6 Match Star Ratings For WWE Royal Rumble 2022
3. Brock Lesnar Vs. Bobby Lashley - WWE Championship Match
It would be better if WWE simply decided to be bad immediately, all the time, with no hope to the contrary.
Even to this day, after years of bitter and bland disappointment - the infamous 2015 Royal Rumble was seven years ago, and that was hardly the day everything started to go wrong - this promotion is still capable of creating the illusion of something good before WWEing it.
Much of Brock Lesnar Vs. Bobby Lashley was awesome; a true glimpse into the sheer spectacle that any other company would have the decency to promote. They exchanged German suplexes early. They exchanged terrifying German suplexes early; after Lashley almost dumped Lesnar right on his head, Lesnar nearly killed him right back in response. Even if the first was botched, sh*t still ruled; gnarly head drops are awesome, and even if inadvertently, this played into the super-athlete pissing contest at the core of the conflict. After learning his lesson, Lashley did everything possible to not land on his neck, and while the over-corrections were obvious and not significantly less dangerous - his elbows and shoulders took a pounding - the nasty spills looked all the better for how unclean they looked.
Weirdly, the prolonged Hurt Lock sequence lacked suspense. It's unclear why - WWE has done a tremendous job of getting it over - but elsewhere, the action was so big-time that even a clichéd barricade spot worked in this context.
The other clichés however dragged the match down to "f*ck this" territory; the ref bump was horrendous carny facilitation, Brock's visual pin made it impossible to think that Lashley won't end up doing some nothing midcard fare in the summer, and the Roman interference spot and Paul Heyman's betrayal just added sports entertainment overtones to super-rare big fight drama.
The finish also all but ruined the men's Rumble match, too...
Star Rating: ★★★½