The Royal Rumble 2022 is one of the “Big Four” of WWE – the biggest annual pay-per-views in the sports entertainment company. It is also the first among the four and determines the main event of WrestleMania 39. This year's iteration will be on January 29 and will be held at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Let's take a look at the match card, the storylines leading up to these matches, and our predictions on who will win each match.

Royal Rumble 2022 Match Card and Predictions

1. Men's Royal Rumble

Revealed Participants: Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, Johnny Knoxville, Sheamus, Damian Priest, AJ Styles, Big E, Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, Omos, Randy Orton, Riddle, Chad Gable, Otis, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rick Boogs, Ricochet

The list of revealed participants will never be complete, as WWE needs to keep some under wraps for the element of surprise. Last year's winner Edge later succumbed to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania, failing to dethrone the Big Dog. However, whoever wins this year's Royal Rumble will still have a big shot at any world title they so desire. Whether or not the champions will remain the same by WrestleMania 38 is still up in the air.

If we're going for throwbacks, we can also see Montez Ford win this one, following the win of his wife, Bianca Belair, from last year's Rumble. Big E is also a possible winner as he clearly still has a lot to give for his preemptively ended WWE Championship run. Who knows, he might gun for the Universal Championship next. But given the big push to Austin Theory and the support he's receiving from the chairman, he's the likeliest candidate to win it all at the Rumble. He's young and talented, and also well-liked by fans. His win will also be a surprise to many, and will likely draw more eyes on someone who is clearly being built to be the future of the company.

Predicted Result: Austin Theory, since he even beat Finn Balor and AJ Styles put him over. Where is that going? You can't bury The Prinxe and have The Phenomenal One put him over without giving the new hotshot a big opportunity. But who will he challenge? Well, we could end up with a Triple Threat at Wrestlemania this year.

2. Women's Royal Rumble

Revealed Participants: Carmella, Dana Brooke, Nikki A.S.H., Queen Zelina, Rhea Ripley, Tamina, Aliyah, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Naomi, Natalya, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Brie Bella, Lita, Nikki Bella, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, Summer Rae, Mickie James, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville

Same as above, the list of revealed participants will also never be complete, as WWE needs to keep some under wraps for the element of surprise. Just like in the previous Women's Royal Rumbles, this year's showcase how shallow WWE's women's division is. With a lack of viable talent, WWE needs to draw on Legends, Part-timers, and special guests. Interestingly, this year's Rumble includes former Women's Champ and current Impact Knockout Champion Mickie James. After the garbage past between WWE and Mickie James, this is indeed a big surprise. It'll be cool if we see Mickie James enter the Royal Rumble with her Impact belt in full view, and then win it all for a cross-promotional WrestleMania, which will be a first where a wrestler from another promotion will compete in WrestleMania. Book it, Vince.

Another storyline to follow here is Lita's return, which could come with a possible title opportunity for her. We don't see her winning the Royal Rumble, though. But given her confrontation with The Queen in the January 14 SmackDown episode, we imagine Lita eliminating The Queen at the Rumble, which could lead to a rivalry after the PPV.

Meanwhile, Sasha Banks appeared on the go-home episode of SmackDown to declare herself for the Rumble. Even though she was injured earlier this year, it appears that the Boss recovered quickly. She's also a prime candidate to win, but we're sticking to our fantasy prediction that will make the most shenanigans and will make great TV. The Queen declaring herself for the Rumble and demeaning the other Women on the ring was a nice touch and we could have ended things there, but Sasha sending Charlotte away from the Ring only made things even better.

Predicted Result: We want Mickie James to win, bringing the Impact Knockout Championship in WrestleMania 39 to challenge for a Women's Title. But with the most recent events, Sasha Banks could finally get her turn in winning the Rumble.

3. Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Bobby Lashley (with MVP) – WWE Championship Match

Brock Lesnar won the WWE Championship back on Day 1, where he was a surprise participant in a fatal-5-way match. He snatched the WWE Championship from Big E. In that match was Bobby Lashley. In the succeeding episode of Raw, the fatal-4-way went underway as originally planned, featuring Bobby Lashley, Big E, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens, which Bobby Lashley eventually won. That earned him a championship shot at the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble.

We suspect that Brock Lesnar was promised a championship on Day 1, and Reigns' absence led to Big E's sacrifice. However, it's also possible that Big E was originally booked to lose to Lashley, anyway. With those two points in mind, it's possible that Brock will lose his title almost immediately to Lashley to get the originally planned storylines back on track. With him losing the belt, this gives Brock more motivation to go after Reigns, who's more likely than he is to retain in this PPV. You know, this match can even open the Royal Rumble, have Lesnar lose, and make Lesnar a surprise #30 Entrant and win the Rumble, effectively booking him against Reigns for a WrestleMania match.

The nonsense weigh-ins in the go-home episode of Raw between the two was a fun bit, which introduced us to Cowboy Brock Lesnar (give us this in a DLC, Visual Concepts.) It was a quick and fun but nonconsequential angle, which is exactly what we need just to build up the upcoming match without cheapening its results.

Predicted Result: Bobby Lashley wins the WWE Championship

4. Becky Lynch (c) vs. Doudrop – WWE Raw Women's Championship Match

Becky Lynch has successfully defended her Women's Title every single time since SummerSlam, most of the time using nefarious means. Her opponent was determined after the January 10 episode of Raw in a Triple Threat between Bianca Belair, Doudrop, and Liv Morgan.

Of all three possible challengers, Bianca Belair, Doudrop, and Liv Morgan, none have the same staying power as Becky Lynch, who continues to be cheered by fans in spite of her heel persona. Liv Morgan already lost to Becky Lynch in her recent attempts, and Doudrop doesn't seem ready to take on the reins of the show just yet. It's hard to take the belt off Becky Lynch, but if Belair ended up winning that match, then the chances of her dropping the title increases. After all, Bianca had already given Becky a big favor back in Summerslam, and it's time to return it. However, the match ended with Doudrop winning (with the help of Becky Lynch). Becky's interference might signal that Doudrop is the weakest among the three, chosen by the Champ to raise her chances of winning. But Doudrop's booking has made her look dominant over the past couple of months, so there's still a lingering scent in the air that she might end up winning this, after all. But that's the off chance – the most likely result here is Becky Lynch retaining.

Predicted Result: Becky Lynch retains the Raw Women's Championship

5. The Grit Couple (Edge and Beth Phoenix) vs. The It Couple (The Miz and Maryse) – Mixed Tag Team Match

WWE has been using Edge's family as a plot point that it's getting a bit tiresome already. We've already seen Seth Rollins threatening Edge's home in their feud last year. This time, we're seeing Edge teaming up with his wife, The Glamazon Beth Phoenix, go head to head with The Miz and Mrs. This all started when Edge and The Miz returned simultaneously on Raw back in November. In that segment, Edge's highly advertised return started off with him listing down dream opponents that he still hasn't faced in his illustrious career. The Miz and Maryse appeared, with The Miz complaining why his return wasn't as marketed as Edge's, and he complained why he's not part of Edge's list. The two would tease a fight, but The Miz would back off.

The following week, The Miz hosted a segment of Miz TV, where Edge was his guest. The two then had a heated exchange, which led to a WWE Day 1 Challenge. During that PPV match, Maryse interrupted the match to save The Miz. The Glamazon would also appear, her first appearance in WWE programming since her NXT departure, to save his husband and to drive away Maryse. This leads to the booking of a Mixed Gender Tag Team Match at the Royal Rumble.

Both the male competitors are great workers, but Beth Phoenix completely overshadows Maryse. While we're sure that The Miz and Edge will have a fantastic match again, we're pretty sure that the Face Couple will also win the match altogether. Having the Heels win this one will just lead to a rematch, which I believe will drag this rivalry further than it's supposed to last.

The Grit Couple ruining the It Couple's birthday celebration last Monday was the pinnacle of this rivalry. Things can only go down on the Rumble, with the fans leaving the arena happy with a Face Couple win.

Predicted Result: The Grit Couple beats The It Couple

6. Roman Reigns vs. Seth ‘Freakin' Rollins – WWE Universal Championship Match

Seth Rollins came to answer Adam Pearce's call on SmackDown, becoming the WWE Official's answer to Roman Reigns' challenge for an opponent at the Rumble. With Roman Reigns' and Brock Lesnar's program deviated, this is definitely a matchup that was made in an emergency situation. But WWE did great in this supposed contingency plan, pitting two former friends who know each other very well against each other. Rollins came over to SmackDown on the January 7 episode of the show to challenge Roman Reigns for the title.

This match has been a long time coming. Seth Rollins had been asking for a title shot against Roman Reigns last year, which led to feuds against Edge and Cesaro, two contenders who challenged Reigns ahead of Rollins who Rollins felt were cutting the line. Now, two former allies will clash together for the first time in almost two years and the first time for the two to fight over the WWE Universal Championship Belt. Seth already did a rug pull on Reigns once upon a time at WrestleMania, but will the Monday Night Messiah be able to take the belt off the Head of the Table without resorting to dirty tactics? Rollins is entering this match as the Face, but until recently he has been a conniving bastard who did everything he needed to do just to win. While having Seth win the belt here would feel good, it doesn't feel like it's the right thing to do. The inevitable collision between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar still looms in the air, and Reigns is more likely the one bringing a belt behind his back on ‘Mania. With that said, we'll have a very great match here, but it'll still be Reigns who will emerge victorious.

Seth Rollins driving home the fact that Roman Reigns has never beaten him one on one was a great way to cap off the rivalry before the PPV. Bringing up the storied past between the two in the go-home show of Raw was a great way to stir up the crowd and make them care more about the match. Rollins getting over in that segment also helps build momentum for him, making a Seth Rollins win on Saturday less surprising if it happens.

Predicted Result: Roman Reigns retains the WWE Universal Title