6 Match Star Ratings For WWE Royal Rumble 2022
4. Becky Lynch Vs. Doudrop - RAW Women's Championship Match
Elements of certain matches were fantastic, or merely good, but on the whole, everything on the night was in some way flawed, too long or just unnecessary.
The one unqualified success on the entire Royal Rumble card - something that could legitimately be described as a really good and solid piece of business - was ruined because WWE almost incinerated an entire section of the audience by f*cking up the pyro which, incidentally, was one of the few things left they could actually do well.
The women didn't deserve this, but the company damn sure did.
Becky Lynch gave a lot to Doudrop in what was a professional and well-judged star performance. In a match like this, the objective is to elevate the challenger in prominence. She did. It's not as easy as simply doling out a certain ratio of offence; Lynch sold the threat with a strong range of facial expressions, and Doudrop carried her part with almost too much enthusiasm at various, alarming points. The structure of the match wasn't particularly ambitious - it was a simple story that must be told - but measured against the wretched WWE curve, it flattered both performers, featured spots that might have drawn gasps in more ideal circumstances, and concluded with a rare, clean result, via a modified finish designed to convey the idea that a last resort was needed to put over a threat of this scope. The avalanche Manhandle Slam spot was the exact sort of easy finish that WWE tends to not to do, and was earned here.
The atmosphere was nonexistent, and the pace was such that it mightn't have fared much better with a more enthusiastic, less endangered crowd.
But they grafted, and Lynch as Champion at least sold that she was under duress.
Somebody else didn't.
Star Rating: ★★¾