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Recent reports seem to suggest that WWE Day 1, the company's first premium live event of 2023, has been canceled. The show was initially set to take place on January 1st, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia, and featured Brock Lesnar in the promotional material.
Suggestively, it has been canceled due to WWE's apparent intent to focus on more international events. This will allegedly see a decreased focus on 'B-show' premium live events and 'gimmick' shows.
The event made its debut on WWE's schedule on January 1st, 2022, as the company rang in the new year with its own brand of in-ring action. But whose idea was it to host a premium live event on New Year's Day? A number of sources in late 2021 claimed that the event was the brainchild of WWE Executive Nick Khan. It was also the first WWE show to be branded as a premium live event, as opposed to pay-per-view.
What's more, the brand new event led to the cancelation of an established, annual WWE pay-per-view. WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs was usually WWE's December show, but found itself on the chopping block in 2021 when Khan's idea for a New Year's Day event was greenlit. The change, many believe, was due to December being an annual low point for pay-per-view buys.
Nick Khan allegedly believed that WWE Day 1's card could comprise of matches that would otherwise feature at the Royal Rumble later in the month. This, apparently, was an extra selling point in the eyes of the top executive.
What happened at WWE Day 1 2022?
WWE Day 1 2022 also took place in Atalanta, Georgia, in front of over 13,000 fans at the State Farm Arena. Roman Reigns, who only held the Universal Championship at the time, was featured at the forefront of its promotional material.
Despite him featuring on the event's posters, Roman Reigns didn't compete on January 1st. After testing positive for Covid-19, Reigns' planned main event bout with Brock Lesnar was scrapped. The contest was set to be a rematch of their WWE Universal Championship clash at WWE Crown Jewel 2021, where Reigns retained the title under dubious circumstances.
The show's current main event was a five-way match, with Big E defending his WWE Championship against Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, and eventual winner Brock Lesnar.
Despite Reigns' absence, The Bloodline were still represented on the show, with Jimmy & Jey Uso successfully defending their SmackDown Tag Championships against The New Day. RK-Bro also successfully defended RAW's tag belts against The Street Profits.
Also on the card was a victory for Edge over The Miz, Drew McIntyre defeating Madcap Moss, and RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch retaining her championship against the underdog Liv Morgan.
Are you a fan of WWE Day 1? Are you sad about its cancelation? You can share your thoughts in the comment section down below.
