WWE Day 1 (2024)

The 2024 Day 1 (marketed as Raw: Day 1) was the second Day 1 professional wrestling event produced by WWE, and the first to air as a television special. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on New Year's Day on January 1, 2024, at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, and aired live as a special episode of Monday Night Raw on the USA Network. The broadcast kicked off WWE's week-long programming of New Year's-themed shows called New Year's Knockout Week. Day 1 was previously held as a pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event on January 1, 2022; an event was planned for 2023, but was canceled.

Raw: Day 1
Raw: Day 1 poster
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw
Date	January 1, 2024
City	San Diego, California
Venue	Pechanga Arena
Raw special episodes chronology
← Previous Raw Is XXX Next → WWE Raw debut episode on Netflix
Day 1 chronology
← Previous 2022 Next → —

Six matches were contested during the live broadcast. In the main event, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. In another prominent match, Rhea Ripley defeated Ivy Nile to retain the Women's World Championship and in the opening bout, Nia Jax defeated Becky Lynch. The event also notably featured a surprise appearance by The Rock, which was his first live appearance on Raw since January 25, 2016.

Production

Background

The event was held at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.

On January 1, 2022, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE held a New Year's Day pay-per-view and livestreaming event titled Day 1.^[1] A second event was planned for January 1, 2023, but was canceled due to a scheduling conflict with streaming partner Peacock.^[2] During the December 11, 2023, episode of Monday Night Raw, it was announced that the Day 1 name had been revived for a special episode of Raw, airing on January 1, 2024, on the USA Network. The television special was broadcast live from Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.^[3] The show kicked off WWE's week-long programming of New Year's-themed shows called New Year's Knockout Week, which included NXT: New Year's Evil and SmackDown: New Year's Revolution.^[4]

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw brand,^[5][6] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show, Monday Night Raw.^[7]

At Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.^[8] On the following episode of Raw, McIntyre shook hands with Rollins and stated he would earn a future rematch.^[9] On the December 11 episode, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Rollins would face the now villainous McIntyre in a rematch at Day 1.^[10]

On the December 4, 2023, episode of Raw, Ivy Nile promised to neutralize Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley if she tried to interfere on behalf of her Judgment Day stablemates, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor and Damian Priest against Nile's Diamond Mine stablemates, The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed) in their title match.^[11] The following week, after Ripley defeated Maxxine Dupri in a non-title match, Ripley and Nile stared each other down.^[10] Ripley then vowed to make an example out of Nile, agreeing to put the Women's World Championship on the line against Nile at Day 1, which was later made official.^[12]

On the November 27, 2023, episode of Raw, Becky Lynch stated she had a couple of fights on the horizon.^[13] The following week, Nia Jax asked if one of the fights included her, to which Lynch confirmed, referencing when Jax legitimately broke Lynch's nose in 2018.^[11] Over the next two weeks, Lynch appeared ready to face Jax, but Jax stated she would fight Lynch on her own terms, ultimately agreeing to face Lynch at Day 1.^[10][12]

On the December 18, 2023, episode of Raw, the team of Natalya and Tegan Nox and the team of Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark agreed to a match, which was scheduled for Day 1.^[12]

On X on December 29, 2023, WWE chief content officer Triple H brought attention to a rumor regarding an unspecified former WWE Champion appearing at Day 1. Triple H suggested fans should tune in to the event's broadcast, and refused to confirm or deny the rumor.^[14]

Event

During the event, ring announcer Samantha Irvin introduced the former WWE Champion that was previously rumored to appear. After a moment of anticipation, Jinder Mahal made his entrance, disappointing the fans. He made negative comments about the United States and its inherent divisiveness and jingoism, sparking a negative crowd reaction. This was proceeded by a surprise return by The Rock, who confronted and took out Mahal. After the brawl, The Rock asked fans if he should sit at "the head of the table", a reference to Roman Reigns.^[15]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times[16]
1	Nia Jax defeated Becky Lynch by pinfall	Singles match[17]	11:50
2	Kofi Kingston and Jey Uso defeated Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser) by referee stoppage	Tag team match	7:00
3	The Awesome Truth (R-Truth and The Miz) defeated The Judgment Day (JD McDonagh and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio) by pinfall	Tag team match	7:30
4	Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Ivy Nile by pinfall	Singles match for the Women's World Championship[18]	13:00
5	Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark defeated Tegan Nox and Natalya by pinfall	Tag team match[19]	5:30
6	Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) defeated Drew McIntyre by pinfall	Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship[20]	18:05
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

References

1. Currier, Joseph (August 24, 2021). "WWE reveals name of New Year's Day PPV". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
2. Thomas, Jeremy (October 21, 2022). "WWE Day 1 No Longer Advertised By Arena, Live Event Added Instead". 411Mania. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
3. Kilbane, Lyle (December 12, 2023). "Scrapped WWE PLE Name Returns For Special Raw". TJR Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
4. Barrasso, Justin (December 22, 2023). "WWE Announces New Year's Week Schedule". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
5. Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
6. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
7. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
8. Powell, Jason (November 4, 2023). "WWE Crown Jewel results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight for the WWE Universal Title, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Title, Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul for the U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
9. Powell, Jason (November 6, 2023). "WWE Raw results (11/06): Powell's live review of Ricochet vs. Miz vs. Bronson Reed vs. Ivar for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship, battle royal for a shot at the Women's World Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
10. Powell, Jason (December 11, 2023). "WWE Raw results (12/11): Powell's live review of CM Punk's brand choice, Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso, Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Maxxine Dupri in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
11. Powell, Jason (December 4, 2023). "WWE Raw results (12/4): Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship, Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn, The Creeds vs. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
12. Powell, Jason (December 18, 2023). "WWE Raw results (12/18): Powell's live review of Damian Priest and Finn Balor vs. Julius Creed and Brutus Creed for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, Gunther vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
13. Powell, Jason (November 27, 2023). "WWE Raw results (11/27): Powell's live review of the returns of CM Punk and Randy Orton, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven vs. Tegan Nox and Natalya for the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
14. Lambert, Jeremy (December 29, 2023). "Triple H Says 'Stay Tuned' Regarding Former WWE Champion Appearing At WWE Raw Day One". Fightful. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
15. Gaydos, Ryan (January 2, 2024). "The Rock cuts patriotic promo, teases major match in WWE return". Fox News. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
16. Powell, Jason (January 1, 2024). "WWE Raw results (1/1): Powell's live review of Day 1 with Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship, Rhea Ripley vs. Ivy Nile for the Women's World Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
17. "Becky Lynch set to battle Nia Jax". WWE. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
18. "Rhea Ripley looks to teach Ivy Nile a lesson in a Women's World Title Match". WWE. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
19. "Tegan Nox & Natalya vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
20. "World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre". WWE. Retrieved 2023-12-26.