Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

18. Royal Rumble 2022 - Brock Lesnar Vs. Bobby Lashley

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

While their initial runs with WWE just missed one another - Brock Lesnar departing WWE in 2004, Bobby Lashley debuting with the company in 2005 - fans had long clamoured to see these two behemoths do battle. Heck, even Lashley himself had regularly talked up Brock as his dream opponent both during the All Mighty's time away from WWE and once he returned to the market leader in 2018.

After being involved in a fatal five-way offering at Day 1 just a matter of weeks prior, Lesnar - who won the WWE Title at Day 1 - and Lashley finally clashed in singles competition at the 2022 Royal Rumble.

For those who like big beefy boys laying in big beefy shots, this was a whole bunch of fun. There were suplexes aplenty, numerous finishing moves hit, and some interference that, while predictable, was logical.

Said interference saw Roman Reigns attack Lesnar, nail him with the title belt, and reunite with Paul Heyman - who had previously left the Tribal Chief behind in order to side with the Beast Incarnate - all of which led to Lashley pinning Brock to embark on his second reign as WWE Champion.

In the greater scheme of things, this was all part of setting up Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38, with Lesnar winning the men's Rumble match later that January night in order to put him on a collision course with the Head of the Table at the 2022 'Mania.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.