WWE Royal Rumble 2022 is scheduled for January 29, 2022 at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Follow along here for spoilers and information on the event's card, lineup of matches and news regarding the pay-per-view.
The following are my predictions for the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble PPV. Check back for Royal Rumble 2022 results and review coverage here when the time comes and take part in the WWE Royal Rumble Drinking Game while watching this event, too!
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| WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Spoilers |
30-Man Royal Rumble Match (2022)
Confirmed participants (25) = AJ Styles, Angelo Dawkins, Austin Theory, Big E, Chad Gable, Damian Priest, Dolph Ziggler, Dominik Mysterio, Happy Corbin, Johnny Knoxville, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Madcap Moss, Montez Ford, Omos, Otis, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Rick Boogs, Ricochet, Riddle, Robert Roode, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura
My original pick at the beginning of the year of Drew McIntyre winning to set up a Triple Threat for both titles is out the window with his injury. Now, I think this revolves around 3 people: Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens. Two of those aren't even in the match.
Here's how I can see things going down:
- Reigns drops the title to Rollins because Lesnar interferes. Reigns enters himself in the Royal Rumble, wins, and challenges Lesnar for the WWE Championship, while Rollins converts the Universal Championship to a red strap and takes it to Raw to compensate for Lesnar/Reigns taking the WWE title to SmackDown.
- All the same things happen, but instead of Reigns winning Royal Rumble, he wins Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia. Royal Rumble goes to Kevin Owens to challenge Rollins, instead.
- Lesnar wins Royal Rumble, either going in as champion for a "champion versus champion" match at WrestleMania, or Lashley wins the title due to interference from Reigns (basically the reverse) and Lesnar enters Royal Rumble and wins to get back at The Tribal Chief.
If anyone other than these three wins, I'll be utterly shocked. Sorry, everyone who is hoping for Big E or a surprise like Tommaso Ciampa or something.
PREDICTION: Roman Reigns wins.
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match (2022)
Confirmed participants (23) = Aliyah, Bianca Belair, Brie Bella, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Kelly Kelly, Lita, Liv Morgan, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Naomi, Natalya, Nikki A.S.H., Nikki Bella, Queen Zelina Vega, Rhea Ripley, Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Sonya Deville, Summer Rae, Tamina
7 spots are left. Bayley, Asuka, Lacey Evans could fill some more spots, potentially. I also think Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai, Cora Jade, Kay Lee Ray and Jinny have good chances to appear. Curiously absent are Alexa Bliss and Xia Li. Rumor has it, Ronda Rousey might appear.
This hinges on Rousey. If she's in it, she wins it, no doubt. But that's not a guarantee she's even going to appear. Therefore, I think WWE's backup plan is Bianca Belair winning to challenge Becky Lynch, with the idea that Rousey could be set up for Charlotte Flair through another No. 1 contender's match, like Elimination Chamber (or, let's be honest, just flat out announcing it, since they've shown in recent years they sometimes just go "X and Y are having a match, because.")
If it's not Rousey or Belair, my only other guess would be Bayley or Sasha Banks. I really hope Flair doesn't win it just to pick her challenger, and I can't see anyone else being a viable pick. I used to think Raquel Gonzalez had a shot at winning and fighting Flair, but she's going to be competing in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, so that rules her out.
PREDICTION: Bianca Belair wins.
WWE Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
It's finally happening. Sadly, it's not at WrestleMania. But hey, we get to see it and Lashley gets the match he's been asking for. That's cool. I don't think the title will change hands, but anything can happen. As mentioned, I think Lesnar retains here, but there's a solid chance this is the belt that changes hands.
PREDICTION: Brock Lesnar wins.
Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins
Uh....a heel Rollins randomly jumping over to SmackDown for this match? What? Yeah, this is totally haphazard and crazy, and I think it's all a roundabout way to get this title with a red strap over on Raw and for Reigns to win the Royal Rumble to challenge Lesnar for the WWE Championship, which would move to SmackDown.
The Usos are banned from ringside. That's telling. Lesnar isn't banned, so he can interfere. I fully expect that to happen to protect Reigns and to tell that story that Rollins only won with Brock's help, with an immediate Royal Rumble win and a future WrestleMania championship win over Brock (FINALLY) being how WWE compensates for Reigns dropping the belt. The Tribal Chief's already beaten Lesnar's length as champion, so that's another sign of a new champion being crowned, as that often happens.
PREDICTION: Seth Rollins wins the belt.
Raw Women's Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Doudrop
Well, I'll be damned. I sure got this prediction wrong, didn't I? I figured Liv Morgan was almost a 90% guarantee to win with Bianca Belair holding that other 10% and 0% going to Doudrop. Lo and behold.
Obviously, there's no way Doudrop wins the title, though. I'm confident in that more than anything else.
PREDICTION: Becky Lynch retains.
The It Couple (The Miz and Maryse) vs. The Grit Couple (Edge and Beth Phoenix)
I'm down for it. Edge and Beth Phoenix teaming up and checking that off their wish list is totally cool with me. It's the best possible mixed tag team match that they could do with the current roster. Is it going to be the best match in the world? Absolutely not. But this event sells itself on the Royal Rumble matches and this is way more than worthless filler, which previous Royal Rumbles have had.
PREDICTION: Beth Phoenix and Edge win.
+ More matches TBA
This page will be altered on a regular basis to reflect changes to the show including any new matches added to the lineup, adjustments to the card, revised predictions and any other information about this event. Stay tuned for the latest updates!
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