WWE RAW Day 1 Live Coverage - January 1st, 2024

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WWE Day 1

World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins will put his title on the line at WWE Day 1 against the dangerous Drew McIntyre. Since losing his title clash against Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WWE Clash at The Castle, McIntyre has slowly descended into madness and has taken out his anger on everybody in his path, and that includes Rollins. The Visionary, meanwhile, has enjoyed a lengthy reign as champion, but he isn't overlooking the threat that is The Scottish Warrior.


:raw:

– We are LIVE inside the Pachanga Arena in San Diego, CA. where Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show.

Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

Cole and Barrett run down the lineup for tonight's jam-packed special annual WWE Day 1 episode of Monday Night Raw and then the theme for Becky Lynch hits. Out comes "The Man" for a match five years in the making against Nia Jax to kick off this week's show.

As she settles in the ring, an elaborate video package airs showing the infamous nose break years ago that led to Lynch becoming "The Man" of WWE. She settles in the ring and her music dies down and the package wraps up. Nia Jax's theme hits and out she comes to a ton of boos from the crowd.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our first match of the evening. Lynch starts off strong and the crowd is hot, but it doesn't take long at all for the bigger, stronger Jax to take over and quiet down the San Diego fans. She dominates Lynch on offense and yells at her, "You waited five years for this!"

Lynch fires up with punches but Jax slows her down and slaps her in a bear hug. Lynch escapes and hits a Mr. Perfect flip-over snapmare on the neck of a seated Jax. She goes for the cover but Jax kicks out at two. Lynch goes for the Bex-Ploder in the corner but Jax avoids it.

"The Man" hits a missile drop kick off the top-rope and goes for the cover, but Jax kicks out and we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, we see the fight spill to the floor. Jax goes for a big punch but Lynch moves and she smashes her hand on the ring post.

The commentators question if it's broken. We see Lynch get blasted again later in the match which busts her face open again. She is bleeding. Jax goes for a Samoan Drop off the top-rope. She ends up hitting her Ah-Nia-Later finisher for the win. After the match, the camera focuses in on Lynch's bloody mug.

Winner: Nia Jax

– We see Shinsuke Nakamura's "Twas The Night Before Christmas" reading turning into a wild brawl with Cody Rhodes last week. After the video package wraps up, we see Cody Rhodes walking backstage. He will be coming to the ring when we return. On that note, we head into another commercial break.

– When we return, the theme for Rhodes hits and out comes "The American Nightmare" to a sea of fans singing along with his entrance tune while fireworks and pyro explodes behind him. Samantha Irvin introduces him and he settles in the ring after giving a lucky front row fan his weight belt.

His theme dies down and the "Cody! Cody!" chants pick up. He plays into the chants and then when the crowd quiets down, he begins. "So, San Diego ... what do you want to talk about?" He says he is the first Superstar to have the privelage to come to the ring and officially welcome us to WWE Day 1 here on Monday Night Raw.

Rhodes talks about having big plans like many others do for 2024 and mentions his ongoing issues with Shinsuke Nakamura. He tells him he's gonna give him the chance to finish things between tgem tonight. Nakamura appears on the big screen and boasts being the guy who is gonna author the final chapter in Cody's story.

He says it won't be tonight, he'll give him one more week to dream and then he'll finish his story and close his book. He sprays red mist into the camera and his theme plays to end the segment.

– We see footage from two weeks ago of Kofi Claus running into issues with Imperium, which "Main Event" Jey Uso got involved in. After the package wraps up, The New Day theme hits and out comes Kofi Kingston in ring shorts with no shirt on for a bit of a new look. He settles in the ring and his catchy ring music dies down.

Now the theme for his tag-team partner hits and the roof nearly blows off the building as "Main Event" Jey Uso makes his way out and heads down to the ring. He settles inside the squared circle and joins Kingston as we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

Jey Uso & Kofi Kingston vs. Imperium

When we return, Imperium makes their way down to the ring. They settle inside and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. After some brief early action, we see Imperium jump into the offensive lead, taking it to Kingston. We head into a mid-match commercial break on that note. When we return, we see Vinci taking it to Uso.

Vinci comes off the middle-rope but is caught on the way down by a drop kick but seems to land bad. He doesn't move. The referee throws up the X sign with his arms and then Uso tags in Kingston. As soon as he does, the bell sounds and doctors rush to check on Vinci as the commentators get their serious voices on. Samantha Irvin announces Kingston and Uso as the winners due to stoppage. The camera won't even show what is going on with Vinci.

Winners via Ref Stoppage: Jey Uso & Kofi Kingston

– We go to video footage from the WWE Holiday Live Tour and then we head to another commercial break. When we return, The Miz's theme hits and out comes the WWE veteran for a special episode of Miz TV. He talks about the former world champion returning later tonight and says he's got his sources but has to move on to his guests.

Miz introduces the most dominant faction in WWE, The Judgment Day. Their theme hits but no one comes out. The music stops and instead R-Truth's theme hits and out he comes wearing his custom made Judgment Day shirt with his name included.

He settles in the ring and Miz mentions him as the best member of the group, but asks where everyone else is. Truth says he swore they were just behind him a minute ago. Finally out comes JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio telling Truth this has to stop tonight. The fans boo Dom like crazy as always and Truth mentions it being sad that his hometown fans are booing him that bad.

Truth says McDonagh isn't even in Judgment Day. Miz speaks up and says that's true because they lost the Miracle on 34th Street Fight a couple of weeks ago. Dom tries to speak up but is drowned out by boos as usual. After some more talk, a match is made between the two teams and we head into a commercial break.

Awesome Truth vs. The Judgment Day

When we return from the break, we see Miz is isolated in the ring and being attacked in two-on-one fashion by Dom and JD as the fans boo. Eventually Miz fights back and gets the tag. When Truth comes in the fans go nuts.

Truth gets in some shots but almost immediately The Judgment Day duo of Dom and JD take back over. Dom hits a 6-1-9 that knocks Truth out to the floor. He gloats to the fans as they boo him and we head into a mid-match commercial break on that note as the action in this tag-team tilt continues.

As we settle back in from the break, we see Truth start to forget which team he's on, as he goes to The Judgment Day side of the ring on the apron in between tags. The Judgment Day try to go with it at one point in an attempt to trick him into decking Miz while they held him, but Miz moved, he decked them instead and Miz followed up with a Skull Crushing Finale for the win.

Winners: Awesome Truth

– We go to video footage recapping Kayden Carter and Katana Chance's victory over Chelsea Green and Piper Niven to become the new Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions.

– We then shoot to a night club where the new champs are celebrating when they are confronted by the former champs, who tell them they're going above their head to get an immediate rematch.

The champs throw a drink on them and continue partying and then we return inside the arena, where Ivy Nile's theme hits. Out she comes accompanied by The Creed Brothers for her big title opportunity. As she settles into the ring, we head to another quick pre-match commercial break.

:womensworldchamp:

WWE Women's World Championship: Rhea Ripley (C) vs. Ivy Nile

As we settle back in from the break, a special message from Rhea Ripley is played regarding 2024 and her match tonight with Ivy Nile. We return inside the arena and "This is My Brutality" plays as the WWE Women's World Champion makes her way out for her title defense.

Samantha Irvin handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for this championship contest and then the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. We see some basic back-and-forth action and then Nile establishes the initial offensive lead. As Ripley retreats at ringside, we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.

When we return, we see Ripley completely take over and dominate for several minutes. Nile gets one more flurry of offense, including a big German suplex to Ripley off the top-rope, however it is ultimately Ripley who finishes Nile off with her Rip Tide for another successful title defense. After the bout, we head to another break.

Winner and STILL WWE Women's World Champion: Rhea Ripley

– When we come back from the break, Samantha Irvin announces the return of a former world champion and the theme for Jinder Mahal hits. Out he comes to the biggest non-reaction of the world. Michael Cole laughs it off, making it obvious this won't be the big return itself. Wade Barrett pretends to be shocked at "the big surprise return" of Mahal.

Mahal proceeds to babble for what feels like an eternity about what a joke the U.S.A. has become until finally we hear it. "If ya smell......" and out comes the REAL former world champion teased for tonight's show, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The UFL founder comes out to an enormous sustained roar from the San Diego crowd.

The Rock confronts Mahal in the ring and gets one-half of the crowd to chant "Day 1" and the other to chant "Douchebag" after calling Mahal the "Day 1 Douchebag." He then sings a custom line of the U.S. National Anthem about how Mahal no longer has any balls.

He closes the song out with a line about whooping Mahal's candy ass, which he proceeded to do after recovering from Mahal jumping him before he had a chance to. He hit a spinebuster and of course, a People's Elbow to give the fans something to cheer for. Fun stuff as always from "The Great One."

He closed the segment out by picking up the mic for one last comment. He mentioned being hungry and asked if he should go to sit at the bar, or if he should sit at "The Head of the Table." The crowd went nuts for that. The commentators and camera angles on the broadcast really sold it big, too. We head to another commercial break.

Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Title Eliminator: Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Tegan Nox & Natalya

When we return from the break, we see a recap of what just went down with The Rock and Jinder Mahal and Rock's "Head of the Table" comments at the end. After that, the theme for Shayna Baszler hits and out she comes. She stops and Zoey Starks' theme hits. The two make their way down to the ring together.

After they settle in the ring, the theme for Tegan Nox hits and out she comes. She stops, the music does too, and then the guitar screech for Natalya hits and the women's wrestling legend emerges. The two head to the ring and settle inside the squared circle for this Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championship Eliminator bout.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Kicking things off for their respective teams are Nattie and Stark. Natalya takes Stark down with an arm drag coming out of the gate and then hits a nice atomic drop off the ropes. She tags out and in comes Nox, who picks up where she left off, taking it to Stark before tagging Nattie right back in.

She ends up in the wrong corner of the ring and Baszler tags in and takes over. As she does, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues in this high stakes women's tag bout.

When we return, Stark and Baszler finish things off for the win. Nattie isn't happy and is outside of the ring shaking her head as Nox is laid out after the match.

Winners: Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark

– A lengthy, elaborate and emotionally touching video package airs with Drew McIntyre talking about his sick family with photos being cut in as he talks about them dieing and him not going home to see them before it happened because he was pursuing his dream. Seth Rollins' rebuttal is also shown, as is McIntyre's vicious assault of the champ.

– After the video package wraps up, we return inside Pachanga Arena in San Diego, CA. for our scheduled headline bout of the annual WWE Day 1 special edition of Monday Night Raw. Drew McIntyre's theme hits and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" with his massive sword in-hand. As he settles in the ring, we head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

– When we return, it is announced that CM Punk will return next week on RAW, and we will also see Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, as well as Chelsea Green & Piper Niven challenge Katana Chance & Kayden Carter for the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships.

– A WWE Preview Special 2024 is also announced for Peacock this Thursday night at 8/7c featuring a "major announcement" from Paul "Triple H" Levesque, a special appearance by CM Punk, as well as appearances by WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley, NXT World Champion Ilja Dragunov, Montez Ford, Bianca Belair and others.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth "Freakin'" Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Back inside the arena, we hear "BURN IT DOWN!!!" and then the crowd begins singing along as "The Visionary" and "The Revolutionary" Seth "Freakin'" Rollins makes his way out for his latest WWE World Heavyweight Championship defense. Samantha Irvin handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for this title tilt and then the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.

Early on we see some typical back-and-forth action and then we watch Rollins start to pull into the early offensive lead. McIntyre takes over as the fight spills out to the floor and starts getting more aggressive, with McIntyre zeroing in on the injured back of Rollins. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as McIntyre continues punishing Rollins.

As we settle back in from the break, we see Drew hit Sheamus' trademark White Noise off the top-rope for a close near fall. Rollins tries fighting back with a Stomp, but Drew avoids it and connects with a Future Shock DDT. He backs into the corner and stalks Rollins, waiting for him to get up so he can hit a Claymore Kick. Instead, Rollins sees him coming and counters with a power bomb.

Rollins climbs to the top-rope backwards. He goes for a corkscrew, but Drew rolls out of the way and Rollins lands on his feet. Drew goes for another Claymore Kick but again Rollins avoids it, and this time counters with a Pedigree for a super close near fall attempt of his own. Out of nowhere, the theme for Damian Priest hits and out he comes with his Money In The Bank briefcase and Dominik Mysterio by his side.

Priest comes to the ring and knocks out Rollins with the briefcase. Before he can cash in the briefcase, McIntyre runs over and hits Priest with a Claymore Kick. He hits Dom with it as well and then goes in the ring and blasts Rollins with it. He goes for the cover and he, along with everyone in the entire building, thought he got the three count, however we see Rollins bend his leg in awkward fashion to get his foot on the ropes before the count of three.

McIntyre goes out to the floor in a tantrum and clears off the announce desk. He brings Rollins out with him and climbs on top of the desk. He hoists him up but Rollins escapes and hits a Pedigree on McIntyre on the table, which doesn't break. He rolls him into the ring and connects with a big Stomp.

He goes for the cover and gets the three count to successfully retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. That's how this week's show goes off the air.

Winner and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth "Freakin'" Rollins