Winners, News And Notes As Reigns Tests Positive, Brock Lesnar Wins

Brock Lesnar won the WWE Championship at WWE Day 1 after being added to the Fatal 4-Way main event.

WWE Day 1 was WWE’s first pay-per-view of 2022, airing from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. As Omicron continues to loom ominously over the world,WWE’s issues with COVID-19 continued as WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, Reigns was removed from the card and challenger Brock Lesnar was inserted in the WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way Match between Big E, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley. Lesnar won the WWE Championship, pinning Big E.

While thoughts and prayers will remain with Reigns, who is immunocompromised, WWE Day 1 was the first time Brock Lesnar and Lashley shared a ring together after years of fans clamoring for this dream matchup. Lashley stared Lesnar down following his win, suggesting a future showdown between the two.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.592 million. In 2021, Raw averaged 1.756 million viewers, down 42% since 2017 when it drew 3.018 million viewers.

WWE Day 1 2022 Match Card

• Big E vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
• The Usos vs. The New Day—WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
• Edge vs. The Miz
• Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan—WWE Raw Women’s Championship
• Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
• RK-Bro vs. The Street Profits—WWE Raw Tag Team Championship

• WWE Day 1 Venue: State Farm Arena (Atlanta, Ga.)
• WWE Day 1 Tickets Distributed: 10,387
• WWE Day 1 Tickets Available: 150

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WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Monday—6,316,766 (Down from 6,770,481)

• Most-Viewed: Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar Vignette (1,226,362 views)
• Least-Viewed: Miz welcomes back Eric Bischoff (128,344 views)
• Median Viewership: 350,084 views

WWE Day 1 Results | Saturday, January 1, 2022

The Usos def. The New Day—WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships

The Usos better be the first tag team out on a pay-per-view named WWE Day 1. I think WWE even owes them a victory as well for stealing their gimmick.

Xavier Woods’ comeback in this match was something to behold, and helped make an otherwise overdone match worthwhile.

Fans were going absolutely nuts for this match, as was Pat McAfee, who was great throughout but I did wonder if he could keep this energy up for the next two or more hours-plus.

In a shocking development, the Usos won this match with a 3D.

Drew McIntyre def. Madcap Moss

Madcap Moss’ jokes were still decidedly awful, but unfortunately people still don’t seem to care.

If Madcap Moss somehow won, this might be the biggest upset in 2022 on Day 1.

This wasn’t a bad showing from Madcap Moss, but it was nothing special either.

RK-Bro def. Street Profits—WWE Raw Tag Team Championships

This match featured the “greatest team in the world” In The Migos. They had teased a surprise backstage, so hopefully walking out with RK-Bro wasn’t it.

The Migos seemed so happy to be on WWE television. Wrestling crowds typically hate outsiders, but they were cheered like the kings they are in Atlanta.

Montez Ford doing the Harlem Shake in Atlanta might have already been the Blackest moment of 2022 in WWE.

If WWE is thinking of splitting up RK-Bro anytime soon, they really need to reconsider.

Edge def. The Miz

Edge came out to the old-school Brood music, entrance and Oakleys. And unlike at SummerSlam, he even receive pyro after.

Miz had more heat than any heel to this point in the show.

The Miz tried to put his foot on the rope and fans responded by saying “you can’t do that.”

It was great to see Beth Phoenix, but WWE was way late on playing her entrance music where she had to wait there seething for what seemed like forever.

Becky Lynch def. Liv Morgan—WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Jimmy Smith remarked at how Liv Morgan was fighting like a veteran, and I would hope so because she’s been with WWE for almost seven years.

Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan both wore similar black latex outfits, making them look more like a tag team that had just split up.

The crowd really came alive when Liv Morgan exacted revenge by stomping Becky Lynch’s arm through the stairs, which suggests they’re invested in the match and the storyline.

Becky Lynch beat Liv Morgan with an eye-poke, but I don’t think the crowd caught it, which hurt the finish. I didn’t full expect Liv to win the title, I am surprised that she lost so decisively and so was the State Farm Arena.

Brock Lesnar def. Big E, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens—WWE Championship

Knowing how much Lashley wants that Brock Lesnar match, that Spear on Lesnar must have been one of the most satisfying spears of Bobby Lashley’s career.

Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins did, in fact, coexist…until they didn’t.

The hot start of this match reminded me of the instant Fatal 4-Way classic from SummerSlam 2017.

Bobby Lashley stared down Brock Lesnar following this match, which felt like it was designed to tease Lashley vs. Lesnar, possibly for WrestleMania.