10 Times WWE Totally BOTCHED The Royal Rumble
5. 2022 Women's
WWE’s corporate catch-all for what its brand fundamentally functions most for is “putting smiles on faces”.
The 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble felt addicted to ripping them away and stomping on them at all and any costs.
It was the sheer cruel accuracy of the attacks on Just Nice Stuff People Like that was cynical to the point of being impressive.
Melina was a welcome one night return but lasted just seconds before she was eliminated by a babyface Sasha Banks who entered number one, put in a good shift and was then eliminated with neither fanfare nor follow up. Molly Holly played Mighty Molly for the night in an impossibly feel-good throwback until Nikki A.S.H decked her before she even made it to the ring. With Sarah Logan gone for some time by the time this show aired, a Riott Squad reunion with Liv Morgan became a dream sequence for ardent fans of the former group. The dream became a nightmare when - before said smiles had even fully formed on said faces - The Bella Twins decked them and dumped them out.
This was precision engineered sh*thou awry from those crafting it, and it remains hard to understand why even now. Was it so heelish in tone and substance just so audiences might cheer Ronda Rousey that little bit more?
Like the rest of her 2022 run, that pretty much failed too,