Monster Jam World Finals XXII (also written as Monster Jam World Finals 22) was the 22nd Monster Jam World Finals that was held on July 1st, 2023, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. This World Finals saw all four world championship competitions take place on the same day, with the skills and high jump competitions taking place in the afternoon in between the pit party, and the main field racing and freestyle competitions taking place during the evening/night. The event also featured two special performances, with the ThunderROARus opening ceremony taking place before the main field competitions and the LOCASH halftime performance taking place in between racing and freestyle, marking the first World Finals to feature a musical halftime performance. This World Finals also saw the return of the elevated start lines since 2019, featuring a special elevated St. Louis styled racing track. This event would be very notable for its messy weather, leaving behind a thick and muddy track. When the skills challenge (the initial first competition) was about to take place, the competition would infamously be postponed immediately after the intro ceremony due to an incoming lightning storm. It would cause the show to go on hiatus for two hours before eventually resuming, with the high jump competition being first instead. This event would result in Ryan Anderson defending his high jump championship, Tyler Menninga winning the skills championship, Tristan England winning the racing championship, and Colt Stephens winning the freestyle championship.
Max-D XX features the name Bill Meents on the truck's name tag in tribute to Tom Meents' father who had passed away mid-February.
The Black Pearl and Wild Side would feature their trucks wearing special Pit Viper sponsored sunglasses over their windshields. *Display only.
A special split design of Max-D (dubbed Max-D Split by the community) debuts at the pit party, with the left displaying Max-D XX and the right side displaying a worn down version of the original Maximum Destruction design. *Non competing.
Big Kahuna re-debuts with a new Ford Bronco body style. *Non competing.
Jester debuts a special Independence Day themed paint scheme. *Non competing.
Team Tomfoolery's Excaliber debuts. *Non competing.
Avenger's Nashville musical body.
Bad Company's World Finals XXII hologram body.
Todd LeDuc photoshopped as a mermaid on The Black Pearl's tailgate.
All five competition Grave Digger bodies together at their reveals.
Megalodon Neon first revealed at the World Finals Press Conference.
The Black Pearl with Pit Viper sunglasses.
Wild Side with Pit Viper sunglasses.
Right side of Max-D Split.
Left side of Max-D Split.
Big Kahuna debuting its new Bronco body.
The new American Jester.
Team Tomfoolery's Excaliber at its debut.
Practice[]
Grave Digger (Adam): 20.147
Dragon: 20.217
Grave Digger (Tyler): 20.273
Zombie: 20.276
Grave Digger (Weston): 20.315
Bakugan Dragonoid: 20.429
Son-Uva-Digger: 20.569
Avenger: 20.660
Shaker: 20.744
Max-D XX: 20.766
Megalodon (Cory): 20.862
Megalodon Neon (Todd): 20.868
Bad Company: 20.921
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior: 21.158
El Toro Loco: 21.193
ThunderROARus: 21.269
Scooby-Doo!: 21.571
Grave Digger (Brandon): 21.709
Earth Shaker: 22.397
Lucas Stabilizer: 22.476
Monster Mutt: 23.272
Soldier Fortune: 23.293
Grave Digger (Krysten): 24.002
The Black Pearl: DNQ (see trivia)
Qualifying[]
Monster Jam World Finals XXII Qualifying
Full Qualifying Stream.
Bakugan Dragonoid: 19.902
Dragon: 20.001
Son-uva Digger: 20.064
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior: 20.081
Megalodon (Cory): 20.169
Earth Shaker: 20.195
Bad Company: 20.242
Grave Digger (Adam): 20.312
Zombie: 20.325
Max-D XX: 20.326
Megalodon Neon (Todd): 20.358
Grave Digger (Weston): 20.502
Lucas Stabilizer: 20.581
The Black Pearl: 20.583
Grave Digger (Brandon): 20.667
El Toro Loco: 20.825
Avenger: 20.869
Shaker: 20.879
ThunderROARus: 20.915
Grave Digger (Tyler): 21.077
Monster Mutt: 21.084
Scooby-Doo!: 21.410
Grave Digger (Krysten): 21.747
Soldier Fortune: 22.678
Lucas Oil high jump[]
High jump order[]
Soldier Fortune
Kraken
Son-uva Digger
Bakugan Dragonoid
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior
ThunderROARus
Lucas Stabilizer
Avenger
High jump results[]
Son-uva Digger: 28.616 ft.
Lucas Stabilizer: 28.1221 ft.
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior: 26.769 ft.
Bakugan Dragonoid: 26.0480 ft.
ThunderROARus: 24.1057 ft.
Kraken: 21.6486 ft.
Soldier Fortune: 20.5375 ft.
Avenger: 19.9892 ft.
Great Clips Skills challenge[]
Skills order[]
Son-uva Digger
Grave Digger (Tyler)
Earth Shaker
Bakugan Dragonoid
Grave Digger (Weston)
Max-D XX
El Toro Loco
Terminal Velocity
Skills results[]
Grave Digger (Tyler): 7.126
Terminal Velocity: 7.055
Bakugan Dragonoid: 5.917
Son-uva Digger: 3.700
Earth Shaker: 2.195
Max-D XX: 2.047
El Toro Loco: 1.688
Grave Digger (Weston): 1.521
Opening ceremony[]
Colton Eichelberger lands the nine truck jump.
The main field competitions for the World Finals would begin with a special opening ceremony where the ThunderROARus truck would attempt a record breaking nine truck jump. It was driven on a Meents stunt chassis by Colton Eichelberger, who made his long-awaited return to the sport since last driving in late-2021. The stunt would be successful, jumping over all nine trucks.
BKT racing[]
Note: The bold trucks indicate the truck winning the race.
Round 1[]
El Toro Loco (DNC) vs. Avenger
Zombie vs. Soldier Fortune
Lucas Stabilizer vs. Grave Digger (Tyler) (DNC)
Grave Digger (Weston) vs. Monster Mutt
Grave Digger (Brandon) vs. Shaker (DNF)
Max-D XX (5 sec. penalty) vs. Grave Digger (Krysten)
The Black Pearl vs. ThunderROARus
Megalodon Neon (Todd) vs. Scooby-Doo!
Round 2[]
Bakugan Dragonoid vs Avenger
Grave Digger (Adam) vs Zombie
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior vs Lucas Stabilizer
Megalodon (Cory) vs Grave Digger (Weston)
Dragon (5 sec. penalty) vs Grave Digger (Brandon)
Bad Company vs Grave Digger (Krysten)
Son-uva Digger vs The Black Pearl
Earth Shaker vs Megalodon Neon (Todd)
Round 3[]
Bakugan Dragonoid vs Zombie
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior (DNF) vs Megalodon (Cory)
Grave Digger (Brandon) vs Bad Company (wins, buts breaks and cannot return)
The Black Pearl vs Earth Shaker
Semi-finals[]
Bakugan Dragonoid vs Megalodon (Cory)
Grave Digger (Brandon) vs Earth Shaker
Championship race[]
Bakugan Dragonoid vs Earth Shaker
Target freestyle[]
Freestyle order[]
Grave Digger (Brandon)
Monster Mutt
Dragon
Grave Digger (Krysten)
Shaker
Megalodon Neon (Todd)
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior
El Toro Loco
Soldier Fortune
Bad Company
Avenger
Grave Digger (Weston)
Zombie
Earth Shaker
Scooby-Doo!
Grave Digger (Tyler)
The Black Pearl
Lucas Stabilizer
Megalodon (Cory)
ThunderROARus
Grave Digger (Adam)
Bakugan Dragonoid
Max-D XX
Son-uva Digger
Freestyle results[]
ThunderROARus: 8.608
The Black Pearl: 8.452
Megalodon Neon (Todd): 8.258
Grave Digger (Weston): 8.137
Son-uva Digger: 7.993
Monster Mutt: 7.978
Max-D XX: 7.945
Dragon: 7.795
Bakugan Dragonoid: 7.504
Grave Digger (Tyler): 7.284
Grave Digger (Adam): 7.213
Megalodon (Cory): 7.048
El Toro Loco: 6.945
Earth Shaker: 6.899
Shaker: 6.822
Zombie 6.619
Lucas Stabilizer: 6.567
Grave Digger (Krysten): 5.917
Bad Company: 5.847
Scooby-Doo!: 5.843
Soldier Fortune: 5.838
Grave Digger (Brandon): 5.785
Avenger: 4.411
Great Clips Mohawk Warrior: 0.000 (DNF)
Reception[]
Colt winning the freestyle championship.
The event would be met with mixed opinions among fans, with it having aspects that were both received well and aspects that were heavily criticized. In general, the format of a modern World Finals taking place in one day was met with mixed opinions, with some fans enjoying the old-schooled and grand nature of the event, while some fans also found the format to be too jumbled and rushed. The accompanying track for the one-day for World Finals was also met with mixed opinions, with some criticizing it for being lackluster, while some fans liked the unique blend of obstacles and the use of crush cars open enough outside of the dirt to be crushable. The elevated starting lanes, however, would be well received by majority fans, mainly for it a single connected ramp as opposed to the two narrow lanes seen at World Finals XX in 2019. The overall musical, country, and American theme and atmosphere of the World Finals would be well received, with fans enjoying the uniqueness of the event, especially compared to past World Finals.
The storm and rain delays, although out of Monster Jam's control, would be infamous for its poor timing and long wait. However, when the competitions resumed with the moist track, the competitions would vary in terms of quality and reception. The High Jump competition despite its incredibly muddy nature would be met with decent reception for having more strategic and complex thinking into performing the high jump instead of just hitting the ramp hard and fast as seen in the previous high jump championships. Skills, however, would be infamous for its difficult and slow nature, with the majority of competitors being very unsuccessful with their attempts and only three drivers being at least slightly successful. The winner would also be under debate among fans with some believing Tyler Menninga winning was deserved, while some also believed that Jon Zimmer Jr. was more deserving of the win, with both scores being close.
The "LeDuc Loop".
Arguably the most well received of the four competitions would be the racing competition, with it being well enjoyed by viewers for its close racing, unpredictable nature, and overall intensity with many underdogs taking upsets and favorites to win being eliminated early. Tristan England eventually winning the racing championship would also be a very well celebrated and respected win among both fans and his peers. Finally, the freestyle competition would be met with mixed reception with some fans finding the competition to be lackluster while some also found it be exciting and intense, notably with very memorable moments such as Chris Koehler's two saves, Camden Murphy's near cross-thread twist, and most famously Todd LeDuc's high backflip, referred to as the "LeDuc Loop". The judging would be met with mixed opinions among both the fan and professional judges, with some finding certain runs to have been both over and under-scored. Colt Stephens winning freestyle would notably have mixed opinions, with some fans believing Colt's winning run to be deserving, while some also favored other runs, mainly Ryan Anderson, Cole Venard, Todd LeDuc. Despite this, similar to Tristan, Colt winning freestyle would be heavily celebrated among his peers, including Cole Venard and Todd LeDuc, with both drivers celebrating and showing no displeasure in their rankings, especially during the medal presentation.
The most controversial aspect of Monster Jam World Finals XXII would be the absence of Max-D encore in celebration of the truck's 20th anniversary, which many fans were excited for coming into the event, and the absence of the encore, let alone a closing encore in general, would be seen as a major letdown to many fans. Although it is unknown if it was Tom's decision or Monster Jam's decision to not hold the encore, fans would see the lack of an encore as disrespectful to both the truck and Tom Meents for how impactful Tom and truck were to the industry and sport. The ThunderROARus drop opening ceremony added more controversy to the absence, as fans were unhappy with Monster Jam choosing a ThunderROARus celebration over a Max-D anniversary celebration as well as it being a truck jump stunt, with said stunt being controversial among fans for being preformed multiple times, as well as the stunt being done to promote a Spin Master playset. It, however, has been pointed out the lack of Max-D drivers, with there only being Tom, likely resulting in the encore eventually being scrapped.
Trivia[]
Nissan Stadium marks the third venue used for the Monster Jam World Finals.
It marks Monster Jam's second venue for World Finals since moving into a rotational schedule.
It would mark the first venue to host an officially numbered World Finals only once.
It marks the third month change for the World Finals, now moving into July.
It also marks the first time the World Finals was held outside of Spring, being held in the summer for the first time.
This marks the first World Finals since World Finals XIV in 2013 where all competitions will take place on the same day.
This would be the fourth World Finals to have rain, and the third one in a row to have so.
This World Finals would see the return of the American flag styled safety tarps, last being featured at Monster Jam World Finals VII in 2006.
This would be the first World Finals since the first Monster Jam World Finals to not have a post-freestyle encore.
This World Finals would see the return of multi-colored Grave Digger trucks since World Finals XVII in 2016 due to heavy fan-requests.
Weston Anderson running the orange colored Grave Digger was done as a tribute and reference to Weston's Bog Hog mud truck.
This will also be the first World Finals since World Finals XX in 2019 where two of the same truck competing in the main field would run separate schemes.
The scoring system with both professional and fan judging would return for this event. The professional judges would be El Toro Loco driver Elvis Lainez, Whiplash driver Brianna Mahon, Wild Flower driver Rosalee Ramer and former Max-D driver, Colton Eichelberger.
Ryan Anderson and Camden Murphy would be the only drivers to compete in all four competitions at the World Finals.
This also marks the second time Ryan Anderson has competed in all four competitions at the World Finals.
Jon Zimmer Jr. and Nick Pagliarulo would be the only drivers to compete exclusively in a competition outside of the main field.
Brandon Vinson would be the first competitor to be invited to World Finals XXII, due to him being the first driver to win a series championship in 2023, winning Arena Series Central.
This is the first World Finals to feature two Megalodon trucks in the main event, notably with one company-owned truck and one independent truck (RAGE; Team Scream).
This marks the first World Finals to feature more than two Team Scream trucks in the main field with three trucks competing.
This marks the first World Finals since Monster Jam World Finals IX in 2008 where at least three independent trucks of the same team competed in the main field.
This marked the first World Finals appearance for Linsey Read since 2019 and Colt Stephens since 2017.
This marked the first high jump appearance for Camden Murphy since competing in 2019.
Later in mid-2023, a practice add-on would be added, allowing fans who purchased said add-on to be able to have "viewing of event practice" earlier in the day of qualifying, although a qualifying ticket would be required to purchase the add-on.
Qualifying was originally planned to have an extra third round of qualifying, where the driver with the fastest time of the qualifying duo would get lane choice for a faster time. However, due to a thunderstorm beginning to take place, it was eventually cancelled.
Tyler Menninga was the first skills champion to win the title instead of Tom Meents. Ironically, both of their initials are ''TM''. Tyler also won on his birthday. He is the first driver to win a world championship on their birthday.
If the order had remained the same, this would have been the first ordered World Finals competition where a reigning champion had gone out first to defend their title.
This marked the first World Finals since 2013 where a competitor would be unable to freestyle, said driver being Bryce Kenny in the Great Clips Mohawk Warrior.
Notably, unlike most previous occasions, Bryce would actual drive onto the track to freestyle, but would break before hitting an obstacle. This would mark the second time an incident like so had happened, with the first being Jim Jack in Reptoid at Monster Jam World Finals I in 2000.
On July 2nd, the day after all competitions were held, the 2023 Awards Show and the St. Jude's Golfing Charity event took place.
World Finals XXII had a minor yet notable musical theme (mainly country music) to it to fit the tone of the event taking place in Nashville, TN, with the city being called Music City.
With the theme, a special musical themed World Finals XXII logo would be created and used for promoting the event, designed by Torch Creative.
Keeping the theme, Monster Jam would debut their new theme song on the day the dates and schedule were announced, written and sung by Sydney Mack.
Prior to the show taking place, it would first be revealed that the elevated starting lanes would return when buying the tickets would revel the section where the elevated starts were to be unavailable. The 2023 Monster Jam Yearbook would later clarify the return of said racing lanes.
This is the third World Finals where Grave Digger would come out first for freestyle, the first two being World Finals 17 and 20. Interestingly, this also marks the second World Finals where Brandon Vinson would start off freestyle, the first being World Finals 20.
When Dragon's freestyle run finished, the jumbotron displayed Monster Mutt's wrong score. (which was a 7.167, while his actual score was a 7.978) The jumbotron would also not show Dragon's score for unknown reasons.
This marks the final World Finals appearance for Tom Meents, as he would recieve a neck injury in February the following year, an injury that would force him out of the drivers seat for the rest of the season.
During practice, Black Pearl's main chassis would suffer electrical issues (due to the extreme heat in the morning), and would not be able to make any practice passes.
As a result, the team would switch to the Over Bored chassis, and would remain on that chassis for the entire weekend.
