The 2022 Royal Rumble had one of the worst Royal Rumble matches of all time, but had one of the funniest ever backstage fallouts when Shane McMahon and Randy Orton clashed backstage over a mix up with entrances.
The Royal Rumble this year was one that most fans considered bad, and even was one of the lowest rated ever on Cagematch.net. It saw Brock Lesnar, who lost the WWE Championship earlier that night, enter last to win his second Royal Rumble to the delight of absolutely nobody. It came as a huge, unwanted shock to WWE fans who immediately knew the victory was leading to yet another Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar Wrestlemania main event.
In addition to the awful winner, the match itself did not have much going for it. Despite the huge hype going into the match, the fabled surprise entrant in the match never seemed to come, as wave upon wave of midcard fodder entered the ring, with generic music that even hardened WWE fans failed to recognise.
There was one surprise entrant in the match. Shane McMahon returned at the 2022 Royal Rumble, making his appearance for the first time since losing to Braun Strowman at Wrestlemania the year prior. He returned to WWE in 2016 to much fanfare but soon fell out of favour with WWE fans, who were shocked and bored to see him return as the only special entrance in the historic match.
However, backstage things were a lot more disorganised. Randy Orton and Shane McMahon were some of the last WWE stars to enter the match, coming it at number 29 and 28 respectively. However, that was not the original plan.
Randy Orton was slated to come out at number 28, whilst Shane McMahon was put in the number 29 spot. The number 29 was the same number that Edge entered in for his 2010 victory, so there was good luck on McMahon’s side for this match.
The match started with AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, rivals in both NJPW and WWE. Competitors entered one after another until 27 men had entered. Backstage, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon and Brock Lesnar were the three wrestlers left to enter. Orton was preparing to enter next before the familiar sounding music hit the speakers and the crowd popped.
Here Comes The Moneyyyyy
Shane McMahon’s music hit, much to the pleasure of the wrestlers backstage. McMahon was furious that his music was hit earlier, entering him into the match a full 90 seconds earlier than anticipated. Orton had already made it to the curtain when he the music played and was taken aback when Shane’s music hit.
Shane McMahon headed to the curtain, making it very clear how unhappy he was with the decision, whilst Randy Orton was delighted at the mix-up. He reportedly ‘fell to the ground in laughter’ after letting McMahon know with a “verbal cue” that he would not be making his entrance while the wrong theme song was playing.
Shane McMahon looked visibly angry when he made his entrance while Randy Orton looked ever the professional when he made his entrance less than two minutes later. Despite their mix up, the match went off without a hitch, although Shane McMahon was fired after the match due to an altercation with his recently-retired father Vince McMahon.
Shane McMahon and Randy Orton have previously faced off in the ring, most notably during their feud with Triple H in 2009.
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