to the Shield music and making his entrance through the crowd was an awesome touch. I know there hasn't been a clear babyface in this feud, but Rollins was the babyface by default in this match (especially with what happened afterward) and I thought the mind games he played with Reigns were masterful. This was an excellent match as expected and some of those nearfalls were fantastic. I understand what they were going for with the ending and it was well executed, but I hate that we got a disqualification finish on a big pay-per-view like the Rumble. On the bright side, the post-match attack on Rollins was reminiscent of when Rollins broke up The Shield and it left the door open for a rematch. Do we get it at Elimination Chamber next month or will Rollins be inserted into Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 and play off the Triple Threat they had seven years ago?

Ronda Rousey Won the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match

I've seen a lot of varying opinions about this match and I can totally understand why, but I personally found this to be the best women's Rumble WWE has done yet. The early goings were rough (Melina botching that spot on the apron and getting eliminated early was a shame), but the rest of it mostly played out nicely. Some of the familiar faces were completely unnecessary (Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, etc), but there were some cool moments like the mini Riott Squad reunion with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, Nikki A.S.H. attacking Might Molly, Sonya Deville and Naomi furthering their feud, Ivory bringing back her Right to Censor persona, and Mickie James coming out to "Hardcore Country" and the Impact Knockouts World Championship belt). Sasha Banks getting eliminated so quickly was puzzling, though. She immediately became a favorite to win the whole thing when she resurfaced on SmackDown but barely lasted 10 minutes and got thrown out by Queen Zelina. Thankfully, the other top favorites lasted a lot longer and were there at the end. Rousey became the odds-on favorite to win once it was reported earlier in the week she was on her way back, and considering her against Becky Lynch is one of the biggest matches WWE can do right now, I personally didn't have an issue with her winning. The ending was a bit anticlimactic because I expected more from her and Charlotte Flair, but maybe it's because she'll end up choosing her instead of Lynch? I suppose we'll find out this Monday on Raw.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch def. Doudrop

I felt bad for these two. They actually had a quality contest and Doudrop had one of her strongest showings to date, but the crowd was dead for a majority of it for two reasons: they had to follow the women's Rumble and no one actually expected Doudrop to win. Rousey winning the women's Rumble made the outcome even more obvious. Again, I don't want to discredit their performances because they gave it a great effort and the finish was perfect given the story they told coming into this, but it's a shame the crowd wasn't hotter. This probably would have been better off on Raw.

Bobby Lashley def. Brock Lesnar to Win the WWE Championship

Although this was a match that we've all been anticipating for years, I knew there was a chance it wouldn't live up to the hype. Lesnar's matches can be very hit or miss depending on how they're structured and I can honestly say that this wasn't as exciting on the whole as I hoped it would be. That said, I didn't find it to be as underwhelming as other people and enjoyed a majority of it. I would've liked it to be a bit more competition as Lesnar was on offense more often than not, but I realize proving Lashley is on Lesnar's level wasn't the intent here. Rather, it was getting the belt off Lesnar via Reigns so they can have their match for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Lashley looked weak at the end, but you know what? At least he won. That was the right result. I have no clue what you do with Lashley and the WWE Championship from here and I'm not shocked to find out WWE doesn't, either.

Edge and Beth Phoenix def. The Miz and Maryse

I assumed this would be a buffer before the main event, but with how long the matches that preceded went, this probably would have been better off happening either earlier in the evening or not at all. That isn't to say they should have cut this from the card at the last minute (they obviously would never do that to Edge), but this show would have been better off featuring the two Rumbles and the two top title matches in my opinion to keep it around three hours. Nevertheless, this was a perfectly fine mixed tag team affair. There wasn't anything exciting about the action and the crowd was quiet for a majority of it, but they told a simple story and it had its entertaining moments. With Edge and Phoenix winning decisively (after hitting each of their finishers together which was a wholesome visual), it's time for Edge to move on to something bigger.

Brock Lesnar Won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

This was an all-time terrible Rumble. The 2015 installment definitely had me fuming a lot more because of the booking with Daniel Bryan, but this was just beyond boring. I don't know which is worse: a frustrating Rumble or one where nothing of note happens. This fell in the latter category, but there were also moments that left me scratching my head like when Omos eliminated Damian Priest with ease, Riddick Moss eliminating AJ Styles like a loser, and basically that entire final stretch (other than Lesnar and the returning Drew McIntyre being the final two, which was well done). The stuff with Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn provided some much-needed comic relief in the beginning and Bad Bunny killed it yet again, but there were way too many tag team guys in this match and others that had no business being in there. Very few stories were told and the "surprises" were the weakest they've been in years. The lack of NXT stars was disappointing as well. Let the record show that the outcome didn't bother me all that much because I assumed for weeks Lesnar was winning and he should be headlining 'Mania with Reigns given the story they've told up to this point, but this speaks to a larger issue about WWE failing to create stars in the last year. I mean, Big E was an absolute afterthought in this thing. Kofi Kingston's botched spot was a bummer. Kevin Owens got tossed out by Shane, Sheamus by Bad Bunny. It's no wonder the weekly product is so subpar; the talent aren't made to feel special whatsoever. Again, this was one of my least favorite Rumble matches ever. It solely existed for Lesnar to make a "surprise" appearance and win the whole thing. The rest was a waste of time.

Overall Show

For as much as a mixed bag as this event was, I thought it was worthwhile overall and featured more good than bad. I hated almost everything about that men's Rumble, so it's a shame that the show had to end on such a sour note. The women's Rumble was more polarizing in that there were those that loved it and others that despised it, but I maintain it was the best women's Rumble they've done yet. Lashley vs. Lesnar was good but not great and thankfully the right guy went over. The mixed tag and Lynch vs. Doudrop were well wrestled but only added to the lengthy runtime of this show, and the opener was terrific. It was an eventful night if nothing else and I'm curious how the card for WrestleMania will come together in the months ahead. That said, I'm almost positive this company has no clue what it's going to look like outside of Reigns vs. Lesnar and whatever Rousey's match ends up being.

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