10 Best WWE Matches Of 2022

At the start of 2022, Vince McMahon was still fully in charge of WWE creative, which would not be the case by the time the year was out as the former WWE Chairman “retired” amid a sexual misconduct and hush money scandal.

For the second half of 2022, Triple H was the head of WWE creative. Despite all the turmoil behind the scenes, WWE were able to crank out some cracking matches, regardless of who was in control.

These are the 10 best WWE matches of 2022.

10. Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul - Crown Jewel

It speaks volumes to how up and down 2022 was that YouTuber Logan Paul being an incredible wrestler was only one of many mental things that happened all year.

The influencer made his WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38, teaming up with The Miz to take on The Mysterios. He then fought Miz one-on-one at SummerSlam, before eyeing up just his third professional match - an Undisputed Universal Championship clash in Saudi Arabia against Roman Reigns.

Nobody expected Paul to actually win this match, but equally, nobody expected the rookie to be able to hang with someone on Roman’s level on such a big stage.

He lasted nearly 25 minutes against the Tribal Chief - who also deserves plenty of credit for playing his part. Paul showed off his incredible acrobatic skills and impressive grasp of wrestling psychology, even scoring an amazing near fall on the champ with his one lucky punch.

He didn’t walk away with the title, obviously, but he put on such a great showing.

9. Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory - Survivor Series: WarGames

Following the aforementioned McMahon resignation, the new powers that be were left with an Austin Theory-shaped dilemma. The young man had been made Mr Money in the Bank, but was nowhere near the level needed to think he had even a minuscule chance of taking the belts away from Roman Reigns.

How did they get around this? By having Theory cash in on United States Champion Seth Rollins! And lose!

Thankfully Theory was able to course-correct somewhat by having an amazing three-way match with Rollins and Bobby Lashley at Survivor Series.

On paper, this trio made for the perfect mixture of strength, speed, agility, and character dynamics to produce something excellent, and thankfully, that’s exactly what happened.

The talent involved made excellent use of their environment, playing off each other to generate some truly unique spots such as Rollins jumping off Theory’s back to land a Stomp onto Lashley.

Theory would get his win back after a misjudged Spear from Lashley to win the star-spangled belt.

Was this enough to erase the humiliation of his failed cash-in? No, nothing ever could be, but at least he tried.

8. Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair - WrestleMania 38 Night 1

At SummerSlam 2021, Becky Lynch made her surprise return from maternity leave to a huge babyface pop, only to immediately turn heel by beating SmackDown Women’s champion Bianca Belair in just 26 seconds.

After a run with the SmackDown belt turned into a run with the Raw belt, Big Time Becks found that her past had become her future, as she was scheduled to face Belair for the title at WrestleMania 38.

With considerably longer than 26 seconds to play with, both women were able to stretch their legs and prove that they belonged in the conversation for best performers on the planet.

After great near falls, huge bumps, and Becky doing unspeakable things to her opponent’s braid, Bianca flipped out of a Manhandle Slam to hit a wicked KOD and finally get some payback.

A war of attrition between two women at the very top of their respective games, fighting to secure the top prize in their division.

7. Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn - WrestleMania 38 Night 2

After it was announced that actor and professional p*sstaker Johnny Knoxville would be competing in the 2022 Royal Rumble, Sami Zayn took exception to an outsider getting involved in his business.

The two spent months at each other’s throats, with Zayn crashing the Jackass Forever movie premiere and Knoxville costing Sami the Intercontinental Championship.

Finally, at WrestleMania 38, the pair squared off in an Anything Goes Match where it really did feel like anything could happen.

In a brief rundown of what went down, Knoxville went through a table, Sami got splatted by a giant hand, and Jackass member Wee-Man performed the biggest WrestleMania body slam since Hogan and Andre before Zayn hoofed him in the head with a Helluva Kick for the ages. Then came the finish, where Knoxville pinned Zayn for the win via an oversized mouse trap.

This was a whole heap of fun and is many people’s pick for the best match from WrestleMania 38.

6. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar - SummerSlam

After years of their endless feud clogging up the main event, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were finally done with each other when Reigns beat The Beast at WrestleMania 38… until they weren’t.

Seemingly because they’d run out of full-timers for Roman to face, Brock was brought back to challenge for the Undisputed Title at SummerSlam with a Last Man Standing stipulation tacked on in an attempt to make things interesting.

As it turns out, they didn’t need fancy rules to do that. All they needed was agricultural equipment.

Looking like if Old MacDonald started reading online conspiracy theories, Brock rolled into the arena on an enormous yellow tractor, complete with a front loader. The machine would play a key role in the match, including being used to lift up the ring, which is one of the maddest sights in recent WWE history.

The lovechild of Bob the Builder and Mad Max heightened everything about this wild brawl, as champion and challenger went to extreme lengths to keep each other down for the count.

Roman won after burying Brock beneath a pile of rubble, bringing this live-action disaster movie to an end and ending their feud for good.

5. Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre - Clash at the Castle

For the first time in 19 years, WWE staged a pay-per-view on British shores with a tantalising match topping the bill.

Roman Reigns would be defending his Undisputed Universal Championship against the UK’s own Drew McIntyre.

Triple H, who had only recently become head booker, did a great job in building Drew up as a credible threat, and with a (sort of) native crowd behind him, support for the Scotsman was sky-high.

What followed was a brilliantly plotted sports entertainment headliner. The action started slow but built gradually over time, getting more and more intense as the minutes ticked by and the wrestlers’ big shots all missed the mark.

The apex of the drama came when McIntyre looked to have the match won, only for a hooded figure to break up the count. This was the main roster debut of the Bloodline’s newest member - Solo Sikoa.

Reigns had cheesed another win, and the British fans had received a great show closer,  if you don’t count the weird part where Tyson Fury started singing with Drew McIntyre.

4. The Bloodline vs. Team Brawling Brutes - Survivor Series: WarGames

The second Vince McMahon was out the door, Triple H took the opportunity to break out his favourite toy set that his mean old father-in-law wouldn’t let him play with.

This, of course, was WarGames. At the 2022 Survivor Series, for the first time ever, this legendary Dusty Rhodes creation featured on a main roster WWE show, and whilst the women’s match opening the night was very good, it was never going to compete with this.

On one side, you had Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and honorary Uce, Sami Zayn, squaring off against The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. That’s a lot of people with a lot of history together, and all of it was on show in this emotional affair.

The high point of the story came when Zayn was forced to choose between his new family and his old frenemy, eventually siding with The Bloodline to hand them the match and finally be accepted wholeheartedly into the group.

All this came after nearly 40 minutes of cage-based violence, giving fans who had never seen WarGames before a great first impression.

3. The Usos vs. The Street Profits - Money in the Bank

As they were usually caught up in all the Bloodline goings on, Jimmy and Jey Uso didn’t really get a chance to shine as a proper tag team in 2022, with the notable exception of this sleeper hit from Money in the Bank.

Their opponents for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships were The Street Profits, a strong match for the Samoan siblings on paper. Luckily, these two teams were really good in the ring as well.

They were clearly told to go out and have a barnstormer, as they were allotted 23 minutes, and they more than delivered on this remit, putting on a performance that harkened back to the Usos’ old rivalry with The New Day.

The twins’ reign wasn’t as secure as Roman’s, so there was a very real chance that the belts could have changed hands here, which only drew the crowd further into the excellent action.

Jimmy and Jey did eventually pick up the win, but only after one of the best main roster tag matches in quite some time.

2. Gunther vs. Sheamus - Clash at the Castle

The other hometown hero present at Clash at the Castle was Sheamus, despite the fact that Cardiff is a three-and-a-half hour ferry ride away from where Sheamus is from and also in an entirely different country.

His opponent was Gunther, who spent much of his pre-WWE career wrestling in the United Kingdom, and the prize was the Intercontinental Championship. From the moment Ludwig Kaiser announced before the match that Giovanni Vinci had rejoined Imperium, fans knew this was going to be good.

Everyone knew that the Austrian was a bruiser, but fans had been sleeping on Sheamus for quite some time before he began having banger after banger from early 2021. Here, he showed us all what he was made of, going toe-to-toe with The Ring General, matching his famous chops and strikes with brutal-looking offence of his own.

Though he didn’t get his hands on Gunther’s shiny buckle, Sheamus had just had the match of his career, something he’ll be remembered for long after he’s hung up his Brogues.

This was a spectacle unlike anything the main roster had seen in a long while, but there was one other match that just had that little something extra…

1. Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins - Hell In A Cell

Hell in a Cell used to be a match that felt dangerous, but that fear factor had been missing for a long time by 2022.

And then Cody Rhodes’ pectoral muscle exploded.

Rhodes, who had returned to the promotion at WrestleMania 38, was set to face Seth Rollins in the pair’s third straight pay-per-view clash. “Boring”, everyone thought, “Been there, done that”.

And then Cody’s pectoral muscle exploded.

The American Nightmare tore his pectoral muscle whilst in the gym, leading everyone to assume the match was off. Cody said no and competed inside the Cell with a chest that looked like a banana after being dropped down the stairs.

Say what you will about whether or not Rhodes should have had the match, but you can’t deny that it didn’t elevate everything that went down. Rollins did amazingly well to work around his opponent’s injury, even incorporating it into the match, which just made everything feel that bit more dangerous.

When Cody pinned Seth, a legend was born. This is the match that made him a WWE megastar and the ultimate babyface for the company.