WWE rumors: Brock Lesnar was not original choice to win Men’s Royal Rumble

Brock Lesnar won WWE’s 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble match, but he was reportedly not the planned winner at first.

The 2022 Royal Rumble event certainly had fans talking, especially when it comes to the main event. Brock Lesnar, who lost his WWE Championship earlier in the night to Bobby Lashley due to interference from Roman Reigns, entered the Men’s Royal Rumble match at the No. 30 entrant and won to earn a main event championship match at WrestleMania 38.

While it may have been expected to some fans, it was reportedly not originally the plan.

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Riddle was originally planned to win the 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble match, but after plans changed throughout the week, the company ultimately decided on Lesnar winning.

Brock Lesnar was reportedly not WWE’s original choice to win Men’s Royal Rumble match

Johnson points out that it was not just a decision between Riddle and Lesnar. Randy Orton was brought up as a potential winner of the match. The event was held in St. Louis, Mo., Orton’s hometown.

Riddle is part of the tag team RK-Bro with Orton. They won the RAW Tag Team Championships back at SummerSlam 2021 by defeating A.J. Styles and Omos. They held the titles until the Jan. 20 edition of Monday Night RAW, losing to the Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis).

There was backlash on social media to Lesnar winning the match, considering his impending Universal Championship match against Reigns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas was set up earlier in the night. Having a new star like Riddle winning the match certainly would have given the WWE Championship picture more clarity heading into WrestleMania.

Sure enough, on the Jan. 31 edition of RAW, Lesnar declared that he will be facing Reigns for the Universal Championship at “The Grandest Stage of Them All” by way of his Royal Rumble win. But in an in-ring promo with Lashley, Lesnar said that he wanted to make it title vs. title against Reigns. So, Lesnar was added to the Elimination Chamber match alongside Lashley for the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber premium live event on Feb. 19 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Riddle qualified for the match as well by defeating Otis that same night. Riddle will now contend for the championship against Lesnar, Lashley, Seth Rollins, Austin Theory and A.J. Styles.

Update: There are conflicting reports regarding plans on who will win the Men’s Royal Rumble match.

Fightful Select reported that Riddle was never considered to win the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Additionally, the plan was for Lesnar to win the match around two weeks prior to the event. Louis Dangoor of Give Me Sport independently confirmed the report.

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