WWE Men's Royal Rumble 2022 Hit By Timing Issues

Brock Lesnar won as intended, but WWE Royal Rumble 2022 wasn't a smooth ride, timing-wise.

Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

Timing issues at Saturday's WWE Royal Rumble 2022 event led to constraints in the titular men's match, which headlined the show.

This is according to the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, who notes that despite the time constraints, WWE were at least able to deliver the core plan of having Brock Lesnar destroy everybody en route to winning the Rumble.

Lesnar entered the match as a surprise participant. Having lost the WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley (thanks to a Roman Reigns/Paul Heyman screwjob), he hit the ring at number 30, eliminating Kevin Owens, Shane McMahon, Bad Bunny, Randy Orton, and finally, the returning Drew McIntyre to take the match, punching his ticket for a WrestleMania 38 main event.

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It's likely that WWE will use this to book Lesnar in another match for Reigns' Universal Championship at the biggest event of the year. Brock will be on tonight's episode of Raw, where it is expected he will announce his WrestleMania plans.

The men's Royal Rumble ended up running just over 51 minutes, which is shorter than the 59-minute women's Rumble won by Ronda Rousey earlier in the evening.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.