5 Things That Can Happen at WWE Royal Rumble 2022

After a solid Day 1 pay-per-view, WWE will look to continue the momentum as The Road to WrestleMania officially kicks off with the 2022 Royal Rumble.

The 2022 Royal Rumble will take place live on the NBC Peacock app from The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The event will take place on Saturday, January 29th, 2022.

On the WWE RAW side of the show, Edge and Beth Phoenix will take on The Miz and Maryse in a Mixed Tag Team Match.

Becky Lynch will defend the RAW Women's Championship against Doudrop. In the main event for the red brand, Brock Lesnar will defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley.

On the SmackDown side of the show, Roman Reigns will defend the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins.

In addition, there will be the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches. The winners of these two matches will get a championship match against the champion of their choosing at WrestleMania 38.

There are lot of thing that can be expected from the pay-per-view and we take a lot of the most significant possible outcomes.

Here are five things that can happen at this Saturday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

5. Becky Lynch will retain the WWE RAW Women's Championship against Doudrop

At the Royal Rumble, Becky Lynch will defend the RAW Women's Championship against Doudrop. This comes after Doudrop won a Triple Threat #1 contender's match a few weeks ago on RAW.

The story of this match is fairly simple. Becky does not want to face Bianca Belair, who has taken her to the limit multiple times. This was evident when she distracted Belair in the #1 contender's match, which led to Doudrop pinning Liv Morgan for the victory.

Meanwhile, Becky has also been putting Doudrop over on commentary and in promos. This was because out of the three women vying for the title shot at the Rumble, Becky saw Doudrop as the easiest opponent of the three.

The outcome for this match could likely see Becky Lynch retain the RAW Women's Championship. The promotion is heading down the path of one last encounter between Becky and Bianca Belair.

The match will likely take place at WrestleMania 38. Doudrop is just another victim on the way to Dallas for Lynch. However, a good performance against Becky can bode well for Doudrop in 2022.

4. Bianca Belair will win the WWE Women's Royal Rumble Match

When it was announced that IMPACT Knockout Champion Mickie James would be entering the WWE Women's Royal Rumble Match, it quickly became one of the most anticipated matches on the card.

With a champion from another company appearing in the match, along with other surprise entrants, the field is wide open with no clear winner in sight.

Alexa Bliss is on her "journey" back to RAW. If she makes her return in the Rumble match, she also has a good chance of winning it.

For the SmackDown women, there isn't much to go with since their roster is so thin. However, if Bayley were to make a surprising return in the match and goes on to win it, it would be interesting to see how WWE handles it since Bayley is a heel. A babyface Bayley that isn't "The Hugger" would be interesting to see.

If a woman like Asuka or Ronda Rousey returns and wins the match, they will automatically be seen as credible threats to either champion.

With that in mind, the outcome for the match will see Bianca Belair win her second consecutive Women's Royal Rumble Match.

As previously mentioned, it is clear that WWE is telling the story that Becky Lynch is avoiding Bianca. Deep down, Becky knows that Bianca can defeat her.

If Bianca goes on to win the Rumble Match for the second year in a row, there is no way Becky can duck Bianca any longer. A match between the two seems like the plan for WrestleMania 38. That is the perfect spot for Bianca to finally defeat Becky and redeem her loss from SummerSlam last summer.

3. Roman Reigns will retain the WWE Universal Championship

In a match that could easily be the main event of WrestleMania, Roman Reigns will defend the WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins. This comes after Adam Pearce hand-picked Rollins as Reigns' Rumble opponent.

Reigns' Universal Championship reign has become historic as he eclipsed Brock Lesnar's previous record of 503 days as champion. With no one being built strong enough to be seen as a threat, there is no telling how long his title reign will last.

While Rollins is credible enough to defeat Reigns, especially since he has defeated him on multiple occasions in the past, he was most likely not the company's Plan A for Reigns' opponent at the Rumble.

One of the best parts of this feud is that the promotion is acknowledging Reigns and Rollins' history with The Shield. From the knock, Rollins did on the door when he was revealed as Reigns' challenger to their promos. It adds some extra spice onto what would normally be a placeholder feud for Reigns.

The outcome for the match will see Reigns retain the WWE Universal Championship.

Although they are champions on different brands, it still seems like Vince and co. will have Reigns and Lesnar face off at WrestleMania 38. Whether that match is for one title or to unify the titles is yet to be seen, but this match will set the tone for the rest of the night.

2. The Bloodline will cost Brock Lesnar the WWE Championship

Brock Lesnar will defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley in a dream match that fans have been waiting years for. This match has been anticipated since Lashley returned to the company in 2018, and it is finally happening.

Lashley is a rare example of a former champion who remains booked strong after losing the title. He has been winning matches and was the only one to take it to Lesnar in the Fatal 5 Way Match on Day 1.

Roman Reigns' positive COVID report prior to the Day 1 pay-per-view threw a monkey wrench into things. Lesnar went from facing Reigns in a match that was likely going to end in a way that extended their feud to WrestleMania to winning the championship.

The outcome for this match could see The Bloodline cost Brock Lesnar the title. It would be odd for the promotion to just drop the Lesnar-Reigns feud without a proper conclusion.

The Bloodline and possibly Paul Heyman costing Lesnar the title would get the story back on track. This ending would also keep Lesnar looking strong even while losing.

Unlike Reigns on SmackDown, there are plenty of challengers for Lashley on RAW to feud with heading into and at WrestleMania.

The company can use next month's Elimination Chamber event to determine a challenger for Lashley and the WWE Championship.

1. Brock Lesnar will win the WWE Men's Royal Rumble Match

The 2022 WWE Men's Royal Rumble match is one of the most unpredictable Rumble matches in recent memory. Much of that is because no one has been built up to be seen as a favorite.

The other reason is that it may hinge on other events that occur during the show.

The company likes to kick off pay-per-views with a hot match, so they may kick things off with the Universal Championship Match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

It also wouldn't be the first time a Reigns title match has kicked off a show.

Somewhere in the middle of the show will likely feature the WWE Championship match between Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar.

With Reigns' match already over and him having successfully retained it, there will be a reason for the Bloodline to come out and cost Lesnar the championship. With Reigns having his title and Lesnar losing his, they will think they are finally rid of Lesnar. That is until the main event.

The outcome for the 2022 Men's Royal Rumble Match will see Brock Lesnar win his second career Royal Rumble Match. With him having a match earlier in the night, Lesnar's entrance will be seen as a "surprise."

With him being enraged after being screwed out of the title, Lesnar would go on a rampage en route to winning the match.

The promotion could also establish a contender for newly crowned WWE Champion Bobby Lashley by having a RAW superstar be the last man Lesnar eliminates.

With that superstar being a runner-up, it would give this person momentum heading into the Elimination Chamber event.