{"id":108331,"date":"2022-01-15T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-15T17:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=108331"},"modified":"2022-01-17T11:27:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T16:27:28","slug":"2022-womens-royal-rumble-who-should-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/01\/15\/2022-womens-royal-rumble-who-should-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Considering Winners for the 2022 Women\u2019s Royal Rumble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/01\/07\/mickie-james-summer-rae-2022-royal-rumble\/\" target=\"_self\">entrants announced<\/a> so far for the 2022 <strong><em>Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble<\/em><\/strong> match at January 29\u2019s <em>Royal Rumble <\/em>pay-per-view are as follows: <strong>Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Carmella, Dana Brooke, Zelina Vega, Tamina, Shotzi, Natalya, Naomi, Aliyah, Shayna Baszler, Charlotte Flair, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Mickie James, Lita, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly,<\/strong> and<strong> Summer Rae. <\/strong>The list of the women set to battle for the <strong><em>WrestleMania 38 <\/em><\/strong>championship opportunity of their choice is a varied one, featuring active members of <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment\u2019s<\/strong> roster and the customary plethora of surprise entrants. With Rae, Kelly, McCool, the Bellas, James, and Lita set to enter the fray, and <strong>Maryse <\/strong>and <strong>Beth Phoenix <\/strong>facing off in a mixed gender tag team match at the event alongside their respective husbands <strong>Edge <\/strong>and <strong>The Miz, <\/strong>the former athletes of WWE\u2019s \u201cDivas Division\u201d are asserting their place in the ongoing women\u2019s evolution. The women\u2019s event at the <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> dates only to 2018, and this advent came long after many of these former Divas\u2019 tenure with WWE had ended.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Potential 2022 Women\u2019s Royal Rumble Winners<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a id=\"JrZPj2TXRntsp4UPvGBJ-g\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1140614431\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JrZPj2TXRntsp4UPvGBJ-g',sig:'qZgsXiyQEhd2hlmOw5W4o28_rvWBhNSoF4USi3AtuUQ=',w:'396px',h:'594px',items:'1140614431',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mickie James &#8211; The Dark Horse<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/01\/13\/mickie-james-royal-rumble-appearance\/\" target=\"_self\">Mickie James<\/a>, while a pillar of the \u201cDiva\u201d days, was active with WWE until very recently. The news of her entrance ricocheted throughout the pro wrestling industry as a genuine shock. James was released from WWE in spring 2021 but quickly hit the ground running rebuilding her brand in the <strong>National Wrestling Alliance<\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>and <strong>IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong><em>. <\/em>She is entering the <em>2022 Women\u2019s Royal Rumble<\/em> match as the reigning IMPACT Knockouts Champion, a fact that WWE surprisingly has not shied away from. While it may prove to be an intriguing development, it is unlikely that any of the surprise entrants, James included, will be staying around after the <em>Rumble<\/em>, making them longshots to be the last woman standing after the 30-woman melee.<\/p>\n<p>As for active, full-time WWE performers who could emerge from the match with a shot at either the <em><strong>Monday Night Raw<\/strong><\/em> or <strong><em>Friday Night SmackDown <\/em><\/strong>women\u2019s titles at <em>WrestleMania 38, <\/em>out of the entrants announced so far that leaves Ripley, A.S.H, Flair, Brooke, Vega, Shotzi, Tamina, Natalya, Naomi, Aliyah, Carmella, and Baszler. Their chances at glory are all slim, as well. Aliyah and Shotzi were both called up to SmackDown from <strong><em>NXT<\/em><\/strong> in late 2021, but neither has had significant air time or creative development since arriving at the \u201cBlue Brand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nikki A.S.H. attacks Rhea Ripley: Raw, Jan. 10, 2022\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lp0kLkLL03k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Diving Deeper Into Full-Time Competitors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On January 10\u2019s <em>Raw<\/em>, A.S.H\u2019s and Ripley\u2019s unlikely tag team split with a heel turn by A.S.H. as she attacked Ripley. Despite both having been <em>Raw<\/em> women in the past, neither looks in line for a major push this year, and their tag team split will more than likely propel them into a series against each other. Another pair of former WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions, Tamina and Natalya, also seem to be torn asunder, with Tamina relegated to the 24\/7 Championship skits and Natalya helpfully rounding out the women\u2019s midcard. \u00a0Reigning 24\/7 Champion Brooke actually seems to have found her stride with the title, and a partnership with former champion <strong>Reggie<\/strong>. The current Women&#8217;s Tag Team Champions, Carmella and Vega, the latter also WWE\u2019s first <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/10\/21\/zelina-vega-queens-crown\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong><em>Queen&#8217;s Crown<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0winner, seem destined to continue their run as a team for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>Baszler would be an electrifying choice to win the <em>Rumble<\/em>. Her edgy persona took some considerable dents in 2021, but a rebooted Baszler unleashed in all her vicious glory could easily put Flair or Lynch, whoever she decides to challenge, to their paces with her gritty repertoire of MMA inspired submissions. However, her most recent appearances have seen her serving as something of a thug for hire for WWE official <strong>Sonya Deville <\/strong>in her vendetta against Naomi; as for Naomi, the popular and well-executed feud between her and Deville is still coming to a head, which also takes Naomi out of the running for the <em>Rumble\u2019s<\/em> prospective winner. As for <em>SmackDown<\/em> Women&#8217;s Champion Flair, the only conclusion to which a <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> win could lead would be another face-off with arch-rival Lynch. Their long-running feud, which blurs the line of kayfabe and their real-life history, is a story WWE will no doubt circle back round to once more, but for now, the memory of their last bout at November\u2019s <strong><em>Survivor Series<\/em><\/strong> is still too fresh.<\/p>\n<p>It seems a curious development: the Royal Rumble is currently staffed by women who, for one reason or another, do not seem to be on the trajectory to win it.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"ebsZnxiwRQtHMH4yDzwUwQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1357793093\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ebsZnxiwRQtHMH4yDzwUwQ',sig:'mGGntACsXODVtxZVP3zBQS_9SnB40GGeRtuN3k-PmnY=',w:'396px',h:'594px',items:'1357793093',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The EST in the 2022 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble<\/h3>\n<p>The shadow of 2021\u2019s winner, <strong>Bianca Belair, <\/strong>falls long over the upcoming pay-per-view. After being drafted from <em>Raw<\/em> to <em>SmackDown<\/em> 2020, Belair\u2019s rise in the women\u2019s division was meteoric. She had a high-profile feud with <strong>Bayley, <\/strong>and after winning 2021\u2019s <em>Women\u2019s Royal Rumble<\/em> event, she challenged then-<em>SmackDown<\/em> Women&#8217;s Champion <strong>Sasha Banks. <\/strong>Their <strong><em>WrestleMania 37<\/em><\/strong> bout made history, as the two became the first African-American women to headline <em>WrestleMania<\/em>. Belair\u2019s athletic credibility and effortlessly vivacious babyface persona lent to her considerable popularity, which made her stunning loss of the SmackDown women\u2019s title to Lynch at 2021\u2019s<strong> <em>SummerSlam<\/em><\/strong> a shock to fans and the pro wrestling industry.<\/p>\n<p>After investing so much time in making Belair a star, she found herself in a series of repetitive losses to Lynch and in a midcard feud facing off against <strong>Doudrop<\/strong> as 2021 wound down. However, after her final victory against Doudrop, a revitalized Belair has reasserted herself in recent weeks. She only narrowly lost January 10\u2019s triple threat, facing off against Doudrop and <strong>Liv Morgan <\/strong>for the right to challenge Lynch at the Rumble, and only after Lynch\u2019s own intervention in the bout, singling Belair out as the woman she most fears facing again.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;18865&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>That distinction may have been foreshadowing that Belair will enter the 30-woman <em>Rumble<\/em> and, as in 2021, come out victorious. No one has a bigger score to settle with Lynch than Belair, after her humiliating and controversial loss to Lynch, losing the title she had earned under history-making circumstances, and after such a brilliant push, in just seconds at <em>SummerSlam<\/em>. The loose ends of that storyline, Belair\u2019s quick change of fortunes, and the justice Lynch owes her, loom unspoken over the current Raw Women&#8217;s Championship race. Only one woman can emerge from the <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> with a shot at a championship opportunity at <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, and to close out the unfinished business between herself and Lynch, it should be Bianca Belair.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The entrants announced so far for the 2022 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match at January 29\u2019s Royal Rumble pay-per-view are as follows: Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Carmella, Dana Brooke, Zelina Vega, Tamina, Shotzi, Natalya, Naomi, Aliyah, Shayna Baszler, Charlotte Flair, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Mickie James, Lita, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, and Summer Rae. The list [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3715,"featured_media":108352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,25,26,317,4,3,320],"tags":[459,1445,351,403,161,239,356,333,7872,3041],"class_list":["post-108331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-raw","category-smackdown","category-women","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-beth-phoenix","tag-bianca-belair","tag-carmella","tag-charlotte-flair","tag-dana-brooke","tag-lita","tag-maryse","tag-mickie-james","tag-nikki-a-s-h","tag-rhea-ripley"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3715"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}