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Ronda Rousey Wins 2022 Women's Royal Rumble Match in Return to WWE
January 30, 2022
Ronda Rousey earned a shot at the Raw or SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38 by winning the 2022 women's Royal Rumble match Saturday night.
WWE @WWEThe Baddest Woman on the Planet is headed to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a>!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoyalRumble?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoyalRumble</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RondaRousey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RondaRousey</a> <a href="https://t.co/9fWa9ZXDgC">pic.twitter.com/9fWa9ZXDgC</a>
The former UFC star was the 28th entrant in the contest, and she was the only one of 30 women remaining at the end at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis.
While several of the Superstars announced ahead of time were considered legitimate contenders, some rumors and speculation going into the event had fans buzzing.
Most notably, Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News) reported WWE was pushing for Rousey to make her return to the company and discussed the possibility of her being part of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
The 34-year-old made her WWE debut following the first-ever women's Rumble match in 2018, but she hadn't been seen on company programming since WrestleMania 35 three years ago.
Aside from the potential of Rousey entering the Rumble, there was talk regarding multiple full-time performers having a strong chance to prevail.
Both Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan stood out since they had been at odds with Becky Lynch over the Raw Women's Championship recently.
SmackDown women's champion Charlotte Flair was in the mix as well, especially because of the stipulation that she would get to choose her WrestleMania opponent in the event of a win.
But the main turned out to be true, as Rousey made her long-awaited return and won the women's Rumble match for the first time.
As soon as her music hit, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the former UFC champ would clean house and she eliminated Flair last to claim the victory.
Given how her previous WWE stint ended with a defeat to Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania 35, it seems likely the company will now build toward Rousey vs. Big Time Becks at this year's Show of Shows on April 2-3.
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