WWE Day 1 Flops and Hits: Brock Lesnar wins title, The Bloodline make up for Roman Reigns’ absence (1st January, 2022)

#1 Honorable mentions from WWE Day 1: Sheamus and Edge shine

WWE SmackDown superstars Ridge Holland and Sheamus faced Cesaro and Ricochet during the kickoff show. Holland, unfortunately, suffered from a broken nose and was forced to leave the match.

In a superb encounter, Sheamus fought off against The Swiss Superman and Ricochet. It made The Celtic Warrior look like a massive babyface, and he eventually picked up a victory. These superstars deserve a lot of credit for delivering a good bout, especially considering that most of it was improvised on the spot.

Sheamus should get pushed into the title picture, and he will make for a good opponent against Roman Reigns when the latter returns. Most importantly, the match has done well in establishing a potential rivalry between Ricochet and Holland on SmackDown once the latter is deemed fit to compete.

Edge was also brilliant in his match against The Miz. Their bout was entertaining even before WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix showed up to negate Maryse's influence. This is headed towards a mixed tag team match, and we hope that all four superstars will be involved in a good feud before their inevitable in-ring battle.

These performances may not have been the biggest highlights of Day 1, but they deserved accolades for doing well under the given circumstances. The right booking could lead to all the aforementioned superstars enjoying a great run-up to and after WrestleMania this year.

The only arguable flop from Day 1 was the length of Drew McIntyre's bout with Madcap Moss. The latter did well in proving himself to be a good performer, but the match was too long to ignore. McIntyre picked up a deserved victory but was later subjected to a brutal attack backstage that has seemingly ruled him off the television.

The Scottish Warrior deserves a break after his relentless performances since the pandemic's beginning. We wish him a speedy recovery from the injury he sustained and hope to see him make a huge return when he is cleared to compete again.