WWE Day 1 Review - January 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: Sheamus and Ridge Holland def. Cesaro and Ricochet

After Sheamus broke his nose multiple times last year, Holland broke his nose on an errant knee at the very beginning of this match, so he went to the back almost immediately and never returned. That was unfortunate, but Sheamus didn't miss a beat being in there the entire time from that point forward. He basically won a Handicap match, and while that didn't do Cesaro and Ricochet any favors, it was very well wrestled and enjoyable.

​SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The New Day (King Woods and Kofi Kingston)

Usos and New Day have had what has felt like a million matches over the last six years, and yet they're still capable of making magic together. Trust me, I'm as tired as anyone of WWE revisiting this rivalry when they could be building up new teams, but at least the matches are always excellent and this was no exception, especially down the stretch. There were plenty of strong nearfalls and it sure looked like New Day were going to win until they didn't. I'm glad Usos retained because New Day don't need the belts. Usos winning with The Dudley Boyz' 3D finisher was a nice touch.

Drew McIntyre def. Madcap Moss

The fact this made the pay-per-view (sorry, "Premium Live Event") and not Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship makes zero sense. This feud has been lousy, and as big of a star as McIntyre is, fans had no reason to think Moss posed any sort of a threat to him. They had a fine match, but it was essentially elongated squash that didn't need to happen. Per PWInsider, Happy Corbin attacking him backstage afterward was WWE's way of writing McIntyre off for the time being as he deals with lingering neck issues. Hopefully he isn't out for too long as SmackDown is supremely lacking in star power as it is at the moment.

Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro def. The Street Profits

RK-Bro continue to be one of the best things on Raw right now and I'm glad their reign as Raw Tag Team Champions isn't over yet. Street Profits always deliver as well, so this was quality stuff. Both teams are babyface, but that didn't seem to hinder them at all. That assisted RKO for the finish was fantastic. I'm curious how much longer RK-Bro will remain champions for as I still think they're headed for a one-on-one match at WrestleMania 38. I wouldn't be opposed to this feud continuing and Street Profits taking the titles from them ultimately.

Edge def. The Miz

Edge coming out to the Brood entrance music again was awesome. I'd love if he did that every so often for his pay-per-view entrances. I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I actually liked this match. It was definitely slower paced and not on the same level as any of Edge's matches from last year, but I thought it was solid. That said, we were all waiting for Beth Phoenix to come out and thwart Maryse's interference and that's exactly what happened. A mixed tag team match seems inevitable and I'd rather see it happen at Royal Rumble rather than wait until WrestleMania.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch def. Liv Morgan

I don't think it would be a stretch to say this was Morgan's best bout to date. She continues to improve and make terrific strides, so props to her on that. They were given a ton of time and it was a damn good match. The ending didn't come off the best as it looked like Lynch was supposed to cheat to win, but she missed the rope and beat her clean instead. Morgan was over with the audience here, but I don't think it was the right time to take the title off Lynch. With the storyline they're telling, she should be champion heading into WrestleMania. Now it becomes a question of whether Morgan will remain a regular on Raw or if WWE will push her to the back of line and put her on the shelf until the next time they need someone to challenge for the championship.

Brock Lesnar def. Big E, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley in a Fatal 5-Way to Win the WWE Championship

Roman Reigns announced hours before the event that he was unable to appear after testing positive for COVID-19. Here's hoping he'll be okay and will be back soon. Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship was the most anticipated match on the show, so losing that was a big blow to the show. WWE made up for it by inserting Lesnar into the WWE Championship matchup instead, making it more exciting than it already was. It definitely should have lasted longer, but what we got was a blast. The Lesnar and Lashley interaction was what I was looking forward to more than anything and it did not disappoint. What I hated, however, is that Big E took the losing fall. Couldn't Owens or Rollins have been pinned instead? Why the champion? I fear that Big E's time in the title picture is over, but we won't know for sure until we see what WWE does with him. I don't love the idea of Lesnar being champion yet again, but we'll see where they go with it and if it ends up leading to Lesnar vs. Lashley at WrestleMania, which I'd be in full favor of.

Overall Show

I didn't have super lofty expectations for this event going into it, but I thought it ended up being an entertaining three hours. There were no bad matches and the more important ones delivered, specifically the opener and the main event. If they wanted to kick off the new year with a bang and get people talking, well, they certainly did that with Lesnar's title win. I have no clue what this means for the road to WrestleMania, so if their goal was to leave me looking forward to Raw and SmackDown this coming week, well, mission accomplished. This was a thumbs-up show and exactly what it needed to be as WWE's premiere pay-per-view of 2022.

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