Storylines
The event comprised seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, [11] [12] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown . [13]
On the October 25 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins won a ladder match to become the number one contender for Big E's WWE Championship. [14] On the November 29 episode, Rollins announced that the title match would take place at Day 1. That same night, however, WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville set up a non-title match between Big E and Kevin Owens, who had also competed in the ladder match, where if Owens won, he would be added to the title match, much to the displeasure of Rollins, who had been at odds with Owens over the past few weeks. In an attempt to sabotage the match, Rollins interfered, thus Owens won by disqualification and was added to the championship match, making it a triple threat match. [15] The following week, after Big E defeated Owens in a Steel Cage match with Rollins on commentary, Bobby Lashley came out and viciously attacked the three. [16] On the next episode, Lashley, who Big E had defeated for the title in September, explained his actions and demanded to be added to the championship match at Day 1; however, Owens and Rollins took exception while Big E stated that it did not matter who he faced as he would still be champion after Day 1. Pearce and Deville then came out and scheduled Lashley to face Owens, Rollins, and Big E, respectively, where if he won each match, he would be added to the championship match. Lashley was successful and was added to the WWE Championship match at Day 1, making it a fatal four-way match. [17] Furthermore, Brock Lesnar was added to the match following the announcement of Roman Reigns' positive COVID-19 diagnosis on January 1, thus making it a fatal five-way match. [18]
On the November 29 episode of Raw, Edge made his return from hiatus, which was his first post-draft appearance since the 2021 WWE Draft results went into effect on October 22. Edge, who was drafted to Raw, then listed off names of potential opponents he had not yet faced. The Miz, along with his wife Maryse, interrupted, with Miz also making his return from hiatus after filming the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars . Miz felt disrespected as his return was not promoted like Edge's was and also because he was not on Edge's list of potential opponents. After a heated verbal exchange, Miz teased fighting Edge, however, Miz rejected and departed. [15] The following week, Edge was a guest on "Miz TV". After another heated verbal exchange between the two, Miz challenged Edge to a match at Day 1, and Edge accepted. [16]
On the November 8 episode of Raw, Liv Morgan won a fatal five-way match to earn a Raw Women's Championship match against Becky Lynch. [19] The title match took place on the December 6 episode, [15] where Lynch retained the title by using the ropes as leverage during the pin. [16] The following week, Lynch celebrated her win and insulted Morgan. An irate Morgan then came out, lambasted Lynch for cheating to win, and demanded a rematch at Day 1. The two then brawled where Lynch attacked Morgan's arm using the steel steps. Lynch then accepted Morgan's challenge. [17]
On the December 6 episode of Raw, an RK-Bronament to determine the new number one contenders for RK-Bro's (Randy Orton and Riddle) Raw Tag Team Championship was announced, and began that same day, with The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) winning their respective matches to advance. [16] The finals took place on the December 27 episode, with The Street Profits defeating The Mysterios to win the tournament, and the championship match was scheduled for Day 1. [20]
On the November 26 episode of SmackDown, Drew McIntyre teamed with Jeff Hardy to defeat Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. Later that night, however, McIntyre was the only one of the four not involved in the battle royal to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship. [21] The following week, Corbin and Moss hosted a Happy Talk segment where they joked about McIntyre not being in that battle royal before McIntyre interrupted. This allowed Hardy and McIntyre to lay out Corbin and Moss. [22] This would in turn be Hardy's final WWE appearance before his release on December 9. [23] On the December 10 episode, before McIntyre's match, McIntyre confronted WWE official Adam Pearce backstage about not being in the battle royal, only to be told that he couldn't bring his sword, Angela, to the ring for his match. McIntyre then stuck the sword through Pierce's desk. After McIntyre won his match, Corbin and Moss stole the desk and sword. [8] The following week, Corbin and Moss hosted another segment of Happy Talk, where they told terrible jokes about McIntyre's sword. They tried to pull it out, but failed to. Afterwards, McIntyre appeared and laid out Corbin and Moss before retrieving the sword himself. Later that night, a match between McIntyre and Moss was made official for Day 1. [24]
In October 2021, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and King Woods) re-ignited their feud with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). On the October 29 episode of SmackDown, while Kingston and Woods held a knighting ceremony for Kingston as Sir Kofi Kingston, The Usos interrupted. They told The New Day that they would face them in a non-title match later that night, where The New Day won. [25] The following week, it was announced that Woods would face Jimmy where the loser would have to acknowledge the winner. Woods defeated Jimmy, and afterwards, Jimmy was about to bend the knee, but Universal Champion Roman Reigns, with The Usos, attacked Kingston and Woods. [26] On the November 12 episode, Woods faced Reigns in a non-title match, with the stipulations being that if Reigns won, Woods would have had to bend the knee, but if Woods won, Reigns would have had to bend the knee, and if he refused to do so, he would have been stripped of the Universal Championship and banished from SmackDown. Woods won via disqualification after interference from The Usos, after which, they put Woods' crown on Reigns' head. [27] The following week, Woods was again attacked by Reigns and The Usos, who broke his scepter and throne before Reigns stomped on his crown. Later that night, Woods and Reigns' Survivor Series opponent, WWE Champion Big E, also from The New Day, attacked Reigns and The Usos, sending them retreating. [28] At Survivor Series, Reigns defeated Big E. [29] On the December 3 episode of SmackDown, Woods defeated Jey via disqualification after interference from Jimmy. Afterwards, Kingston returned and, along with Woods, attacked The Usos, who were able to retreat. Later that night, Kingston stated that he was forced to watch as The Bloodline attacked Woods and broke his crown, and that The New Day would gain revenge by defeating The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Day 1. [22]
On the November 5 episode of SmackDown, Sheamus joined forces with Ridge Holland in a backstage segment. [26] Two weeks later, Sheamus won a fatal four-way match involving Ricochet and Cesaro, who Sheamus pinned, after interference from Holland. [28] The following week, Cesaro defeated Holland. [21] On the December 3 episode, Sheamus defeated Cesaro. [22] On the December 17 episode, Holland struck Cesaro with a shillelagh before their match, which Holland won. [24] The following week, Sheamus eliminated Cesaro during a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinenetal Championship, but was eliminated by Ricochet, who was soon eliminated. [30] On December 30, a match pitting Sheamus and Holland against Ricochet and Cesaro was scheduled for the Kickoff pre-show. [31]
Canceled match
At Crown Jewel, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to retain the Universal Championship with help from The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). [32] On the following night's SmackDown, an irate Lesnar attacked Reigns, The Usos, other wrestlers of the SmackDown roster, and security personnel due to being cheated out of the championship. WWE official Adam Pearce suspended Lesnar indefinitely and Lesnar responded by performing two F-5s on Pearce, [33] who fined Lesnar $1 million a week later. [25] On the November 26 episode, Sami Zayn won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Universal Championship. Immediately after the match, however, it was announced that Lesnar's suspension was lifted and he would return the following week. [21] That episode, Lesnar convinced Zayn to face Reigns for the title that night. WWE official Sonya Deville made it official and that the winner would defend the Universal Championship against Lesnar at Day 1. Before the match, however, Lesnar attacked Zayn, which allowed Reigns to quickly defeat Zayn and retain the title, officially scheduling Reigns to defend the championship against Lesnar at Day 1. [22] On the December 17 episode, as Reigns believed that Paul Heyman was responsible for Lesnar's return due to Heyman formerly being Lesnar's advocate, Reigns fired Heyman as his special counsel, and Lesnar saved Heyman from a beatdown from Reigns and The Usos. [24] On the day of the event, however, the match was canceled due to Reigns testing positive for COVID-19, with Lesnar instead being added to Raw's WWE Championship match due to his status as a non-exclusive wrestler. [18]
