WWE Day 1 2022 Results, Highlights, and Grades: Lesnar defies the odds
By Mark Justice
WWE Day 1 2022! This Vince McMahon production kicked off the new year on the wrong foot. There are plenty of contrived storylines being built, but there are some potential show-stealing matches on this card that will be thrilling to watch.
The following will provide full results, highlights, and grades for the seven matches that are purportedly scheduled for this PPV. Since Roman Reigns was pulled from WWE Day 1 due to COVID protocols, the Universal Title match was canceled and Brock Lesnar was then added to the WWE Championship match to make it a Fatal 5 Way.
The rest of the card was booked as follows: Big E (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan for the Raw Women’s Championship, Edge vs. The Miz, Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss, Usos (c) vs. The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, RKBro (c) vs. Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Championships, and Ricochet & Cesaro vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland as the kickoff tag team match. Without further ado, here is the full review for WWE Day 1.
WWE Day 1 2022 took place on January 1, 2022, live on the WWE Network via Peacock. Here are the full results, highlights, and grades.
Ricochet & Cesaro vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland [Kickoff Tag Match]
Result: Sheamus & Ridge Holland
Rating: 2.5/5.0 Stars
Grade: C-
Ricochet & Cesaro start the match off hot with some tag combos. Cesaro delivered a gutwrench backbreaker to Ridge Holland. Cesaro tosses Ricochet for a 450 splash on Holland, but Ricochet accidentally landed on Holland’s nose.
Holland was attended to at ringside, and Sheamus has to carry the match against Ricochet and Cesaro by himself. Holland was taken to the back because he got a broken nose from that botch. Michael Cole let the audience know that Holland will not be returning to the match.
Sheamus delivered a plethora of Irish Curse Backbreakers to Ricochet and beats to his chest until Ricochet was able to get a hot tag to Cesaro. Cesaro rallied with three uppercuts and a slingshot crossbody.
Cesaro grabs Sheamus for the Cesaro Swing and transitions into the Sharpshooter, but Sheamus reached the bottom rope. Cesaro attempted the Neutralizer, but Sheamus countered with the Running Knee for the two-count after Ricochet breaks it up. Sheamus delivered the White Noise to Ricochet outside the ring to take him out of commission for the rest of the match.
Sheamus jumped from the top rope for a flying clothesline, but Cesaro countered with an Uppercut in mid-air for the two-count. Sheamus tossed Cesaro into the corner turnbuckle and delivered the Brogue Kick to Cesaro for the pinfall and the victory in an impromptu handicap match.
Analysis: Sheamus absolutely buried Ricochet and Cesaro by defeating both of them here. Even though Sheamus & Ridge Holland were probably scheduled to win, there should have been a last-minute audible to change the winners to Ricochet & Cesaro because it is just awful for two talented performers to lose to one. The numbers game here is erroneous, to say the least.