Royal Rumble (WWE 2K22)

**Royal Rumble** was the first annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view and was the fourteenth episode of **WWE 2K22 Universe Mode**. The pay-per-view, split into four parts, was released on March 22, March 23rd and April 6th, 2023. **Royal Rumble** was the first pay-per-view in Universe Mode history. Seven matches were held at the event. In the main event, Big E won the Men's Royal Rumble by last eliminating Seth Rollins. In the women's Royal Rumble earlier in the night, Bayley returned from an injury to win the match, last eliminating Bianca Belair. In other prominent matches; Drew McIntyre defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE Championship, Roman Reigns defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Universal Championship, and in the opening match, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.

## Royal Rumble

Poster for the event, featuring Roman Reigns and Jeff Hardy

#### Production

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view was announced on the first episode of RAW in April of 2022. Production on the pay-per-view began in November 2022 and wrapped up in March 2023. The pay-per-view was split into four parts on YouTube; with Part 1, featuring the first three matches of the pay-per-view, and Part 2, featuring the Women's Royal Rumble in full, releasing back-to-back on March 22, 2023. The following day, Part 3, featuring the two world championship matches of the event, was released. Part 4, featuring the Men's Royal Rumble in its entirety, was released on April 6th, 2023. The official theme songs for the pay-per-view were "The Heavy Wing" by Red Hot Chili Peppers and "Calm Before The Storm" by Hollow Point Heroes. The commentator for the event was Sean O'Connor.

#### Storylines

On the first episode of Monday Night RAW, Drew McIntyre announced a gauntlet match between Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Rey Mysterio that would take place later in the night, with the winner challenging him for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. The gauntlet match would be won by Styles, who defeated Finn Balor with a Styles Clash to secure the win and the championship match. The following week, Balor challenged Styles to a rematch with the championship match on the line, which Styles would reluctantly agree to. That night, Styles once again defeated Finn Balor, retaining his championship opportunity. On the following episode, McIntyre faced and defeated Chad Gable in the main event, only to be attacked by Otis, Gable's tag team partner, following the match. Styles came out to make the rescue, but would suffer a Claymore from McIntyre, who mistakenly believed Styles had taken him out. On the final RAW before the Royal Rumble, Drew McIntyre attempted to apologize to AJ Styles, only for Styles to then attack him with a Styles Clash, followed by a Phenomenal Forearm.

The Men's Royal Rumble saw numerous qualifying matches take place in the weeks leading up to the pay-per-view on RAW, SmackDown and in dark matches that were later released as a standalone video in September 2022.

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**Royal Rumble Qualifying Matches**

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* Keith Lee defeats Akira Tozawa - RAW Ep. #1 Dark Match
* Dominik Mysterio defeats Tucker - RAW Ep. 1 Dark Match
* Happy Corbin defeats Mansoor - SmackDown Ep. #1 Dark Match
* Ricochet defeats Drew Gulak - SmackDown Ep. #1 Dark Match
* Cesaro defeats Murphy - SmackDown Ep. #1
* King Nakamura defeats Jinder Mahal - SmackDown Ep. #1
* Big E defeats Mustafa Ali - SmackDown Ep. #1
* The Miz defeats Apollo Crews - RAW Ep. #2
* Seth Rollins defeats MVP - RAW Ep. #2
* **Alpha Academy** (Chad Gable and Otis) defeat **RETRIBUTION** (T-BAR and SLAPJACK) - Main Event Taping
* Angel Garza and Humberto defeat **Lucha House Party** (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) - SmackDown Ep. #2 Dark Match
* Sheamus defeats Kalisto - SmackDown Ep. #2
* John Morrison defeats Elias - RAW Ep. #3 Dark Match
* Dolph Ziggler defeats R-Truth - RAW Ep. #3 Dark Match
* Rey Mysterio defeats Robert Roode - RAW Ep. #3
* **RK-Bro** (Randy Orton and Riddle) defeat **The Hurt Business** (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin) - RAW Ep. #3
* **The Street Profits** (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) defeat **The Viking Raiders** (Erik and Ivar) - SmackDown Ep. #3
* Kofi Kingston defeats MACE - SmackDown Ep. #3
* Kevin Owens defeats Finn Balor - RAW Ep. #4
* Jey Uso defeats Xavier Woods - SmackDown Ep. #4

The Women's Royal Rumble line-up was announced on the third episode of RAW by Stephanie McMahon. In the weeks leading up to the pay-per-view, several matches between the competitors took place on RAW and SmackDown, and on the final episode of RAW before the Royal Rumble, Asuka won a fatal four-way match also featuring Bianca Belair, Doudrop and Alexa Bliss.

On the first episode of SmackDown, Jeff Hardy returned from injury, interrupting Roman Reigns and challenging him to a Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. Reigns, dismissing Hardy as a threat, said that he would give him a match that same night, and if Hardy won, he would get his championship match. However, Hardy managed to upset Reigns and win the match later that night. The following week, Reigns and his manager, Paul Heyman, set up Jeff Hardy with a match against The Usos, trying to soften him up for the Royal Rumble. However, his plan failed when Big E volunteered to team with Jeff Hardy. The match ended in a no contest with Reigns attacking Hardy at ringside with a spear, and the rest of The New Day coming out to even the odds. The episode ended with Hardy hitting a Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb onto Reigns. The following week, Reigns hunted down The New Day; attacking Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, but fleeing into the crowd when confronted by Big E. In the crowd, Reigns ran into Jeff Hardy, with their brawl spilling out to the backstage area. At the end of the show, Hardy was tossed off a ledge backstage by Reigns onto a table below, injuring his ribs in the process. On the final episode of SmackDown before the Royal Rumble, Reigns and Heyman came out and said that Hardy would make a big mistake trying to step into the ring with Reigns at the Royal Rumble, however, Jeff Hardy comes out with a brawl ensuing between Reigns and Hardy, with Hardy standing tall.

On the first episode of RAW, United States Champion, Damian Priest hosted an open challenge that would be answered by Austin Theory, with Theory managing to win the United States Championship. The following week on RAW, Priest challenged Theory to a rematch, winning the match and supposedly winning the championship. However, Theory blackmailed the referee to reverse the decision and award him the championship, revealing that he has "connections" and threatened to get the referee fired. The following week, Priest saught answers from Stephanie McMahon, with Austin Theory coming out to the ring and challenged him for a match at the Royal Rumble for the United States Championship, which Priest accepted. Afterward, however, Priest attacked Austin Theory, but coming to the rescue of Theory was Triple H, revealed to be Theory's mentor. The following week, Theory and Triple H explained themselves; with Triple H saying that he is grooming Theory to be the future of the WWE, and defeating Damian Priest would be "the start" of Theory's path to becoming the future of WWE.

After defeating Natalya on the first episode of SmackDown; SmackDown Women's Champion, Charlotte Flair, complained of the "lack of competition in the women's division", only to be confronted by Sasha Banks. Although dismissive of Banks at first, it didn't take long for their exchange to get heated, and it didn't take long for Flair to accept Banks' championship match challenge for the Royal Rumble. On the go-home edition of SmackDown prior to the pay-per-view, the two had another confrontation in a split-screen interview that saw Flair refer to Banks as an "entitled bitch" and Banks firing back by implying that all of Charlotte's success is due to her father, Ric Flair and criticizing Flair for her ego. Banks also noted that in order for her to make it to WrestleMania, she must defeat Flair.

On the first episode of Monday Night RAW, Liv Morgan came out to challenge RAW Women's Champion, Becky Lynch to a championship match at the Royal Rumble; however, Lynch decided to make Morgan earn it, hiring Nia Jax and Tamina to take on Morgan in a two-on-one handicap match the following week, which Morgan won, thereby earning her a championship match. On the following episode, after managing to defeat Doudrop, Morgan was attacked by Lynch. On the final RAW before the Rumble, the two met and exchanged words in the ring with Lynch saying that Morgan was not on the same level as her, and was not worthy to carry the RAW Women's Championship. Morgan would then soon interrupt, acknowledging Lynch's claim but also promising to win their match, but would also criticize Lynch for sneak-attacking her. Lynch would attempt to hit Morgan with the championship, but would be intercepted. The fight continued with Lynch getting the upper-hand after a shot with the championship, followed by a beatdown on the outside and a Manhandle Slam in the ring.

#### Event

The event started with the SmackDown Women's Championship match between the defending champion, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks. Charlotte attempted to leave the ring in the beginning of the match, only for Banks to take her out with a Suicide Dive to the floor. Later, Banks managed to lock in her finishing move, the Bank Statement onto Flair, however, Flair countered into a pin, which Banks kicked out of. The match ended when Flair hit a Natural Selection onto Banks, retaining her championship.

The next match was for the United States Championship as Austin Theory, accompanied by Triple H, defended against Damian Priest. Theory took down Priest in the early goings with a kick to the face, however, Priest quickly began to take control of the match. At one point, Theory would attempt to win by count-out, tossing Priest into the barricade ringside, however, did not succeed in doing so. Priest continued to fight back against Theory, and would hit his signature Sit-Out Chokeslam maneuver, but Theory would kick out. Shortly thereafter, Triple H would get onto the apron, distracting Priest, which led to Priest knocking Triple H off the apron and hitting him with a Steel Chair. The distraction, however, provided an opening for Theory to recover, as when Priest re-entered the ring, Theory would hit his finishing move, Ataxia, onto Priest, gaining the win and retaining the championship.

The Women's Royal Rumble followed as Naomi and Tegan Nox would start the match as entrant one and two respectively. The three next entrants were Natalya at entry #3, Women's Tag Team Champion, Peyton Royce at entry #4 and the main roster debut of Mia Yim at #5. Yim would score two eliminations over Natalya and entrant #6, Tamina, before she would herself be eliminated by Tegan Nox. Entrant #7, Rhea Ripley, attacked Peyton Royce on her way down to the ramp, as Royce had left the ring to avoid having to compete that would soon be joined by their respective tag team partners, Nikki A.S.H who entered at #11 and Billie Kay at #17. Nox would be eliminated by Naomi, however, Naomi herself would be eliminated by entrant #8, Toni Storm, who'd go onto to eliminate four other competitors: Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Nia Jax and Lacey Evans who were entrants #9, #12, #14 and #16 respectively. However, Storm would be eliminated by entrant #18, Shayna Baszler who then eliminated the next two consecutive entrants, entrant #19, Stacy Keibler and entrant #20, Carmella. Baszler would be eliminated when Rhea Ripley returned to the ring, and shortly thereafter, Ripley would eliminate both members of the IIconics, before then being eliminated by her own tag team partner, Nikki A.S.H.. Doudrop would enter as number #21, who would eliminate A.S.H. and then entrant #22, Ember Moon. Dakota Kai and Kacy Catanzaro, from the NXT brand, would make surprise appearances at entry #24 and #25 respectively, but would be eliminated by entrant #23, Alexa Bliss and Doudrop respectively. Doudrop managed to eliminate Maryse, entry #26, before finally being eliminated by entrant #27, Bianca Belair. Entry #28 saw former Royal Rumble winner, Asuka, enter the match, followed by the surprise returns of Bayley at entry #29 and Trish Stratus at #30. Belair would eliminate Stratus, meanwhile, Bayley would eliminate Bliss, Asuka and finally, Belair to win the match and earn a women's championship opportunity at WrestleMania.

The two world championship matches followed, starting with Roman Reigns, accompanied by his "special counsel", Paul Heyman, defending the Universal Championship against Jeff Hardy. The match began with Hardy getting an advantage over Reigns, however, that would end once Reigns began to exploit the injured ribs of Hardy. Reigns would hit two Spears onto Hardy and, while attempting to hit a third, would be countered with a knee by Hardy, who then hit a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb back to back, only for Reigns to kick out. Reigns would then recover and hit a Superman Punch and a spear, before finishing the match with a Guillotine choke to Hardy by demand of Heyman, retaining the championship.

The second of the world championship matches and semi-main event saw AJ Styles challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship. The match started with a staredown between the two men, before McIntyre hit a Glasgow Kiss headbutt onto Styles. A constant of the match would see Styles attempting to utilize his Calf Crusher submission, only for McIntyre's foot to be under the ropes. Styles did, however, manage to use an old move of his, the Spinal Tap, which McIntyre would kick out of. On the outside, Styles put McIntyre through the announce table with a Styles Clash, however, when he rolled McIntyre back into the ring, McIntyre would kick out. Later, a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles was countered, with McIntyre hitting a Future Shock DDT, only for Styles to kick out. After a failed Calf Crusher attempt, McIntyre would land his finishing move, the Claymore kick, only for Styles to kick out. After this, Styles finally managed to lock in the Calf Crusher, only for an interfering Finn Bálor to come out and clothesline the referee out of the ring. Bálor would then hit his 1916 and Coup De Grâce finishing moves onto Styles before leaving the ring. McIntyre would come back in, and would hit one final Claymore kick to defeat Styles.

The main event of the night was the Men's Royal Rumble match, which kicked off with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as entrants #1 and #2. Montez Ford would enter soon after as entrant #3, but would also be the first man eliminated by entrant #4, Happy Corbin. The Intercontinental Champion, King Nakamura, who had been feuding with Zayn and Corbin, would enter at #5, eliminating the duo of Corbin and Zayn, only to be attacked by both men and unfairly eliminated. After that, Cesaro would enter at #6 and would engage in a brawl with Owens at ringside. At numbers #7 and #8 were Dominik Mysterio and Angel Garza. Backstage, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode had attacked the #9 entrant, Rey Mysterio as they had been feuding with Rey and Dominik. Dominik left the match and ran backstage to help his father, only to be attacked himself. Roode would end up taking Rey's place in the match, bringing Dominik to ringside with him. Meanwhile, Sheamus would enter at #10 and would attack Nakamura at ringside before going onto eliminate Cesaro, his former partner. Sheamus would then turn his attention to the #11 entrant, Keith Lee. Roode, after assaulting Dominik on the outside, would enter the ring and attempt to take out Keith Lee. However, Lee was not affected by the blow. However, Roode's tag team partner, Dolph Ziggler, entered shortly thereafter at #12, and tried to reason with Keith Lee. However, Lee would eliminate Roode, causing Ziggler to attack Lee with a chair until he eliminated him. Rey Mysterio would then come down to the ring, although no longer a participant, hit a 619 on Ziggler, allowing Dominik to eliminate him. Dominik would then be eliminated by Sheamus soon after. Ricochet entered at #13 and would eliminate Sheamus, meanwhile X-Pac made a surprise return at #14 and managed to eliminate Angel Garza. At #15, Bobby Lashley entered, eliminating X-Pac and Ricochet in quick succession. Humberto entered at #16, followed by Big E at #17. Brock Lesnar made a surprise return at #18, eliminating Carillo. Seth Rollins entered at #19, staying on the ramp as Lashley and Lesnar fought inside the ring. Lashley would eliminate Lesnar, only for Rollins to come from behind to eliminate Lashley, who he had been feuding with. SmackDown Tag Team Champion, Jey Uso entered at #20, and would attack Big E on the outside on the order of Roman Reigns. RAW Tag Team Champion, Riddle, entered at #21. The next entrants were surprise returns, Edge and Rob Van Dam, entering at #22 and #23. Edge would be eliminated by Kevin Owens and Rob Van Dam was eliminated by Seth Rollins. Rollins also managed to eliminate Owens immediately after Owens' elimination of Edge. Meanwhile, on the ramp, Big E hit a Big Ending onto Jey Uso, only for Jimmy Uso, a non-participant, to attack Big E. Xavier Woods, however, also a non-participant, came to the rescue of Big E, taking the fight with Jimmy backstage. Chad Gable and Angelo Dawkins would enter the match at #24 and #25, with the former eliminating the latter later on in the match. Kofi Kingston entered at #26, however, would be attacked on his way to the ring by Jey Uso. However, Kingston's teammate, Big E, would then attack Jey and eliminate him. Kingston made his way back into the ring, but would then be eliminated unfairly by Jey Uso who pulled him off the apron. The Miz would enter at #27, but would be confronted by a returning John Morrison at entry #28, his former tag team partner. Morrison would be eliminate Miz, but Morrison then be eliminated by Gable. At entry #29, Otis, Gable's Alpha Academy partner, would enter. They would team team up against the remaining participants. The final entrant, #30, was RAW Tag Team Champion, Randy Orton. Orton and his partner, Riddle, would eliminate Otis and Gable respectively. Riddle would then be eliminated by Seth Rollins, setting the final three as Rollins, Orton and Big E. Big E would eliminate Orton, however, Roman Reigns would attack Big E with a chair and would then hit a Spear, after the Usos failed to eliminate Big E. However, Rollins refused to win with help from Reigns and confronted him about it, only for Reigns to leave when Rollins made a comment about the break-up of The Shield. As Rollins went back into the ring, Big E recovered and the match continued. However, once Rollins missed a Phoenix Splash, Big E would hit a Big Ending before eliminating Rollins and winning the match. The show went off the air with Big E and Xavier Woods celebrating.

#### Results

##### Women's Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

*A superstar's Royal Rumble time will ONLY begin once the superstar enters the ring.*

##### Men's Royal Rumble Match match entrances and eliminations

*A superstar's Royal Rumble time will ONLY begin once the superstar enters the ring.*