11 Main Event Mistakes WWE Have Made In 2022
2. In Case of Emergency, Brock Glass (June 17)
So here we are again.
In the weeks since the unification of the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships, it became increasingly clear that WWE needed a new strategy. The initial blueprint had Reigns dispatching a vengeful Riddle and meeting a reinvigorated Orton in the main event of SummerSlam. Phase one passed without a hitch, and Riddle fought valiantly in a star-making performance before being barred from challenging again while Reigns is champion. Phase two however, wherein Orton challenges for the gold at The Biggest Party of the Summer, blew up in WWE’s face.
When word surfaced that Orton’s prolonged back issues meant The Viper would miss not only SummerSlam but perhaps the remainder of 2022, WWE panicked. Disregarding any untied loose ends or enticing new rivalries for ‘The Tribal Chief’, WWE picked up the phone and called Saskatchewan again to bring back ‘The Beast’.
Since their initial encounter on 29 March 2015, Reigns and Lesnar have crossed paths in either direct competition or multi-man melees nine times, including three WrestleMania main events. Were it not for a pair of health scares on Reigns’ behalf, their upcoming tilt at this year’s SummerSlam would mark Chapter 11 of the rivalry (insert your own ‘WWE is creatively bankrupt’ jokes here).
Sure, 2022 has been brutal and the injury bug has been insatiable. By now, however, surely even someone who tuned in for the first time in 2022 can sense that the tagline “Last time, last match, Last Man Standing” is false advertising.