SHOWN IN CLUB 69 FLIRTS

SATURDAY JANUARY 1, 2022

FROM MIDNIGHT

CONFIRMED MATCHES

WWE Championship -- Big E (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley: In late October, Rollins won a ladder match on Raw that guaranteed him a future title shot. That was largely sidelined through November as Big E was tied up with Roman Reigns and Survivor Series. Rollins then announced that he would get his title shot at Day 1, only to see Owens -- who had recently turned heel by attacking Big E -- face Big E with the stipulation that Owens would be entered into the match with a victory. Owens was able to provoke Rollins into attacking him during the match, leading to Owens being named the winner via disqualification and his participation in the Day 1 title match confirmed. Lashley was angry at being left out of the picture and beat Rollins, Owens and Big E in singles matches in a single night, earning his spot and turning the match into a fatal four-way.

Universal Championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar: Reigns beat Lesnar at Crown Jewel with a load of help from The Usos. An enraged Lesnar attacked on SmackDown, an attack that carried over into thrashing WWE official Adam Pearce. Lesnar was subsequently suspended for his actions. After Sami Zayn won a battle royal on SmackDown to decide the next challenger to Reigns' title, it was announced Lesnar would return to SmackDown on Dec. 3. Reigns manipulated Zayn into immediately taking his shot at Reigns on SmackDown, with Lesnar getting the shot at the winner at Day 1. Lesnar then took out Zayn before the match to ensure an easy win for Reigns and the rematch Lesnar wanted to kick off the year.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Usos (c) vs. The New Day: In helping Reigns ahead of his Survivor Series match with Big E, The Usos took out Kofi Kingston and destroyed Xavier Woods' King of the Ring throne, scepter and crown. With Kingston back in action, the two New Day members are looking for revenge -- and yet another championship reign -- when they face off with The Usos at Day 1.

Raw Women's Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan: Lynch is on a good run since coming back from her layoff to give birth to her first child, having put on good matches with nearly everyone she has set foot in the ring with. Morgan failed to beat Lynch in a title match on Raw but threw out a challenge for a rematch. Lynch didn't initially accept, attacking Morgan instead, including stomping on Morgan's arm as it was pinned between the ring steps and ring post. Once Morgan had been appropriately compromised, Lynch accepted the rematch.

Raw Tag Team Championship -- RK-Bro (c) vs. The Street Profits: Randy Orton and Riddle are in need of challengers for their Raw tag titles. In that interest, they set up the RK-Bro-nament, which The Street Profits won by defeating The Mysterios in the finals. It's not the most complicated story, but it should make for a very good match.

Edge vs. The Miz: When Edge made his return to Raw, he listed a variety of potential opponents but left Miz's name out. This brought out Miz, who was making his own return after a stint on Dancing With The Stars. Miz turned down a chance to go one-on-one then and there but the two eventually agreed to a Day 1 clash. After agreeing to the match, Miz spiced things up by hitting Edge with a Skull-Crushing Finale.

Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss: The two are set to battle after an odd build that included trying to remove McIntyre's sword from a desk and a Miracle on 34th Street match on Christmas Eve. McIntyre is mostly treading water until he gets the next boost to the main event picture and knocking off Moss sets him up to move on to Happy Corbin as a stay-busy storyline.

Cesaro & Ricochet vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland (kickoff show): Holland has been trying to impress Sheamus since moving up to the main roster, that has resulted in repeated clashes with Cesaro and Ricochet. After the situation escalated during the gauntlet match on the Christmas Eve edition of SmackDown, the four men will now look to settle things in a tag match on the kickoff show.

HIGHLIGHTS

RESULTS

MATCH CANCELED - Universal Championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar: Roman tested positive for covid, Brock Lesner added to the WWE Championship match

Cesaro & Ricochet vs. Ridge Holland & Sheamus (kickoff match): A bit of an odd match early as Ricochet landed a kick and knee when flipped by Cesaro that likely broke Holland's nose, drawing a lot of blood and sending Holland to the outside where he remained throughout the bout, leaving Sheamus to compete in what was effectively a handicap match. Despite the disadvantage, Sheamus continued battling hard, including hitting Ricochet with White Noise on the floor at ringside. With Ricochet out, Cesaro and Sheamus brawled before Sheamus was able to hit a Brogue Kick to score the victory. This ended up being a bit awkward, obviously, but three experienced professionals were able to pull together a match on the fly that worked out fine. Sheamus & Ridge Holland def. Cesaro & Ricochet via pinfall.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Usos (c) vs. The New Day: Some quick tags to work over Jimmy Uso helped New Day own the early moments of the match. That didn't last long, however, before The Usos used some underhanded tactics to take over, isolating Kofi Kingston and forcing King Woods to watch on. The hot tag did eventually come for Woods and he went on the expected run of big moves before nearly finishing off Jimmy Uso. Jey Uso helped turn the tables quickly by shoving his brother out of the way of a Woods dive and allowing Jimmy to come off the top rope with a corkscrew body block for a near fall. The Usos would eventually begin targeting Kingston's knee, the same knee they'd injured weeks prior. Kingston fought back and hit the S.O.S. on Jey for a near fall and Jey also survived a combination back-breaker stomp off the top rope moments later. The wild near falls continued as the Usos hit stereo splashes on Kingston only for Woods to break the pin. The Usos won somewhat out of nowhere with a 3-D on Kingston to score the pin. No surprise here, these two teams have outstanding chemistry and it played out wonderfully again. Using a 3-D is an unexpected wrinkle for The Usos. The Usos (c) def. The New Day via pinfall to retain the titles.

Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss: McIntyre dominated the early stretches of the match, including hitting some brutal chops, but Moss managed to fight back. Moss's aggression when he had control eventually backfired as he charged full speed into the turnbuckle. McIntyre went on a big run before a near fall with a huge spinebuster. Moss didn't go quietly, making a few attempts to come back, but McIntyre remained mostly in control before hitting a Claymore to put the match away. Unexpectedly long, Moss was given a bit of credibility by hanging with McIntyre before the obvious result. Drew McIntyre def. Madcap Moss via pinfall

Raw Tag Team Championship -- RK-Bro (c) vs. The Street Profits: Migos were in RK-Bro's corner, making the ring walk with the champions. After the Profits got the upper hand on Riddle early, Riddle tagged in Randy Orton to a massive pop. Orton slowed down the quick-hitting offense of the Profits with a thumb to the eye of Montez Ford. Riddle continued to be the weak link in the team, repeatedly losing momentum for his team when he was tagged in. Orton took a hot tag and went on a run that included a double hanging DDT, but Ford managed to send Orton crashing shoulder-first into the ring post before hitting a dive over the ring post onto both members of RK-Bro. After some back-and-forth between Orton and Ford, Riddle entered the ring to pop Ford into the air and into an Orton RKO as the champions retained. This was a fun tag match though not quite able to clear the very high bar set by New Day and The Usos earlier in the show. RK-Bro (c) def. The Street Profits via pinfall to retain the titles.

Edge vs. The Miz: A minor run of offense to start the match left Miz fired up and climbing the turnbuckles to celebrate. Edge came back to nearly secure an early crossface before Miz was able to roll out of danger. Edge methodically worked over Miz, though not before Miz was able to attack Edge's knee. Miz eventually came back to score a near fall with a DDT. Despite Miz's brief success, Edge went back on the attack until Miz was able to take over outside the ring, smashing Edge's face into the announce table repeatedly. As was the theme of the match, as soon as Miz seemed to be in control, Edge fired back, this time driving Miz into the table as Miz tried to follow up on his attack. Miz's earlier work to Edge's knee came back into play when he locked Edge in a figure-four before going for a pin with his feet on the ropes, only to be caught by the referee. Edge came back by finally locking in the crossface only for Maryse to put Miz's foot on the ropes to break the hold. Edge eventually lined up for a spear only for Miz to leapfrog over the move and send Edge crashing into the turnbuckle. Miz distracted the ref, allowing Maryse to hit Edge with her purse and send him into a Miz skull-crushing finale and a near fall. Edge's wife, Beth Phoenix, then came to the ring, running Maryse off. Miz turned from staring at Phoenix only to be hit with a match-ending spear. The match was not particularly good and felt kind of plodding for much of the time. Still, we're almost certainly going to get a match between the two couples down the road. Edge def. The Miz via pinfall.

Raw Women's Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan: Morgan went right at the champion, trapping Lynch in the corner and landing a knee before stomping her into the ground. Morgan caught Lynch in a version of the Rings of Saturn until Lynch managed to get a foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Lynch slowed down the challenger by countering a rana attempt by swinging Morgan into the turnbuckles and then slingshotting her into the bottom rope. Even when Lynch was in control, Morgan managed to frustrate her, including by kicking out of an exploding suplex at one point. Lynch briefly locked in an armbar, but Morgan was able to counter into a pin before also hitting a facebuster for a near fall. Moments later, Morgan nearly scored the win with a sunset flip powerbomb. Morgan got a measure of revenge on Lynch for past assaults when she trapped Lynch's arm in the ring steps and landed several stomps. This set up another Rings of Saturn, but Lynch countered with a pin. Seconds later, Morgan tried to hit Oblivian but Lynch countered into a Manhandle Slam for the pin. Things broke down slightly late in the match. Morgan doesn't do "mean" very well and her attack on Lynch's arm wasn't convincing and the final counter into the Manhandle Slam was far from smooth, as was the fact that Lynch was clearly supposed to win by having her feet on the ropes but couldn't manage to reach. Still, this was a perfectly serviceable match, if not up to the levels of most big spotlight matches for women in WWE. Becky Lynch (c) def. Liv Morgan via pinfall to retain the title.

WWE Championship -- Big E (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar: Rollins and Owens tried to team up on Lesnar from the opening bell, but Lesnar hit both men with a series of German suplexes before Big E jumped in the ring and took Lesnar out with a pair of clotheslines. After driving Big E into the ring post, Lashley speared Lesnar through the ringside barricade. Rollins and Owens teamed up to first take out Lashley and then Lesnar, with Rollins holding Lesnar down outside the ring while Owens came off the apron with a frog splash. The duo then drove the ring steps into the heads of Lashley and Lesnar. The announce desk did not make it far into the match, with Big E using a uranage to drive Lashley through it.

Lesnar eventually made his way back into the match, hitting Rollins, Big E and Owens with F-5s before turning into a spear from Lashley for a near fall. Big E hit Lashley with a Big Ending and tried to do the same to Lesnar, only for Lesnar to counter into an F-5 for the victory. This match went about 100 miles per hour from the opening bell and that made for an extremely good time. Unfortunately, shooting the belt to Lesnar, who was not even in the match hours before the show, is the kind of decision that is hard to justify. Lesnar vs. Reigns in a title vs. title match seems like it may be your WrestleMania main event. If you were going to have Big E's reign end, it could have easily happened without him having to eat the pin. Still, the match was a truly wild and fun ride. Brock Lesnar wins the title by pinning Big E.