Monday Night Raw has gone several weeks with a full card announced. The first WWE Raw of 2022, fresh off Day 1 this past weekend, has nothing promoted ahead of it. This week’s show, airing on the USA Network, emanates from the Bon Secourse Wellness Arena of Greenville, South Carolina.
What a #WWEDay1!https://t.co/59iEjSXxB2
— WWE (@WWE) January 3, 2022
WWE Raw (1/3/22) – Day 1 Fallout
New Champion: Brock Lesnar
Day 1 was 2 days ago and we have a completely out of left field new WWE Champion. Brock Lesnar was an insertion into the WWE Championship match due to Roman Reigns testing positive for COVID-19 the day of the show.
Despite capturing the title at Day 1, it seems Lesnar’s not scheduled for WWE Raw. This throws several monkey wrenches into both Raw and Friday Night SmackDown as it undercuts whatever was planned with Big E, as well as whatever was planned with Roman Reigns for the pay-per-view and after it. Judging from their interactions, it seems there’s a desire to have something between new champion Lesnar and Bobby Lashley. It most likely will be addressed tonight.
Becky Still Reigns Following Day 1
After yet another successful defense over Liv Morgan, sans cheating this time, it’s time to find something new for the Raw Women’s Champion to do. Question is, against who? Having already gone through a lengthy program with Bianca Belair, now Morgan, and the Royal Rumble being at hand, who fills the gap? There are certainly options. Recent TV hasn’t exactly painted any of the women on the roster as coming close to “Big Time Becks” these last few weeks or months.
A Potential U.S. Title Match on WWE Raw
PW Insider’s preview of the show has a United States Championship match listed as announced: Damian Priest vs Dolph Ziggler with no ‘Champion’s Advantage’ for Priest. If Priest is disqualified, the title changes hands. I have not found confirmation of such on Twitter or WWE.com regarding it, but it doesn’t feel like something out of the blue, either.
COVID-19 Cases Explode
Roman Reigns testing positive over the weekend confirms reports of an outbreak backstage in WWE. Several talent and personnel were missing since Christmas week. Whether it was for precautions or if they were serving quarantine, it’s clear they were out for one reason or another. It is likely the reason why nothing has been confirmed for tonight’s episode of Raw. The show tends to be unpredictable as it is. Now, add possible talents who tested negative not long before testing positive a day later, and that forces WWE to change even more on the fly. And at times, they seem compelled to create storyline reasons for people missing scheduled matches rather than just confirming the virus at play. Only truly admitting someone has contracted the virus when it happens to be the world champion as happened with Roman Reigns this week and one year ago with Drew McIntyre.
We’ll see what Raw has on the docket tonight on the USA Network.
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