Tyson Kidd & Triple H Absences Cited For WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Problems

The absences of TJ Wilson and Paul Levesque were said to be heavily felt this past weekend.

by Andrew Pollard
Tyson Kidd Triple H
WWE.com

For those who thought this past weekend's pair of Royal Rumble matches were a little lacking, there's now an update on two reasons that those Rumbles maybe felt a little off at times.

As per Mike Johnson at PWInsider, the absence of both Triple H and Tyson Kidd are said to be major reasons the PPV's two 30-person contests felt different to recent years.

In the case of the Game, this was the first Royal Rumble event in several years that Paul Levesque hasn't been present for. Of course, last year saw Levesque undergo surgery following a "cardiac event", with him still absent from all things WWE while he continues his recovery. Previously, Triple H would often be viewed as an advisor of sorts for the Rumble matches, with him usually suggesting changes and spots that were designed to help talents shine and get their own "moments".

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As for Tyson Kidd, the real-life TJ Wilson has had a major role in producing the women's Royal Rumbles in recent years. However, this year saw Kidd absent from the Rumble PPV. While he is still with the company, the Canadian has not been at WWE TV for the past few weeks. In his place at the Royal Rumble, it was NXT producer Dave 'Fit' Finlay who was brought in to help produce the 30-woman Rumble contest - with Finlay having worked closely with so many of those ladies over the years.

For the Royal Rumble PPV as a whole, plentiful reports have come out to say that morale amongst the WWE locker room took a significant hit due to a slew of late changes being made to the show. Added to that, Shane McMahon is said to have heat backstage for how strong he was made to look in the men's Rumble - McMahon making it to the final three of that bout - with Shane himself acting as lead writer and producer for that contest.

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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.