To begin 2022 WWE re-named their pay-per-view’s “Premium Live Events” and to re-enforce that they had two of them. Most of the good matches were still on TV.
1. Roderick Strong vs. WALTER (NXT 1/18/22)
There used to be a thing called wrestling. The wrestlers — they’d wrestle. Pace. Tease. Create. Hurt. CHOP!! This would be a supreme TV match in any era, but in 2022 on WWE’s NXT 2.0 it felt like an entirely different (great) strain of pro wrestling. WALTER re-named himself GUNTHER after the match.
2. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Seth Rollins (Royal Rumble 1/29/22)
15-minute runtime, lots of movement, stadium atmosphere, and a couple references to The Shield that caused my brain to exclaim, “You recognize that!” Roman and Rollins opened up the Royal Rumble with a very fun match for the Big Blue Title.
3. Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (RAW 1/31/22)
Look at these two. Still doin’ it. After a year in the Thunderdome followed by a year of trying — and not really succeeding — at putting over a tag team partner, Rey Mysterio and AJ Styles were able to give themselves a rest while occasionally still pulling out ridiculous flashbacks like this.
4. Randy Orton w/ Riddle vs. Chad Gable w/ Otis (RAW 1/24/22)
Sometimes — rarely, but sometimes — while traveling the dispiriting journey that is “WWE television,” you still might run across an example of perfect timing. Here a guy on the way up (Chad) ran into a singles match with Randy, but the twist is Randy’s having fun and motivated while Chad is good and has stayed good while finally putting together whatever puzzle it is that gets you consistent play on TV.
5. WALTER vs. Nathan Frazer (NXT UK 1/13/22)
WALTER’s NXT UK farewell opponent was Nathan Frazer, who despite little evidence on tape is still an active wrestler who is not only really good at important things like impressing or shocking a crowd through high-flying and bumping, but also extra important things like the ability to look like a threat against a fella like WALTER. Highlight spot was Frazer throwing empty shot after shot before WALTER just demoralizingly chopped him down, only for Frazer to catch WALTER with a rana… and get chopped down again. Classic.
6. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. King Woods & Kofi Kingston (Day 1 1/1/22)
7. Street Fight – SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. King Woods & Kofi Kingston (SmackDown 1/7/22)
Doing the same thing over and over has a bad reputation unless you’re these four, who by way of easy-to-follow flashy wrestling and a genuinely impressive ability to stay over for a long period of time just keep having the same great freaking match. Neither of these two matches are their top-tier best, but as they both opened Day 1 and closed the next SmackDown the consistency was just remarkable.
8. NXT North American & Cruiserweight Title: Carmelo Hayes [c] vs. Roderick Strong (NXT 1/4/22)
This is one those matches NXT used to have. A really good version of it actually, with young Carmelo Hayes setting the pace against one of its’ wisest practitioners. That top-rope X-plex, too. Are you kidding me? Who does that?
9. Falls Count Anywhere: Solo Sikoa vs. Boa (NXT 1/25/22)
Weird chemistry and the go-ahead to brawl all over the arena made this a fun one, then Solo Sikoa’s magnificent table splash to close it up made it a keeper.
10. Fatal 5-Way Match – WWE Title: Big E [c] vs. Bobby Lashley w/ MVP vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Brock Lesnar (Day 1 1/1/22)
For a little while, pretty fun. Just a little while. Five pros powered through with a bunch of fun and ridiculous wrestling for a little over 8 minutes, and then Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock…
Honorable Mentions: Fatal 4-Way Match – Winner Faces Brock Lesnar for WWE Title at Royal Rumble: Big E vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley (RAW 1/3/22), RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Liv Morgan (Day 1 1/1/22), Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Riddle vs. Otis (RAW 1/31/22), Damian Priest vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 1/17/22), Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory (RAW 1/31/22), 30-Woman Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble 1/29/22)
Ricochet vs. Sheamus (SmackDown 1/14/22), Empty Arena Match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Jordan Devlin (NXT UK 1/27/22), NXT UK Women’s Title: Meiko Satomura [c] vs. Blair Davenport (NXT UK 1/6/22), NXT UK Heritage Cup: Noam Dar [c] w/ Sha Samuels vs. A-Kid (NXT UK 1/20/22), NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa [c] vs. Bron Breakker (NXT 1/4/22), Riddle & MSK vs. WALTER & Imperium (NXT 1/4/22)
