With all due credit to The New Day, it’s a new year, yes it is. And what better way to kick it off than with a WWE Raw Day 1 show from San Diego, chock full of championship matches and other goodies? Nothing, that’s what.
WWE has every reason to put on the best possible show since it took a rare break from all live programming between Christmas and New Year’s. Both Raw and SmackDown were year in review episodes last week while the wrestlers and crew got a well deserved holiday break.
Now it’s time to come out with the pedal down, which is exactly what Day 1 is looking to do. Both the World Heavyweight Championship held by Seth Rollins and the Women’s World Championship held by Rhea Ripley will be on the line, in addition to a first time ever meeting between Becky Lynch and Nia Jax.
If that isn’t enough for you, Triple H has hinted that rumors of a former WWE champion appearing on Raw Day 1 may indeed be true. There’s been all kinds of speculation about everyone from Batista to The Rock, so that’s another big reason to be locked in to what goes down.
Alright 2024, what have you got for us?
WWE Raw Day 1 results from San Diego:
(please scroll down for full details on any match or segment in bold)
- Michael Cole and Wade Barrett start the show in the ring hyping up the card, including a “former WWE champion” appearing on the show
- A video package takes us through the buildup of the Becky Lynch-Nia Jax feud
- Nia Jax def. Becky Lynch by pinfall
- A replay is shown of Shinsuke Nakamura’s “An American Nightmare Before Christmas” and their ensuing brawl
- Cody Rhodes wants to end things with Shinsuke Nakamura, but Nakamura wants him to squirm for one more week
- Kofi Kingston and Jey Uso def. Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser) by referee stoppage after Vinci appears to suffer a mid-match injury after taking a particularly stiff dropkick
- A hype video is shown for the Rhea Ripley-Ivy Nile title match later tonight
- Miz TV welcomes The Judgment Day, which turns into an argument between R-Truth on one side and JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio on the other, which in turn leads to a tag team match
- The Miz and R-Truth def. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh by pinfall
- Chelsea Green and Piper Niven invade the club to threaten Kayden Carter and Katana Chance that they’re going to Adam Pearce to get a rematch, but not only do the champs not mind, they throw some beverages in the faces of the former champs
- Rhea Ripley def. Ivy Nile by pinfall to retain the Women’s World Championship
- After teasing fans by bringing out Jinder Mahal first, The Rock makes a triumphant return while also teasing a Roman Reigns showdown
- Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark def. Natalya and Tegan Nox by pinfall
- A video recap takes us back through the issues between Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins ahead of the main event
- Seth Rollins def. Drew McIntyre by pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Championship despite Damian Priest’s ultimately thwarted plan to cash in his MITB briefcase during the match
Nia Jax beats, bloodies Becky Lynch in first ever meeting
After reminding us that this is the first time these two have ever wrestled one on one, the announcers frame this as a bout in which Lynch will have to keep her temper in check if she wants to win.
Jax is hitting all the early offense, talking to her prey while she does so. Lynch fights back with a jawbreaker and keeps moving between forearm shots. An uppercut and a kick to the midsection land too, and Lynch manages to evade a legdrop and score a cover that’s only good for a one count.
A dropkick drives Jax back into the corner, and a missile dropkick is also on target to earn a near fall. Jax scores with a Samoan Drop during picture-in-picture action and generally stays in control until the full broadcast returns, but it’s Lynch scoring a two count right after that.
Nia gets things going her way on the outside but misses both a right hand near the post and a cannonball into the apron. Lynch saved herself big time there, and she nearly wins by countout before Jax slides back into the ring. A top rope leg drop allows Becky to cover for another two.
The Disarm-Her is locked in, but Jax powers into a pinning combination for two. Lynch pivots back into an armbar but is lifted into a sitout powerbomb and just barely manages to kick out in time.
Jax drags her foe to the corner, but Lynch springs up and looks for a Manhandle Slam off the middle rope; Jax counters into an Avalanche Samoan Drop and can’t believe it when The Man kicks out again.
Becky is fired up now, but that’s not going to help when she gets caught flush with a right hand. Jax follows with the Annihilator and gets perhaps her biggest win ever.
Cody Rhodes is stuck on Shinsuke Nakamura whether he likes it or not
So, San Diego, what do you wanna talk about? Rhodes says he has the privilege of being the first superstar to officially welcome everyone to a Day 1 edition of Monday Night Raw.
While people like to talk about their goals for the year, he’s a little stuck, and what he’s stuck on is Shinsuke Nakamura. Rhodes says he was expecting something more sophisticated from Shinsuke and thinks their issue should be over.
To that end, he gives Nakamura the chance to end this right now, which brings Shinsuke to the big screen. He says he never dreamed it would be so easy to get in Cody’s head, and while he plans to author the final chapter of Rhodes’ story, he wants to give the American Nightmare one more week to dream.
Shinsuke says he’ll “close your book” next Monday before spraying red mist all over the camera.
Miz TV welcomes The Judgment Day … sort of
The Miz is excited to welcome The Judgment Day to his show, but all he gets right away is R-Truth. He says he’s trying to make the group likeable to everybody, but JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio come out to play party pooper.
McDonagh says this all has to end tonight, while Dom gets shouted down and Truth has to point out his own hometown is booing him. Miz comes to Truth’s defense when he asserts that JD should be gone from the group after losing the Miracle on 34th Street Fight, and Dominik is unable to get in a rebuttal due to the crowd booing him mercilessly.
The Miz responds to what was apparently Dom ripping on him by admitting that 2023 wasn’t great for him. But he’s bounced back to be as relevant as he’s been for a long time, and he adds that his only memory of Dom last year was “getting spanked by your daddy.”
You see where this is headed: JD and Dom vs. The Miz and R-Truth.
Ivy Nile impressive even in defeat against Rhea Ripley
What a big spot for Nile, though it should be a good one for her. She tries to show off her power early on but gets dropkicked in the head for her trouble.
Nile is whipped into the corner but stays a step ahead of the champ to hit a cross body, though it only keeps Rhea down for one. Ripley starts smacking her challenger around while verbally berating her at the same time. A spinning headscissors and a followup slam halt Rhea’s momentum, and she takes a short breather on the outside during side-by-side commercials.
It’s pretty much all Ripley during the break, but Nile definitely isn’t backing off. She hits a beautiful suplex on the floor and a nice tilt-a-whirl DDT back in the ring and forces Rhea to kick out at two.
Ripley’s missile dropkick is an effective response and also good for a two count. A Riptide is countered by a head kick, and a gutwrench slam leads to another near fall for the challenger.
Nile’s face is driven into the champ’s knee, then the mat. Ripley covers but can only get two again.
With both women looking to go up top, it’s Nile who prevails, German suplexing the champ off the ropes but finding Ripley still has enough left to kick out. Ivy ascends to the top rope but her cross body is met with a stiff headbutt. A knee shot sets up the Eradicator, and Ripley is still Women’s World Champion.
Smell that former WWE champion returning? Yes, The Rock is back, teasing a showdown with Roman Reigns
To say the fans are disappointed when Jinder Mahal comes out to the ring would be a mild understatement. But the way Michael Cole is lampshading it and Mahal is referencing it makes it feel like they’re trying too hard to get us to buy into it.
Mahal starts in on a bilingual attack on America and how its people are divided. Is someone coming out to beat him up?
Yes … and it’s The Rock!
He and Jinder argue about whether he should be embarrassed to be The People’s Champ (spoiler: he’s not), and while channeling the spirit of the late Iron Sheik due to Mahal dropping his name earlier, The Rock calls him the “biggest a–hole watching God’s green Earth.”
After some self-deprecating “Baywatch” jokes, The Rock stands up for the U.S. as well and dubs Mahal the “Day 1 Douchebag,” a moniker the crowd enjoys. The Rock encourages it even more with a chant using both sides of the arena.
A new version of the national anthem that also disses Mahal makes Jinder snap, but his attack is quickly repulsed and ends with him receiving a spinebuster. The People’s Elbow is next, getting a huge pop.
And damn, does it look like The Rock is having a great time. After dispensing of Mahal, he says he’s going to grab something to eat later and wonders if he should sit … at the head of the table.
Well now.
Seth Rollins prevails over Drew McIntyre despite Damian Priest’s designs to cash in his MITB contract
The announcers tell us that this is a different McIntyre than the one Rollins defeated at Crown Jewel, but we’ll see if that is indeed the case. He’s taking it to the champ early, bouncing him off the announce table, though Rollins manages to grab the ropes to prevent an Alabama Slam on the floor … only to launch himself right into a belly-to-belly throw on the floor anyway. Welp.
After McIntyre stays in charge through most of a side-by-side commercial sequence, Rollins is able to smash McIntyre into the post, then deliver a tope con hilo. A counter tilt-a-whirl DDT also connects, as does a frog splash for a near fall.
They battle to the top rope, where Rollins hits a superplex only to have McIntyre roll through it for a Falcon Arrow and his own near fall. Michael Cole is really getting into this now.
After more ads, McIntyre has Rollins up top, and he doesn’t miss with White Noise off the middle rope. Rollins kicks out at two and both men are slow to rise.
An enzuigiri and some additional kicks have Rollins feeling like ending it. He misses a Stomp, however, and is planted by the Future Shock. McIntyre kips up and counts down … but Rollins counters a Claymore attempt with a sitout powerbomb for two.
Rollins’ corkscrew plancha misses, as does another Claymore, but the champ’s Pedigree does not. He covers but can only keep Drew down for two again.
Suddenly Damian Priest’s music hits, and he’s on his way down with his MITB briefcase. Dominik Mysterio is with him too, and Priest smashes Rollins with the case. However, McIntyre takes out Priest and Mysterio and hits the Claymore … only to see Rollins get his foot on the bottom rope.
With the match continuing, Rollins delivers a Pedigree on the announce table, somehow not breaking it. He follows with a Stomp in the ring and hears the three counted to keep him the champion against all odds.
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