Quick Links
The Royal Rumble is one of the most anticipated events each and every year for WWE, but even though many people have made the claim that the Rumble match is a concept which ensures that even “bad” Rumbles can still be fun, the 2022 edition showed that this isn’t always the case. At times, not everything can go to plan, and 2022 PPV was reflective of that, both from an on-screen and behind the scenes perspective. Things were a little ugly backstage when it came to the booking and production of the match, though it did bring about a very funny story of a mix-up between Shane McMahon and Randy Orton. This was one of the few “good” things about a truly disastrous event.
Shane McMahon Caused Backstage Chaos At The Royal Rumble
The booking of Shane McMahon over the last few years in WWE has left a lot of fans frustrated. Shane has been given a lot of spotlight despite not being too strong of a performer when compared to others on the roster, and the forced nature of his character has felt jarring. At the 2022 Royal Rumble, despite not appearing in WWE for nearly a year, he made a surprise return and made it to the final three of the match - something which annoyed many audience members due to it being yet another example of him getting far more spotlight than he should.
RELATED: Ric Flair & Vince McMahon's Forgotten Street Fight At The Royal Rumble, Explained
When it emerged that Shane was one of the main bookers of the Rumble, questions were asked when it came to his ego and due to him booking himself so strongly. The failure of the match overall, which had no structure or exciting moments, was put down to Shane. It had even been reported that his father, Vince McMahon, had claimed that Shane would never get a chance to be put over ever again due to this, because of the backstage shenanigans that his booking and pitches caused. Shane hasn’t been seen in WWE ever since. This all sounds quite chaotic and stressful, but there was at least one funny thing to come from it.
A Mix-Up Of Entrance Music Caused Randy Orton To Roll Around With Laughter
A lot went wrong with the 2022 Royal Rumble, with Kofi Kingston’s signature “saving himself from elimination” spot failing, among other things. Another mistake occurred late in the match as Randy Orton was getting ready to make his entrance at number 28, only for “Here Comes The Money” to sound out instead, with Shane’s music playing. According to Fightful Select (via WrestleTalk), Shane was angered by this and voiced his displeasure, and didn’t initially go out due to it not being his turn.
RELATED: Why Royal Rumble 1999 Is One Of The Worst In WWE History
Eyes moved to Orton, who signaled via what was described as a “verbal cue” that he was not making his entrance to Shane’s music. In actual fact, the entire absurdity of the event, with backstage arguments and all the backlash, coupled with the fact that the wrong music played, had caused Orton to burst out with laughter and roll around on the floor, finding the whole thing completely hilarious. If you look closely upon their respective entries, you can just about see Shane’s annoyance and the hints of Orton’s laughter dying off. The rest of the match was nothing special, and after the event it had been reported that Shane had been let go due to the events of the Rumble.
The 2022 match was among the worst of all time, and whilst Shane is to blame for some of that, all the other heads at the table for putting the match together are to blame too. There were very few saving graces, aside from perhaps the cameos of Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville, but this funny mix-up and the image of Orton uncontrollably laughing is one of the very few positives from this terrible bout.
