WWE Day 1 2022 Predictions: Brock Lesnar Will Dethrone Roman Reigns
By Mark Justice
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Sami Zayn [Intercontinental Championship]
According to the WWE SmackDown spoilers for this week’s Christmas Eve episode, Sami Zayn won the ’12 Days of Christmas’ gauntlet match to become the number one contender to Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental Championship. Surprisingly, the Intercontinental Championship will be defended on PPV for the first time since WrestleMania 37. It’s utterly asinine that the workhorse title, which could be used to build up superstars for the lackluster main event scene on SmackDown today, is a complete afterthought.
Nonetheless, this will be a neat rematch from NXT Takeover: Dallas, where the former Artist Collective members wrestled a 5-star classic. That match was Nakamura’s debut in NXT as well as Zayn’s transition to the main roster. Due to the rumors of Sami Zayn resigning with WWE, this match at Day 1 could indicate Zayn’s redemption from losing to Nakamura in that NXT Takeover: Dallas match as well as his consolation prize losing his Universal Title opportunity to Roman Reigns. His recent work with Brock Lesnar has already been exemplary of what the fans would want to see in an Intercontinental Champion.
Nakamura won’t be hurt in defeat because he can easily target the SmackDown Tag Titles with Rick Boogs as mentioned earlier and/or advance to the main event scene, where he rightfully belongs, and challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship with some callback from that gauntlet in January 2021. If Zayn resigns with WWE and lost, he would not really have a plan B other than eating green beans in catering. This is a must-win situation for Zayn if he stays in the company that supposedly has a conspiracy AGAINST him.
Prediction: Sami Zayn
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan [Raw Women’s Championship]
Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan is the perfect example of a superior champion vs. underdog challenger with minimal credibility. Although many fans are clamoring for Liv Morgan to get pushed, she has not been booked as a credible challenger, especially due to the fact that she lost plenty of momentum since failing to win MITB in July. However, Morgan can still bounce back from this loss by winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Lynch to a rematch at WrestleMania, where she can finally dethrone Lynch after having ample time to rebuild herself as a credible challenger.
Once Lynch retains the title against Morgan at Day 1, she will very likely defend the title against Bianca Belair at the Royal Rumble because Belair still has unfinished business with Lynch after the screwy finish in their last title match. Her victory as a sole survivor as well as her three victories over DouDrop recently means that she will get back in the title picture. It would not be far-fetched to foresee Belair getting her comeuppance from SummerSlam. If she does, Bayley would be a suitable Rumble winner since her injury hindered her ‘I Quit Match’ with Belair back in July.
Prediction: Becky Lynch