WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Results: Ronda Rousey Returns, Wins

Ronda Rousey returned at the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble, outlasting the field to win the Rumble. Rousey will now challenge for either the Raw or SmackDown Championship at WrestleMania.

Rousey entered at No 28, notching three eliminations, including Charlotte Flair to win her first Royal Rumble match.

Rousey’s win comes amid new developments of the former Bantamweight champion being rumored to face Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38.

Flair and Rousey had a physical, if not excellent, match at Survivor Series, where Flair brutally beat Rousey with a kendo stick. Rousey was booed in her hometown of Los Angeles, setting the stage for a heel turn that would persist throughout her first run with WWE.

Rousey’s return was one of the worst-kept secrets in wrestling as reports began leaking leading up to WWE’s second-biggest show of the year. PWInsider (h/t Wrestling Inc) reported Rousey met with a WWE official and Rousey’s return was a matter of when and not if. Accordingly, Rousey was listed as the top favorite to win the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble in her first appearance in the event.

WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Surprise Entrants

• Cameron (No. 13, eliminated by Sonya Deville)
• Ivory (No. 18, Eliminated by Rhea Ripley)
• Alicia Fox (No. 21, Eliminated by Nikki Bella)
• Sarah Logan (No. 25, Eliminated by The Bella Twins)
• Mighty Molly (No. 27, Eliminated by Nikki A.S.H.)
• Ronda Rousey (No. 28—Winner)

As recently as this week, WWE was reportedly considering a major match against Becky Lynch for WrestleMania 38. Lynch is the first and only woman to hold a victory over Rousey as Lynch defeated the former Raw Women’s champion at the main event of WrestleMania 35. Since then, both Rousey and Lynch took time away from WWE to give birth, and with Becky Lynch now a top heel, the Lynch-Rousey rivalry could see an entirely different dynamic.

In 2019, fans gradually began to turn on Rousey as Lynch’s popularity continued to grow organically as “The Man.” Rousey and Lynch’s feud delved into worked-shoot territory with Rousey threatening Lynch on Twitter and conducting a shoot-style promo on WWE fans during a hair appointment.

“It wasn’t a promo. They give me other things to say, I didn’t [expletive] say it,” said Rousey regarding an exchange on the March 4, 2019 broadcast of WWE Raw.

“It’s not a [expletive] promo, it’s not an act. I’m not going out there and doing their [expletive] act anymore. They can say it’s part of the act to try to save face with everybody else, but it’s not an act. I’m going out there and doing whatever the hell I want. And, they can explain it however they want—but [expletive] ’em. Everybody. WWE Universe included.”

“I meant that I’m going to disrespect the sport that they all love so much. ‘Oh, don’t break kayfabe, Ronda!’ Wrestling is scripted. It’s made up. It’s not real. None of those [expletives] can [expletive] touch me. The end.” 

With Rousey back as a babyface, and after a showdown with Charlotte at the Royal Rumble, a Rousey-Flair match at WrestleMania 38 feels inevitable.