5 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Royal Rumble 2022
Creatively devoid, disappointing Rumbles lack substance, go with obvious winners.
Welcome back to the dumpster fire that is WWE.
The company that prides itself on “telling stories” proceeded to waste one of its best vehicles to telling multiple stories at once, turning in two hugely disappointing Royal Rumble matches that accomplished the bare minimum of generating two winners, but little else.
The Rumble has always been an opportunity to start new feuds, give wrestlers a big push, or plant the seeds of conflict between competitors. These matches did none of that. Worse, neither Rumble had any suspense in who was winning. Once the eventual winner entered the match, it was readily apparent they were going to WrestleMania to challenge for a title. That’s a damning indictment of the lack of star power in the Rumbles and the piss-poor booking of both. A men’s final four that included Shane McMahon? Come on now…
Even though the women’s Rumble winner made sense and was the right call, it doesn’t make up for both matches under-delivering. The rest of the card was a mixed bag, with the wrestling being largely good, but the booking questionable.
All of this makes the last-minute shuffling at Day 1 look even worse and more short-sighted, just furthering the belief that WWE can’t do any long-term planning.
Let’s get to it…