There are currently six confirmed matches for the WWE Royal Rumble 2022 premium live event, which will be held inside The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis Missouri on Jan. 22.
The card, of course, will be highlighted by the yearly 30-man and 30-woman Royal Rumble bouts. The winners of those two matches will grant themselves a championship match of their choice for WrestleMania 38 weekend on Apr. 2-3.
More matches will likely be added to the card in the days leading up to Royal Rumble 2022. Here are the early predictions for the six announced matches.
Brock Lesnar and Big E share the highest betting odds of winning the men's Royal Rumble match at +350, and Bianca Belair is the early favorite to win the women's match at +400.
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
Reigns hasn't lost a singles match cleanly since the TLC 2019 pay-per-view. Simply put, it's difficult to envision a scenario that would see Reigns lose cleanly before WrestleMania 38.
WWE seems intent on keeping The Tribal Chief undefeated up until his expected WrestleMania showdown with Lesnar.
Prediction: Reigns wins
WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
With Lesnar claiming the WWE Championship at the New Year's Day pay-per-view on Day 1, WWE's plan for building up The Beast Incarnate vs. Reigns for WrestleMania has changed.
It doesn't make sense for WWE to run a champion vs. champion match between Lesnar and Reigns at WrestleMania. Lashley is a formidable and deserving candidate to end Lesnar's title reign and headline one of the two WrestleMania events, likely against the Royal Rumble winner.
Reigns or Lesnar have to drop a title before WrestleMania. The latter is more likely to do so, and that'd be the best call from a booking standpoint.
Prediction: Lashley wins
Raw Women's Championship Match: Becky Lynch vs. Doudrop
Like Reigns, it's tough to imagine WWE wanting to have Becky Lynch lose her championship before WrestleMania weekend in Arlington, Texas.
Lynch is shining in her "Big Time Becks" heel persona. It's not too hard to predict that the women's Royal Rumble winner will be a babyface who challenges Lynch for the title at WrestleMania.
BIG TIME BECKS #WWERaw @BeckyLynchWWE pic.twitter.com/IpYCBUwiDN
— Kim (@kimberlasskick) January 11, 2022
Prediction: Lynch wins
Mixed Tag Match: Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse
The popular wrestling couple and pair of WWE Hall of Famers will get in the ring for a showdown with The A-Lister and former Divas Champion Maryse.
Edge defeated The Miz in a singles match back at WWE Day 1. This match could really go either way, but it's unclear if WWE is planning to continue the Edge-Miz program past Royal Rumble.
If they do, it would make sense to have The Miz's side even the score by picking up a win here. That would be the ideal way to set up a rubber match down the road.
Prediction: Miz & Maryse Win
Men's Royal Rumble Winner
As noted above, Big E and Lesnar are the two early betting favorites to win the match.
Big E's WWE Championship reign ended sooner than expected and originally planned. Assuming Lesnar and Reigns face off for one of the two world titles, it would make perfect sense for Big E to win and set up a showdown with a heel champion (Lashley?)
WWE cannot ignore the need to build established babyfaces long-term. So having a part-timer like Edge or Lesnar win doesn't make much sense. And having a repeat winner like Randy Orton or Rollins should be off the table, too.
Big E is more than over with the fans. He's a deserving winner here.
Prediction: Big E Wins
Women's Royal Rumble
This would be an opportune time for WWE to give someone new a title shot in the main event scene. Belair may be the betting favorite, but it's unlikely that WWE will book the same winner in consecutive years.
Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley have enjoyed limited time in the main event scene, so they should be considered here. Alexa Bliss, who recently made her return, also feels like a strong candidate.
Having a veteran main event star like Lynch, Charlotte Flair or Sasha Banks win wouldn't be the wisest call. WWE needs to push some new stars in the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championship scenes.
This is a wide open field with several logical choices. But the early guess is that WWE will go with Bliss, who was in the midst of an entertaining and compelling run before her hiatus.
Prediction: Bliss Wins
0 comments: