Three new matches have been added to the lineup for WWE Raw Day 1 set for January 1, 2024.
It was revealed during Monday’s episode that Rhea Ripley will put the Women’s World Championship on the line against Ivy Nile on the Day 1 episode. Nile laid out a challenge in a backstage promo on this week’s show, and Ripley later confirmed that not only was she accepting the challenge, but that she had gone to on-screen authority figure Adam Pearce to make it a title defense.
Also set for the show, Becky Lynch will go one-on-one with Nia Jax for the first time. Lynch interrupted a Jax promo segment on this week’s Raw, leading to a physical angle between the two with Jax standing tall at the end.
A number one contenders match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship has also been added to Day 1. Natalya & Tegan Nox will face Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark with the winners next in line to challenge new Tag Team Champions Katana Chance & Kayden Carter. Chance & Carter defeated Piper Niven & Chelsea Green on this week’s Raw to win the titles.
Already set for Day 1, Seth Rollins will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre.
WWE has not officially announced anything for next week’s Christmas Day edition of Raw, which is expected to be a best-of 2023 episode, as no taping is scheduled for the date.
The updated Raw Day 1 lineup for Monday, January 1, 2024:
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Ivy Nile
Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
Women’s Tag Team Championship number one contenders match: Natalya & Tegan Nox vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
2022 Hall of Fame ballot, rules, everyone eligible, thoughts on this year’s election and the strongest candidates.What candidates on this year’s ballot did the best in last year’s ballot
TripleMania, the story behind the show, business of the show, , news notes, poll results and star ratings
WWE PPV changes, Crown Jewel notes and updates on upcoming PPV shows
Dana White starting new promotion with Lorenzo Fertitta and two new combat ideas he’s working on
The life of Humberto Garza, the grandfather of two WWE stars and father of Hector Garza. Garza, who passed away this past week, was a very significant star in Mexico and a look at his career
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show,and the ramifications of the show.
A look at the career of Jose Rivera, one of the key building blocks of the Puerto Rico wrestling boom, including a look back at the growth of WWC and its biggest feud ever
Ratings for every show including how every segment did and details of AEW vs. NXT head-to-head on Tuesday
First all-women’s show in the history of a major promotion
First women’s main event on a Middle Eastern show
CMLL star gives unique reason why he’s been gone for so long
The business of TripleMania
More details on a wrestling show coming to Disney +
Two starts of the same promotion were on the national team in the same competition
The top matches from Royal Quest
Update on the New Japan TV title tournament
More details on the arrest of Shocker
Who are the wrestlers who generate the most money on Cameo
Jim Lyman tournament news
Two stars going after fourth NCAA title
WWE & Impact PPV Numbers from last week
Adam Page update
Update on ramifications of the brawl after All Out and where things stand regarding who stays and who goes
More details on Chris Jericho’s contract
Tony Khan, Dana White and Vince McMahon all scheduling major events on the same day
More on AEW new reality show
More on AEW in Toronto
AEW star announcing on the Mayweather show
Upcoming ticket sales to AEW & WWE events
DAZN back in the MMA business
Dwayne Johnson and possible WWE sale
UFC owners talk possible WWE sale
Notes on Bray Wyatt return
International TV ratings
DVR viewership numbers for all shows so far this year
Royal Rumble update
Lots of injury updates
The real story on why Billy Gunn wasn’t at the DX Reunion on Raw
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Friday News Update
We are still working out our weekend schedule for shows but Bryan and I will be doing a show Saturday night. Garrett and I will likely do something since there are a lot of topics to discuss but it’s a pretty crazy weekend.
A correction from the current issue of the Observer in the item about the new contract from Chris Jericho. We reported his first deal in 2019 as a three year deal with a two year option. Actually it was a three year deal without an option, but Jericho then renegotiated a new deal in 2020 one year in. So the deal he just signed is his third AEW deal, not his second, and it expires in January 2026.
Regarding Day 1, while WWE has not announced the PPV being canceled, it is not taking place. The ticket link for the Day 1 show has changed to a house show at the State Arena in Atlanta on 12/27, which was the day WWE has previously scheduled a show in Detroit that was moved. The Detroit show at Little Caesars Arena is now on 1/20. The new Atlanta date will be a house show, not a PPV show. Other than the Detroit move, none of this has been announced yet. Tickets for the Atlanta house show are scheduled to go on sale on Wednesday.
Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson, opens tonight in the U.S. There has been a ton of marketing promoting the movie and Johnson always works hard going around the world to promote his big openings. Johnson has been working on doing this movie dating back to 2014.
We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:
WWE Smackdown tonight in Toledo (dark matches and off-air stuff)
AEW Rampage tonight in Jacksonville (Dark matches and off-air stuff)
Impact tapings tonight and tomorrow night in Las Vegas
WWE house show tomorrow in Dayton, OH
WWE house show Sunday in Pikeville, KY
We are doing two weekend polls for Saturday’s UFC from Abu Dhabi and the NXT Halloween Havoc show also on Saturday from the Performance Center in Orlando.
There will be a somewhat rare legitimate sellout tonight for Smackdown in Toledo at the Huntington Center. It was basically sold out this morning with 6,701 tickets out. There will be an angle with Braun Strowman and Otis. Sheamus faces Solo Sikoa. Logan Paul is on the show. Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai defend the women’s tag titles against Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi. Liv Morgan faces Sonya Deville and Bray Wyatt is on the show.
Paul Levesque will not be at Smackdown tonight just as he was not at Raw or NXT due to testing positive for COVID. He’s hopeful of being able to be at television next week.
Rampage is live tonight rather than taped, from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. About 2,200 tickets were out as of this morning. The live show starts on TNT at 10 p.m. Eastern. The Acclaimed defend the tag titles against Tony Nese & Josh Woods and if The Acclaimed win, they get the rights to scissor again, Hook vs. Ari Daivari for the FTW title, Penelope Ford vs. Willow Nightingale and Orange Cassidy vs. 10 vs. Rush for the All Atlantic title.
In a bout that could be among the best of the week, Aussie Open faces Josh Alexander & Frankie Kazarian on the Impact tapings tonight in Las Vegas. Also announced are Gisele Shaw & VXT vs. Taylor Wilde & Jordynne Grace and Mickie James, and the first round of the X Division tournament with PJ Black vs. Yuya Uemura, Kenny King vs. Mike Bailey, Alan Angels vs,. Trey Miguel and Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid.
UFC 280 takes place tomorrow morning in Abu Dhabi It starts at 10 a.m. Eastern time on both ESPN News and ESPN+. It moves to PPV at 2 p.m. Eastern time:
ESPN News and ESPN+
Karol Rosa (135) vs. Lina Lansberg (135)
Malcolm Gordon (126) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (126)
Armen Petrosyan (186) vs. AJ Dobson (185)
Abubaker Nurmagomedov (170.5) vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (171)
Volkhan Oezdemir (206) vs. Nikita Krylov (206)
Makhmud Muradov (185.5) vs. Caio Borralho (186)
Belal Muhammad (170) vs. Sean Brady (171)
PPV at 2 p.m.
Katlyn Chookagian (127.5) vs. Manon Fiorot (125.5) – Chookagian missed weight and was fined 20 percent of her purse.
Beneil Dariush (156) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (156)
Petr Yan (136) vs. Sean O’Malley (135.5)
Aljamain Sterling (135) vs. TJ Dillashaw (135) for the bantamweight title
Charles Oliveira (154.5) vs. Islam Makhachev (154.5) for the vacant lightweight title
Japanese YouTube comedian Fuwa-chan will be debuting on Sunday’s Stardom PPV show. The match will be taped before the PPV starts and only for the live audience with Hazuki & Fuwa-chan vs. Saya Kamitani & Hina. The PPV will start at 2:50 a.m. very late Saturday night/Sunday morning. from Tachikawa featuring five tag team tournament matches and the semifinals of the IWGP women’s championship:
Mai Sakurai & Lady C vs Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death
Tam Nakano & Natsupoi vs. Giulia & Thekla
Mina Shirakawa & Saki vs. Natsuko Tora & Ruaka
AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs Saya Iida & Hanan
Hazuki & Koguma vs. Nanae Takahashi & Yuu
Kairi vs. Alpha Female
winner of tomorrow’s Utami Hayashishita vs. Himeka and Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Watanabe matches meet in the Japanese final
Chris Jericho has filed for trademarks for The Ocho and Ring of Jericho.
The UFC debut of former Hodge Trophy winner Bo Nickal is being delayed. Nickal pulled out of his fight on 12/10 in Las Vegas with Jamie Pickett for undisclosed reasons.
The short film “Tito” which features Claudio Castagnoli and Erick Redbeard is now on YouTube, having come out yesterday. It won the Independent Short Awards for Best Indie Short and an award for excellence.
Invicta runs 11/16 in Denver on AXS and The Fight Network in Canada featuring a four-woman tournament to crown the new strawweight champion. The women are Valesca Machado (10-3), Gloria de Paula (6-5), Ediana Silva (12-2) and Karolina Wojcik (9-2). The matchups will be drawn at the weigh-ins and the semifinals and final are both three round fights. There will be open scoring as with all Invicta shows, meaning fans and fighters know the scores after every round. They’ve done this regularly and have deemed it a success.
LFA has announced an 11/4 show in Sao Paulo, Brazil and 11/18 in Sloan, IA at the Winnavegas Casino Resort. The Brazil show features a semifinal in the tournament for the featherweight title with Marcio Barbosa (13-1) vs. Gabriel Santos (8-0).
LFA tonight from Oshkosh, WI, on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. Eastern:
Scott Writz (170.4) vs. Craig Fruth (170)
Kegan Gennrich (155.6) vs. Jake Kozorosky (155.4)
Tyrus White (125.4) vs. Miguel Sanson (125.8)
Olivia Beeskau (125) vs. Jena Bishop (125.4)
Bruno Assis (205.8) vs. Jesse Murray (204.4)
MCW Higher Ground on 11/5 at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppatowne, MD featuring Lio Rush, Mike Bailey and Jordan Oliver.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix tonight at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE.
Defy on 10/29 in Seattle at Washington Hall has Tom Lawlor vs. Minoru Suzuki, Ultimo Dragon & Nick Wayne vs. Gringo Loco & La Estrella (Dragon Gate), Vert Vixen vs. Liiza Hall to crown the first women’s champion plus Davey Richards wrestles on the show.
Bob Magee has an updated list of pro wrestling events working with charities this weekend:
CanAm Wrestling returns to Calgary, AB on October 21. CanAm Wrestling is working together with Nanbert Manor as part of the 500 Toys for 500 Kids campaign.
ISPW Wrestling will be partnering with Cold Nose Warm Heart Dog Rescue for a fundraiser on October 21 in Hopatcong, NJ.
Supreme Wrestling returns to Brownstown, IN on October 22 in a fundraiser for the Jackson County Special Olympics of Indiana.
UWE Pro Wrestling brings hard hitting action to 1320 N Mitchell St, Cadillac, MI on October 22 for Halloween Homecoming, collecting pet supplies for local animal shelters.
On Saturday October 22, KSWA Wrestling teams up once again with Sam’s Club Tarentum (Pittsburgh Mills) for a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraiser. All proceeds benefit the local Children’s Hospital.
Legacy Classic Championship Wrestling and Insane Wrestling Alliance join forces to bring The Harvest Bash on October 22 as The Harvest Bash takes place in Green Cove Springs, FL, working to feed county homeless with All Creations Intertribal Native American Community.
Dropkick Depression presents Fall Formal on October 22 at Old Bridge Columbian Club, 61 Pine St, Old Bridge, NJ. Dropkick Depression raises funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and to help break the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in the professional wrestling scene, and fundraise for worthy causes and organizations.
GCW Charity Wrestling/POP Culture Canada comes to Bellevue Comicon on Saturday October 22, from 10:00 am-3:00 pm at Royal Canadian Legion, 123 Pinnacle Street, Bellevue, ON. Bring food to win prizes.
GCW Charity Wrestling/POP Culture Canada comes to Trenton Comicon on Sunday October 23, from 10:00 am-3:00 pm at Duncan McDonald Memorial Gardens, 8 Couch Crescent, Trenton, ON. Bring food to win prizes at Trenton Comicon, as well as at the GCW Wrestling show at 6:30 pm
WWE’s Day 1 premium live event has reportedly been canceled.
According to a report from Wrestlenomics, the event is not expected to be rebranded and WWE currently does not have a PLE listed for between Survivor Series on November 26 and Royal Rumble on January 28.
The event was scheduled to take place on January 1st from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA, for the second straight year.
Bryan Alvarez reported that there will be “big changes” coming to their PLE schedule for next year with likely more international events and less “gimmick shows.”
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the issue on Sunday.
“Brandon Thurston reported Day 1 has been canceled. There were conflicts with major football games in Atlanta on 12/31 and 1/1. We’d been told a few weeks ago it could be moved but Thurston reported no PPVs between Survivor Series and Rumble. WWE hasn’t confirmed,” Meltzer wrote.
“Tickets had not been put on sale yet. They were scheduled to be put on sale 9/23. We had asked WWE about that this past week and gotten no answer.”
It was reported in the October 3 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that changes to the Day 1 pay-per-view could be forthcoming.
“A decision will be made this week regarding the date of the Day 1 PPV show. Right now the show is scheduled for 1/1 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. There is talk that it could be changed and the announcement would be made next week if that’s the case, although we were told that either way it would remain at the building. Also as of right now, Lesnar is scheduled on that show which is the next U.S. show that he’s being listed for,” Meltzer wrote.
The New Year’s Day pay-per-view is believed to have been a Nick Khan project with the idea being it would become an annual event.
Orton has been out of action with a back injury since the May 20 edition of SmackDown. His condition is said to be causing concern within the company.
“There is a lot of concern regarding Orton’s back injury and its severity,” Meltzer wrote.
Reports surfaced in June that if Orton’s injury required surgery he would miss the remainder of 2022.
Potential changes to WWE Day 1
WWE is considering making some changes for the Day 1 PPV on New Year’s Day.
“A decision will be made this week regarding the date of the Day 1 PPV show. Right now the show is scheduled for 1/1 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. There is talk that it could be changed and the announcement would be made next week if that’s the case, although we were told that either way it would remain at the building,” Meltzer wrote.
The Day 1 event, currently scheduled for Sunday, January 1, 2023, falls between Survivor Series on November 26, 2022, and Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023. The first-ever edition of Day 1 took place on New Year’s Day 2022 from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. The idea was for it to become an annual event.
Gabe Sapolsky’s new role in WWE
It was reported last week that the co-founder of ROH has returned to the company after having previously been released in January. Meltzer confirmed that Sapolsky’s new role is as a creative consultant for the main roster.
“Gabe Sapolsky is back. He was another member of the Levesque team let go in the purge of NXT. His role is said to be as a creative team consultant for the main roster,” Meltzer wrote.
Ridge Holland had to be removed from the pre-show match at WWE Day 1 tonight due to injury.
Holland suffered a broken nose while teaming with Sheamus against Cesaro & Ricochet on the pre-show for Day 1. Shortly after the match began, Ricochet hit an assisted standing 450 splash onto Holland. Ricochet’s foot accidentally landed on Holland’s face, and it immediately busted Holland open. Holland tagged out to Sheamus before going to the floor to receive assistance from the medical staff.
It was announced during the match that Holland had suffered a broken nose and was taken back to the locker room for further attention.
Sheamus still got the win despite facing Cesaro & Ricochet on his own for most of the match. After taking Ricochet out by hitting White Noise on the outside, Sheamus avoided a charge by Cesaro in the ring and then gave Cesaro a Brogue Kick to get the victory.
Holland was called up from NXT in October’s WWE Draft. He aligned with Sheamus after joining SmackDown, with the two of them feuding with Sheamus’ former tag team partner Cesaro.
COVID-19 has forced tonight’s WWE Day 1 pay-per-view to undergo a significant shakeup.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who was scheduled to defend his title against Brock Lesnar tonight, is off Day 1 due to testing positive for COVID-19. Lesnar has instead been added to the WWE Championship match at Day 1, making it a fatal five-way with Big E defending against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, and Lesnar.
“I yearn to perform tonight at #WWEDay1 to defend my Universal Championship. However, unfortunately, earlier today I tested positive for COVID-19,” Reigns tweeted. “Due to the proper protocols I am unable to compete as originally scheduled. I look forward to returning to action as soon as possible.”
Reigns, who is a leukemia survivor, had been held off of WWE’s holiday tour house shows ahead of Day 1. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE was taking every precaution possible with Reigns, Lesnar, and Paul Heyman:
In particular we were told that due to its effect in some form on WrestleMania plans and because it is considered a very big main event, that every precaution possible would be taken for Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to perform at Day 1. It was also noted that in a weird way they considered it fortunate for that match that there were no Smackdown tapings on 12/24 or 12/31, lessening the need for the three to go on the road for television.
Day 1 is taking place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta tonight. Here’s the updated card for the show:
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, and Brock Lesnar in a fatal five-way match
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Liv Morgan
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Edge vs. The Miz
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) defend against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
Hip-hop group Migos will make a special appearance
Cesaro & Ricochet vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland (pre-show)
We go over Christmas rituals and what gift we’ve asked for from our loved ones before breaking down the Day One PPV on New Year’s Day.
We talk about the Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns storyline and wonder who else there is for Reigns on the SmackDown babyface side. We then talk about long matches and fit Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Page into our match of the year lists.
WWE has posted an angle with Liv Morgan attempting to attack Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch ahead of their Saturday, January 1 WWE Day 1 pay-per-view rematch for the Raw Women’s Championship.
In the video posted this evening, Morgan attacks someone who she believes is Lynch with a kendo stick in a training facility as a group of wrestling trainees surround the ring.
Morgan discovers that the person in question is not Lynch, while the real Lynch appears behind Morgan, then takes the kendo stick away and begins hitting Morgan with it.
The two brawl for a short time, before Lynch breaks away and leaves the ring, telling a group of trainees to get Morgan.
Morgan unsuccessfully challenged Lynch for the Raw Women’s title in the main event of the December 6 Raw in Memphis. Lynch pinned Morgan while holding the ropes for leverage. Morgan asked Lynch for a rematch on last week’s WWE Raw. After attacking and laying Morgan out, Lynch accepted. That match is set for WWE Day 1 in Atlanta.
The angle can be seen below.
While it is never stated in the video, WWE is in Iowa tonight where Lynch and Seth Rollins have a home, and where Rollins owns the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy, which is likely where the angle was filmed.
Here is the WWE Day 1 lineup:
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship: Big E (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan
Edge vs. The Miz
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. King Woods & Sir Kofi Kingston
The Wise Man has once again become The Advocate following a show-closing angle on WWE SmackDown.
Roman Reigns fired Paul Heyman as his special counsel on tonight’s WWE SmackDown, then attacked Heyman with a Superman punch after Heyman stated that he was protecting Reigns from Brock Lesnar.
As Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso prepared to attack Heyman with a steel chair, Brock Lesnar entered to make the save. He hit F-5’s to both Usos on the floor, then left Reigns laying after an F-5 in the ring. Lesnar will challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at the WWE Day 1 pay-per-view on January 1.
Reigns’s arrival was teased throughout the evening on SmackDown. Heyman greeted who he thought was Reigns stepping out of a vehicle early in the show, but it turned out to be Lesnar. Reigns finally arrived and ordered Heyman and the Usos to the ring.
Reigns asked Heyman if he could trust him, then instructed Heyman to answer with honesty as he asked him why he was protecting Lesnar from Reigns. Heyman stated that he was not protecting Lesnar from Reigns, but protecting Reigns from Lesnar.
Reigns hugged Heyman, told him that he loved him, thanked him for 40 years of service to his family, then told Heyman “You’re fired.”
The SmackDown angle continues a months-long storyline involving Reigns, Lesnar and Heyman. Since returning to WWE programming at SummerSlam in August, Lesnar has been claiming that Heyman was still working as his advocate. Lesnar challenged Reigns for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel in October. Heyman slid the title belt into the ring during that match, but it was not clear whether he intended to slide the belt to Reigns or Lesnar.
The WWE Championship match at Day 1 is now a fatal four-way.
Big E will defend his WWE Championship against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Lashley in a fatal four-way match at Day 1. Lashley was added to the match by defeating Big E, Rollins, and Owens throughout tonight’s Raw.
After Lashley laid out Big E, Rollins, and Owens last week, Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville informed Lashley tonight that he would only be added to the Day 1 title match if he could defeat all three of Big E, Rollins, and Owens in one night. Lashley defeated Owens first, then Rollins, and finally defeated Big E in the main event.
When Lashley went to put him in the Hurt Lock, Owens quickly tapped out to avoid getting injured. Rollins and Owens conspired to have Rollins win by countout in his match against Lashley, but Pearce and Deville restarted the match and made it no disqualification. A no DQ stipulation was also added to Lashley vs. Big E.
Big E didn’t want Rollins and Owens’ help against Lashley, but they got involved anyway. Big E and Lashley fought off Owens and Rollins and sent them through tables. MVP then hit Big E in the knee with his cane and Lashley hit a spear on Big E to get the win.
The State Farm Arena in Atlanta is hosting Day 1 on New Year’s Day (Saturday, January 1). Here’s the updated card for the show:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Lashley in a fatal four-way match
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Liv Morgan
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Edge vs. The Miz
Hip-hop group Migos will make a special appearance
Liv Morgan is getting another shot at the Raw Women’s Championship.
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will put her title on the line against Morgan at WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view on New Year’s Day (Saturday, January 1). Lynch retained the title against Morgan in the main event of last week’s Raw, but she cheated to get the win. Lynch grabbed the bottom rope for extra leverage while pinning Morgan.
Morgan interrupted Lynch on tonight’s Raw and challenged her to a rematch. Lynch said she didn’t cheat because she had to, she did it because it was easy. Lynch said Morgan should blame herself for not beating Lynch to it and not being ready for what Lynch was going to do.
Lynch said Morgan proved that she doesn’t have the killer instinct. Lynch said Morgan did what she always does: absolutely nothing.
Morgan then ran into the ring and started beating Lynch down. Lynch went to the floor and Morgan chased her there, but Lynch sent Morgan into the ring steps. Lynch trapped Morgan’s arm between the steel steps and the ring post and started stomping on it. Lynch kicked the steps with Morgan’s arm trapped, then started stomping on Morgan’s arm again.
After the attack, Lynch said it looks like Morgan went and injured herself. Lynch said if Morgan still wants that rematch — she’s on.
Day 1 is taking place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Here’s the updated lineup for the PPV:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Lashley in a fatal four-way match
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Liv Morgan
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Edge vs. The Miz
Hip-hop group Migos will make a special appearance
Star hip-hop group Migos will be involved with WWE’s New Year’s Day pay-per-view.
During SmackDown tonight, it was announced that Migos will be making a “special appearance” at WWE Day 1. The PPV is taking place in Migos’ hometown of Atlanta on New Year’s Day (Saturday, January 1, 2022).
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a triple threat match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Edge vs. The Miz
Migos will make a special appearance
WWE is teasing that Bobby Lashley will be added to the WWE Championship match at Day 1 after laying out Big E, Rollins, and Owens on Raw earlier this week.
Edge vs. The Miz has been made official for the WWE Day 1 pay-per-view on January 1.
The match was announced during a Miz TV segment on tonight’s episode of WWE Raw. Miz said that Edge had been busy trying to protect his spot rather than help Miz when he was kicked out of the locker room years ago.
Edge responded by saying that in that very arena he had given Miz words of encouragement, but Miz was too busy acting like a bigger star than he was to listen to him. Edge then said that if Miz was challenging him, he was officially accepting the Day 1 match.
Four matches are now set for the Day 1 pay-per-view.
Also on the Raw brand, Big E will defend the WWE Championship at Day 1 in a triple threat match against Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins. Big E defeated Owens in a cage match on tonight’s Raw, then was attacked by Rollins after the contest.
On the SmackDown side, Brock Lesnar will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Day 1, plus The Usos will defend the SmackDown Tag Team titles against Kofi Kingston and King Woods of The New Day.
Brock Lesnar is getting a Universal Championship shot at WWE’s New Year’s Day pay-per-view.
On tonight’s SmackDown, it was announced that Lesnar will challenge for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship at WWE Day 1. The PPV is taking place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday, January 1, 2022.
Reigns retained the Universal Championship against Sami Zayn on SmackDown tonight. Zayn became the number one contender to Reigns’ title by winning a battle royal last week. Zayn initially said he was going to get his title shot at Day 1, but Lesnar convinced him to challenge for the championship tonight.
Lesnar made his return to SmackDown tonight after having his indefinite suspension lifted. Lesnar was given the storyline suspension this October for attacking WWE officials and damaging a camera while beating down Reigns. Lesnar was furious after the way Reigns retained the Universal Championship against him at Crown Jewel. Reigns defeated Lesnar after giving him a belt shot, and The Usos also interfered during the match.
Here’s the updated card for Day 1:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a triple threat match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The New Day’s Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston
Big E and Seth Rollins are set to face off for the WWE Championship on New Year’s Day.
During the opening segment of tonight’s Raw, it was announced that Big E will defend his WWE Championship against Rollins at WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view. The PPV is being held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday, January 1, 2022.
Rollins became the number one contender to Big E’s title by winning a fatal four-way ladder match on Raw five weeks ago. Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Rey Mysterio were Rollins’ opponents in that number one contender’s match.
Big E has held the WWE Championship since cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Bobby Lashley this September. He’s since had successful title defenses against Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Austin Theory.
Rollins announced the title match during a promo on Raw. Rollins then defeated Balor on tonight’s show.
This is the first match that’s been confirmed for Day 1.
