It's a totally fair expectation that when you make the very first day of the year a big pay-per-view premium live event, there should be huge, tectonic shifts in the status quo to set the tone for the rest of the year. It's a new year, isn't it? Otherwise, it's heralding more of the same, and it's hard to get excited when what's being offered before you is the same course.
For much of the first ever Day 1 premium live event (that's going to take a while to get used to) that was the feeling, with not much changing until the very end.
With all the titles on the line staying put with their champions, I was waiting for the show to shock me—perhaps all the successful defenses were simply laying the foundation for the night's biggest surprise in Brock Lesnar suddenly beating Big E for the WWE Championship, the title he wasn't supposed to be competing for on this event.
While it's definitely bound to piss people off or evoke some sort of reaction, it was exactly the kind of change I was looking for. Big E has had time to cross over and establish himself as a solid addition to any main event in the past few months of his first reign, and it's time to put him in the fire of fighting for his spot at or near the top once more.
As the WWE Championship match showed us the kind of promise 2022 brings for the WWE's main event scene, I only wish I could say the same for the other divisions. They fumbled the best time to solidify a new star and make Liv Morgan the new RAW Women's Champion, even if only for a short while. Nothing has changed in both brands' tag team divisions, while there are very little fresh ideas for their midcard championships.
Instead of a hot New Year party for wrestling, Day 1 simply feels like a reminder of what the past few months of WWE have been all about—largely aimless storytelling that they'll (hopefully) pick up when the Road to WrestleMania begins. It's really just the December PPV moved up a couple of weeks.
Day 1 2022 Rating: B
Match of the Night
Anytime you get Brock Lesnar in a match, especially if there are four other guys, you know it's bound to be a fun car crash. As it's the biggest match on the show and the most impactful, it's the most must-see on the card.
Photo from WWE
