WWE WrestleMania 38 Results: Matches WWE Must Book in 2022

With WrestleMania 38 in the books, WWE and its fans are already looking ahead to what the remainder for 2022 will bring for the company.

Several Superstars further established themselves as cornerstone players at the Showcase of Immortals, including Roman Reigns, who unified the WWE and Universal Championships by beating Brock Lesnar in the main event.

Cornerstones like Reigns will undoubtedly be the focus of WWE programming moving forward, and they figure to be involved in some high-profile rivalries and matches in the coming months.

In addition to a full rundown of the WrestleMania 38 results, here is a look at some matches WWE would be wise to book at some point in 2022.

WrestleMania 38 Results

• SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs
• Drew McIntyre def. Happy Corbin
• The Miz & Logan Paul def. Rey & Dominik Mysterio
• Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair def. Becky Lynch (c)
• Cody Rhodes def. Seth Rollins
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) def. Ronda Rousey
• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin def. Kevin Owens
• Raw Tag Team Championship: RK-Bro (c) def. Street Profits and Alpha Academy
• Bobby Lashley def. Omos
• Johnny Knoxville def. Sami Zayn
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Sasha Banks & Naomi def. Carmella & Queen Zelina (c), Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan and Natalya & Shayna Baszler
• Edge def. AJ Styles
• Sheamus & Ridge Holland def. New Day
• Pat McAfee def. Austin Theory
• Vince McMahon def. Pat McAfee
• WWE and Universal Championship Unification: Roman Reigns def. Brock Lesnar

Top WWE Matches to Book in 2022

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

Now that Reigns is in position of both men's world titles, he figures to have an even bigger target on his back than before.

The Tribal Chief has now held the Universal Championship for nearly 600 days, which is the fifth-longest world title run in WWE history behind only Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales.

Given how dominant Reigns has been, it will take a special Superstar to truly give off the impression of being a threat to his title run.

One wrestler that fits the bill is Drew McIntyre, who has largely been kept strong and has won matches at a high clip over the past few years.

McIntyre has not held a title since dropping the WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley shortly before WrestleMania 37 last year, but he has been entrenched in the No. 1 babyface spot on SmackDown.

Despite that, WWE kept him away from Reigns and the universal title, presumably because there were bigger plans in store for Reigns and McIntyre down the line.

Reigns and McIntyre wrestled each other several times in the month of March at untelevised live events, which could be a sign that WWE is preparing for an on-screen feud between them.

The most recent high-profile match between Reigns and McIntyre came at Survivor Series 2020 when McIntyre was WWE champion and Reigns was universal champion.

Reigns won the bout, but the expectation coming out of it was that WWE would eventually go back to Reigns vs. McIntyre at some point since The Scottish Warrior acquitted himself so well.

After Reigns announced on Raw that he will reveal his next steps on Friday's episode of SmackDown, it feels like a strong possibility that McIntyre will confront him and potentially start a feud with McIntyre coming off an emphatic win over Happy Corbin at WrestleMania.

Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley

Like Reigns vs. McIntyre, Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley has been done before, although the stakes will be higher than ever if WWE books them against each other this year.

Primarily, Belair and Ripley duked it out in NXT with their most notable bout being an NXT Women's Championship match at NXT TakeOver: Portland in 2020.

They have mostly been friendly with each other on the main roster, but they have still faced off on occasion, including being the final two Superstars remaining in the 2021 women's Royal Rumble match, which was won by Belair.

More recently, Belair and Ripley were both in an Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February to determine the No. 1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship, and Belair once again prevailed.

For the second year in a row, The EST left WrestleMania with championship gold, as she defeated Becky Lynch for the Raw women's title on Night 1.

On Night 2, Ripley teamed with Liv Morgan in a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Sasha Banks and Naomi won the match and the titles.

Ripley and Morgan faced Banks and Naomi in a championship contender's match on Raw and took the loss when Morgan was pinned, which caused Ripley to storm off in frustration.

Rhea later apologized and told Liv she had gotten them a title match for next week, but all signs point toward The Nightmare turning heel.

If that happens, she would suddenly become the perfect foil for Belair since Ripley is one of the few who can match her in terms of size, strength and athleticism.

WWE clearly believes in both Superstars, as Belair has beaten Banks and Lynch for titles at each of the past two WrestleManias, while Ripley faced Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36 and then beat Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37.

Belair and Ripley are two of the few female wrestlers who have risen to stardom outside of the Four Horsewomen in recent years, and they have the potential to put on some special matches if they enter into their first true rivalry on the main roster.

Cody Rhodes vs. Edge

After six years away, Cody Rhodes made his triumphant return to WWE at WrestleMania, emerging as Seth Rollins' mystery opponent and defeating The Visionary.

Rhodes received big reactions at WrestleMania and on Raw, and all signs point toward him being pushed as a top guy moving forward.

On Monday's Raw, Rhodes gave some insight into his decision to leave AEW and return to WWE, and he made it clear that his primary motivation is to win the one major title that his father Dusty Rhodes never did, that being the WWE Championship.

WWE would be wise to let Rhodes' pursuit of the title play out over the course of an entire year, meaning he will have to go through several other top contenders in order to reach his ultimate goal.

Based on his new heel character, Edge seems like an ideal opponent for Rhodes, especially since Edge will likely be going after a world title as well.

Edge's dark, sinister character is essentially the polar opposite of the message of hope that Rhodes is presently trying to convey, which would make for a highly entertaining feud.

It could have some similarities to Rhodes' rivalry with Malakai Black in AEW, although the fans had turned on Rhodes at that point, whereas they are very much behind him in WWE to this point.

Also, Edge appears to be building a stable with Damian Priest in his corner and more members potentially on the way.

That would make Rhodes a sympathetic underdog babyface with the numbers against him, and it would make the win even bigger if he is able to get back The Rated-R Superstar.