WWE: Day One (1/1/2022)

2021 was undoubtedly one of WWE’s most “interesting” years, however the company managed to have a pretty successful and entertaining year despite everything; and with 2022 already here, they decided to do their immediate first payperview of the year. Was the anticipation real, or was this show done poorly that it ALREADY impacted WWE negatively?

Preshow Match: Cesaro and Ricochet vs Sheamus and Ridge Holland (Rating:2.75/5)

The newly formed team of Sheamus and Ridge Holland seems like they were born to be a tag team together; both sharing very similar characteristics and ring ability. Their first match together as a team however didn’t go as planned because in the first opening moments of the match, Cesaro and Ricochet hit a tag team move on Holland which resulted in the rookie getting a broken nose and being pulled from the match; leaving Sheamus in a two on one handicap match. No problem for Sheamus, however. Despite being dominated up until the closing moments of the match and a simple Brogue Kick to Cesaro, Sheamus was able to pick up the win for his team. Apart from that nasty knee to the nose of Ridge Holland, nothing too crazy happened in this match. It was a filler match but it had 3 of the best wrestlers doing their best to get the people of Atlanta excited for the rest of the show.

Match 1: The Usos (c) vs the New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles (Rating: 4/5)

Tag team wrestling matters, no matter which promotion you’re watching. Whether it’s WWE, AEW, IMPACT or something like GCW, tag team wrestling is one of the main important staples of any organization because there’s always that mixture of chemistry that is absolutely amazing; and these four men continue to prove it. Jimmy Uso, Jay Uso; members of the Bloodline and the reigning and defending tag team champions. Kofi Kingston and King of the Ring winner Xavier Woods; the New Day, which is without a doubt the most successful stable in the WWE during the past decade; possibly even being much more of a bigger and better stable than the Shield. Every single time these four men get in the ring together and face off against one another, you will never be disappointed and always want more. This was a really fun match, the chemistry is ridiculously perfect in all honesty. Great amount of tag team dominance with a mixture of aerial moves and false finishes to get the crowd excited. The double Uso splash usually marks the end of the matchup but Xavier Woods was able to kick out. The match was won by the Usos after they hit Woods with a 3-D, or as Pat Mcafee dubbed; a 1-D because of the Bloodline being the ones on top.

Match 2: Drew McIntyre vs Madcap Moss (2/5)

After that amazing tag title match that kicked off the show, it was already time for what was probably a majority of fans’ “bathroom break” match, and it really did show. This isn’t disrespect towards any of the participants whatsoever, as Drew McIntyre is up there with being the best performers that WWE has right now; this was more or less more of a filler match than the preshow match because both men really don’t work well with one another. After being introduced as Happy Corbin’s right hand man, I’d thought that there was more to Madcap Moss than cringeworthy promo segments; and while he indeed shows some promise, he shouldn’t have faced someone as decorated as McIntyre. Of course you could say that this would’ve been a great way to elevate a new up and comer, however the end result showed otherwise. The match with Mr. Happy Corbin and McIntyre will undoubtedly be significantly better than the Madcap Moss match, but for now Moss should stick with facing local enhancement talent before facing another well established superstar. Drew won the match with a really good Claymore kick to the face.

Match 3: RK-Bro (c) vs the Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Titles. (Rating: 3.5/5)

2021 gave us without a doubt the best pairing of 2 men that are VASTLY different from one another, yet work perfectly together and have the fans absolutely loving everything they do together. Matt Riddle and Randy Orton being paired together for the sake of having another team on the Raw roster was, like an RKO, out of nowhere; however with every segment and every tag match to their eventual tag team title reign, these two work perfectly off of each other. For crying out loud, their entrance theme is just a lofi hip hop-like remix of Randy’s “Voices” theme added with the occasional Riddle “broooo,” but it quickly became my favorite wrestling tag theme since Enzo and Cass. The Street Profits won the first ever inaugural “RK-Bronament” and thus were granted a championship match against Riddle and Orton and last night’s show, and though it wasn’t as amazing as the Uso/New Day match it still delivered strongly. Angelo Dawkins is for certain going to be the breakout member of Street Profits since he was in a main event of SmackDown against Roman Reigns (who, might I add, the current Universal Champion), and wow is he amazing to watch. The match ended with an assisted RKO thanks to Riddle by Randy Orton. These two should never breakup, at all.

Match 4: Edge vs The Miz (Rating: 3.5/5)

This is Miz’s first match back since he was on Dancing With the Stars, and the man honestly never misses a beat. The buildup to this match felt pretty lackluster to say the least, though each time both Edge and Miz were talking to one another on the mic during promos it made up for the slow buildup. Out comes Edge right after Miz and Maryse made their entrance and with the Brood theme as well! As much as Metalingus is an amazing entrance theme for Edge, I will always mark out more for the Brood theme; just fits him a lot more honestly. All in all, this match was okay. Miz looked great, didn’t botch any moves though he was chain-wrestling which was really surprising. Edge, on the other hand, I think this is the best he has ever wrestled. Since returning to wrestling in 2020 and basically being a full time wrestler again, Edge has been putting on classic after classic. From Randy Orton to Roman Reigns, to AEW’s Bryan Danielson; and especially to Seth freakin’ Rollins, this is without a doubt the best Edge has ever performed; really gives me the Shawn Michaels late 2000’s vibe. Beth Phoenix made an appearance and basically costed Miz the win, so we definitely are getting a mixed tag between both couples; but hey, Beth Phoenix is back!

Match 5: Becky Lynch (c) vs Liv Morgan for the Raw Women’s Championship (Rating: 4/5)

This was undoubtedly the best match in their feud thus far, and though Liv didn’t win she sure as heck left a HUGE mark. She went from being a goon for Ruby Riot in the Riot Squad to putting on classic matches with Big Time Becks! Morgan has certainly come a long way and though her promo skills need a bit more work; she is certainly believable when it comes to being a future Raw women’s champion. Lynch, however, always gets better with every title defense. Since her return at last year’s SummerSlam, Becky has successfully defended her championship against the likes of Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and now Liv Morgan. Now while it’s unsure if this feud has reached its peak, it really makes me wonder who can dethrone Becky. Hopefully the next woman makes her presence known really soon.

Main Event: Big E (c) vs Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley vs BROCK LESNAR for the WWE Championship (Rating: 5/5)

Originally, Brock was scheduled to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship; however Michael Cole kicked off Day One addressing the news that Roman was unable to perform due to him contracting COVID-19. Get well soon, Tribal Chief.. Therefore, the only logical step was to insert Lesnar in the already STACKED WWE Championship match. Fast paced and hard hitting, this match was absolutely amazing. Rollins and Owens are getting more and more used to working together as they tried to eliminate the big threats like Lashley and Lesnar so they were able to face Big E without having to worry about the other two monsters of men. However they were unsuccessful as Lesnar decimated and pinned Big E to recapture the WWE championship. While fans were upset at the outcome, the fact that we are (possibly) getting Lesnar vs Lashley one on one makes this all the more worth it! Big E’s WWE championship ended after 100+ days and while it felt a bit too soon and obvious, E definitely had a great run as WWE champion.

Rating overall: 4/5