A ton of info on WWE Day 1 main event, reactions
Added 2022-01-02 19:31:13 +0000 UTCWWE's Day 1 saw significant changes, as the show was hit big time by Roman Reigns testing positive for COVID.
We're told that match times were adjusted, segments were added, and video packages added to help make up the time lost in losing the WWE Universal Title match. Talent was informed mid-afternoon yesterday that the WWE Championship match would be changing, but they hadn't been told of the original plans for a winner before that. Those that we spoke to believe Big E was set to win at Day 1, but that's hardly confirmed.
At 5 PM EST, Fightful gained information that the card was changing, so the talent knew by then. Shortly before the announcement at 6 PM EST, WWE confirmed the news of Reigns' positive COVID test and a change to the main event.
All of the matches prior to the main event matched up to the times they were planned for (including entrances). However, the main event had originally been budgeted for 30 minutes, and went nowhere near that. The times had been budgeted by the time Brock Lesnar had been added to internal listings, and we weren't given a reason why it was adjusted.
Also, Brock Lesnar was listed internally as a Smackdown performer last night, though he mentioned on screen he was a free agent, and won a Raw Championship. We'll find out if that internal listing changes.
When we asked backstage about reactions to the move, most felt that Big E wasn't booked consistently throughout his title reign and that multiple people involved with his ongoing storyline would go "above and beyond" to make sense of things on screen to the best of their ability.
Comments
Yes. This.
Stij
2022-01-02 20:11:59 +0000 UTCFly by the seat of your pants booking has been their philosophy the past few years.
Brian Bayless
2022-01-02 19:58:10 +0000 UTCIt’s mind boggling how this type of booking continues to happen if people backstage even know it‘s screwy. Does Vince even care anymore?
Shaun V.
2022-01-02 19:57:11 +0000 UTCMakes me wonder what the original plan for roman vs brock was, who was set to go over and who wouldve won the 4 way
e d
2022-01-02 19:49:01 +0000 UTCThey reorganized things and added video to compensate for the loss of the Reigns match… their main event was under 10 minutes and I’m guessing that was the plan… ffs…
Siege Hann
2022-01-02 19:42:45 +0000 UTCTo be honest MITB cash ins are almost always booked the same way with very few exceptions. I wasnt surprised Big E lost, but I AM surprised he was the one who got pinned
Tim Taylor
2022-01-02 19:38:57 +0000 UTCMy biggest issue with the whole thing is that they spent over a month doing storylines on Raw with Big E and Seth, and then Owens, and then Lashley, and then the match they did was 8 minutes and all about Brock Lesnar, and none of that storyline work they did paid off at all.
Rj Kelly
2022-01-02 19:35:21 +0000 UTCI agree. The way they booked Big E’s during his title run left a lot to be desired. Hopefully if he gets another title run they can learn from the missteps they made this time around.
Leron Ford
2022-01-02 19:35:03 +0000 UTCWhen even the employees are saying that they fucked up his reign then you know it fucked.
Jordan Lassiter
2022-01-02 19:34:02 +0000 UTC
