WWE Day 1 Match Card Predictions Including Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

WWE Day 1 will make history Saturday night as the first pay-per-view extravaganza ever held on New Year's Day and it has a blockbuster main event on-tap for the momentous occasion as Roman Reigns will defend the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar.

That WrestleMania-quality headliner tops a card that also features the WWE Championship up for grabs, a Raw women's title clash, the SmackDown tag team titles on the line and Edge's first televised match since October's Crown Jewel as he battles The Miz.

What can fans expect out of the spectacular and who will leave the night's high-stakes matches with their arms raised in victory?

Find out now with these previews and predictions for the card.

The build to Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at Day 1 took an unexpected turn on the December 17 episode of SmackDown, when The Tribal Chief fired Paul Heyman as his special counsel. No longer is the question "who's side is he on" but, rather, "does Reigns stand a chance without backup?"

We know The Usos will make their presence felt in some form or fashion, likely just as Lesnar reintroduces Reigns to Suplex City. The question then becomes whether Heyman's dismissal from The Bloodline was legitimate or a ploy by him and The Head of the Table to catch Lesnar off guard; a scheme to ensure the Universal Championship does not leave Reigns' waist.

It wouldn't be the first time Heyman concocted such a plan against Lesnar. The 2002 Survivor Series saw Heyman screw his charge over, costing him the WWE Championship and dealing him his first defeat at the hands of The Big Show.

With all of the talk about Heyman's career being over following his promo at the start of the Christmas Eve edition of SmackDown, it feels as though history may be preparing to repeat itself.

Prediction: Reigns retains due to Heyman chicanery

Big E will face the toughest challenge of his WWE Championship reign thus far when he defends against Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley and Kevin Owens in a Fatal 4-Way match on New Year's Day.

The three top contenders have kept Big E busy, with Rollins and Owens showing a distinct willingness to work together in their quest to knock off their powerful opponents. Just how long that lasts when the reality of the championship match sets in remains to be seen, but do not be surprised if The Visionary and The Prizefighter form an alliance at some point Saturday night.

All of the alliances, and all of the devastating power moves by Lashley, will be for naught.

Big E still has a ton of mileage left as champion, even if WWE's creative team has not done the best job of presenting him an interesting manner or letting him be his charismatic, entertaining self. He will retain his title and move into WrestleMania season, where he will await the next challenger to this throne.

Prediction: Big E retains

Becky Lynch has been women's champion of either Raw or SmackDown every day in which she has been an active competitor since her career-defining victory at WrestleMania 35.

That will change at Day 1.

Big Time Becks has been embroiled in a feud with Liv Morgan of late and after a gut-wrenching loss that saw Lynch use the ropes to her advantage, Morgan has been hellbent on taking the title from her foe. She has to. Another loss would render the entire feud meaningless and would obliterate any momentum Morgan has had through all of this.

That is not to suggest Morgan should go on a monster babyface run and beat everyone she wrestles. She does, however, have to pay this particular story off by proving herself worthy and capturing the gold. Otherwise, WWE finds itself in a familiar situation, with a champion enhanced to such a degree that no one can believably beat them, thus devaluing the rest of the roster. 

Prediction: Morgan wins the title

There are few tag team rivalries in WWE more storied or intense than that of The New Day and The Usos.

Frequent foes over the top prize in the industry in their division, they will clash once again in a match whose roots date back to a rivalry between King Woods and Roman Reigns.

The Head of the Table will be otherwise preoccupied Saturday night with the biggest main event of the year, leaving Jimmy and Jey to defend their titles against Woods and Kofi Kingston. That The Bloodline just fired Paul Heyman, too, ensures it will be solely on The Usos to retain their titles.

With heel teams like Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss, Sheamus and Ridge Holland, and Los Lotharios across the brand, it feels like this may be the time for New Day to get that big win and expose the first cracks in the foundation of The Bloodline.

Prediction: New Day wins the titles

Edge was made to look like a fool last Monday on Raw, figuring out The Miz and Maryse's scheme, only to still fall victim to the Skull-Crushing Finale that left him lying in a heap on the mat. Saturday night in Atlanta, he will look to avenge the sneak attack and put an end to the feud between former WWE champions in the process.

Miz winning would be a big boost for a guy who spent 2021 going through the motions following a short WWE Championship reign. It would boost his character and position him right alongside the other main event stars on Monday nights.

That's not going to happen, though.

Edge, coming off a brutal feud with Seth Rollins in which he won Hell in a Cell, is not back to lose to Miz ahead of WrestleMania season. The Rated R Superstar will win Saturday and begin his push to wrestling's most prestigious night. 

Prediction: Edge

The single worst storyline in WWE began with a childlike attempt to remove a sword from a desk and has encompassed a Miracle on 34th Street Fight where the hottest spot involved dousing the heel in eggnog. 

Drew McIntyre, a long way from the WWE Championship scene he dominated in 2020, will battle Happy Corbin's lackey Madcap Moss in a match absolutely no one asked for.

There is no intrigue or mystery surrounding this one. Moss is in this match because, from a character standpoint, he is expendable. He can be beaten without doing much harm to his value, and that is what is going to happen.

McIntyre will steamroll the joke-telling jester of Happy Talk and move on to much bigger and better things in 2022.

Prediction: McIntyre