Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of the New Year's Day edition of WWE Raw, appropriately titled Day 1.

Management wants this to feel like an important episode, so it booked matches for the top men's and women's titles. Here is a look at what WWE advertised heading into the show:

• Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre (World Championship)
• Rhea Ripley vs. Ivy Nile (Women's World Championship)
• Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
• Natalya and Tegan Nox vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark

Let's take a look at everything that happened on the first Raw of 2024.

Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

Raw opened a little differently this week with Wade Barrett and Michael Cole giving us and the live crowd a rundown of the card. As soon as they finished up, Lynch made her way out for the first match against Jax.

The Man was obviously the underdog against Jax. She was at a severe disadvantage in the size and strength departments, but The Man has a lot more experience, speed and versatility.

While The Irresistible Force may have had the upper hand early on, this wasn't a one-sided fight. Instead of this being a "Heel dominates the babyface" kind of match, it was a back-and-forth exchange that allowed both competitors to be in the spotlight.

After the break, Jax hit a massive Samoan drop from the middle rope for a two-count that had the crowd thinking the match was over. As The Man looked like she was gearing up for a win, Jax hit an uppercut out of nowhere before hitting her finisher for the win.

Even with a few sloppy moments, this match was fun and another good example of how Jax has improved since returning to WWE. Lynch can bring out the best in anyone, so it wasn't surprising that this was the best match Jax has had during this run.

Result: Nia Jax defeated Becky Lynch

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• It was a nice change of pace to have the announcers give a quick rundown of the card before getting right to the first match. Starting the show with a 20-minute promo became too much of a pattern for WWE for a long time. Changing it up helps the show feel fresh. 
• Jax looks so much more comfortable moving around the ring since she returned. She's quicker on her feet and takes better bumps. 
• The way Lynch sold that punch from Jax was perfect. 
• Lynch was bleeding after the match but it was hard to tell where it was coming from because it was only a little bit. It might have even been fake to sell the punch. 

Kofi Kingston and Jey Uso vs. Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci

Cody Rhodes made his way out to the crowd singing along with his music and a big fireworks display. He spoke about wanting his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura to be behind him, but Nakamura just kept coming at him. We got another video of Nakamura speaking in Japanese. He said their story will end next week on Raw.

The next match saw Kofi Kingston team up with Jey Uso to take on Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.

Uso and Kingston are two of the best individual tag team wrestlers in WWE and have a long history together, so they operated like a well-oiled machine without much effort.

Putting them in the ring with a team as smooth as Imperium would normally be a guaranteed recipe for success, but the match came to a sudden conclusion after the doctor at ringside determined Vinci could no longer compete.

It's always good to err on the side of caution, so ending the match instead of having Kaiser tag in and continue was the right call. We won't be grading this match. We just hope Vinci is okay.

Result: Kingston and Uso were declared the winners due to referee stoppage

Grade: Incomplete

Notable Moments and Observations

• Kingston was sporting some new gear this week. He wore shorts instead of his usual tights. It was hard to tell if this was a new look or he just forgot his gear and had to improvise. His kneepads were basic black instead of the usual colorful designs he uses.
• Vinci hit a running crossbody that took Kingston down in the blink of an eye. 

The Awesome Truth vs. Judgment Day

The Miz came out and wished the crowd a Happy New Year before doing his usual Miz TV introduction. However, he was wearing wrestling gear instead of his usual suit, so this was clearly going to turn into some kind of match.

He tried to bring out Judgment Day but R-Truth ended up coming out instead. After a little while, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio came out and told Truth he wasn't in the group.

After some insults and yelling, The Awesome Truth reunited to take on JD and Dom, but Truth still thought he was fighting on behalf of Judgment Day.

This bout wasn't designed to steal the show. It was designed to provide a few laughs, advance the Truth/Judgment Day story, and continue the babyface run for The Miz, and it worked.

McDonagh and Dom tried to trick Truth into hitting The Miz, but it ended up leading to The A-Lister hitting JD with his finisher for the win.

Result: The Awesome Truth defeated JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The Little Jimmy reference was great. 
• The Miz is more suited to be a heel, but he is great at controlling the crowd when he's a babyface, too. 
• The Miz's hurricanrana is more like a halficanrana. He doesn't get a full rotation and lands on his back instead of his stomach or feet like most people. 
• Truth is 51 and can still hit a corkscrew crossbody like it's nothing to him. 
• Truth trying to tag in Dom so they could double-team JD was hilarious. 

Ivy Nile vs. Rhea Ripley

The Creed Brothers came out with Nile on the stage, but they went to the back after wishing her luck so she could have the spotlight to herself for her title match against Ripley.

Even though both of these competitors are powerhouses in their own right, Ripley had a significant height and size advantage, so Nile became an instant underdog.

This bout had a couple of moments of miscommunication that led to awkward moments and near-botches, but they seemed to find their groove as the match progressed.

Nile looked great once she started building up a head of steam during the second half when she started hitting moves like a headscissor takeover and tornado DDT.

Dueling chants for both women turned into chants of "This is awesome!" before Nile hit a German suplex from the middle rope. However, Ripley was able to block a crossbody with a headbutt before hitting Riptide to get the win and retain her title in an entertaining performance that helped put Nile on the map.

Result: Rhea Ripley defeated Ivy Nile

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• These are two of the most muscularly defined women in WWE history. Having a variety of different kinds of women in the division is great. 
• Nile tried a leapfrog but didn't quite get over Ripley in the corner, so it looked a little awkward. They recovered quickly though. 
• You can tell Ripley loves working with smaller opponents she can throw around with ease. 
• Ripley headbutting Nile to counter a crossbody was incredible. 

A Former WWE Champion Returns to Raw

WWE was hyping the return of a former WWE champion throughout the show, and when it was finally time for the segment, Jinder Mahal came to a chorus of boos.

The Maharaja yelled at the crowd for being disappointed that he was the surprise return Triple H had talked about. As he proceeded to give a promo trashing America, he was interrupted by The Rock's entrance music.

The Great One got a huge pop as he came out and greeted the fans along the aisle. He even stopped to take a selfie with a kid before getting on the apron to pose.

This was the usual Rock segment. He said his lines, popped the crowd, insulted the heel and gave him a new demeaning nickname. Mahal attacked him, but Rocky ended up getting the upper hand and hitting the spinebuster followed by The People's Elbow.

As he was getting ready to wrap things up, he referred to The Head of The Table, implying a feud with Roman Reigns might be a possibility. Other than the last sentence, this whole thing was a paint-by-numbers Rock promo, but that is what WWE wanted and it's what works, so it's hard to be mad at it.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• That kid who got the selfie was so hyped. He will remember that forever. 
• The Rock's impression of The Iron Sheik could use some work but he got the lingo down perfectly. 

Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs. Natalya and Tegan Nox

The women's tag team division had two segments this week. The first was a quick video package showing Chelsea Green and Piper Niven showing up to a club to confront Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, and the second was a tag match with Natalya and Nox taking on Baszler and Stark.

Natalya and Nox are both competent performers, but Baszler and Stark had a slight edge. The Queen of Spades brought her MMA experience to the match, and Stark brought her power and agility.

Shortly after the bell rang, the show cut to a break, so a large portion of this bout was fought during the commercial in picture-in-picture. Baszler and Stark picked up the win with a double-team combination.

This may have been filler, but it gave Stark and Baszler a much-needed win as they build themselves up to be contenders for the women's tag titles.

Result: Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark defeated Tegan Nox and Natalya

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• The segment in the club looked way more fake than WWE probably intended. You could tell the music wasn't being played in that room when they spoke. 
• Nox's new gear looked like the front of a trapper keeper from the '80s but in a good way. 

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre (World Heavyweight Title)

The main event of the New Year's Day edition of WWE Raw was the world title match between McIntyre and Rollins. They have been building to this match for weeks, so this felt more like a PPV bout than a standard Raw main event.

The Scottish Warrior came out of the gate hot and immediately took control. The Visionary had received several staples to close a wound after their last encounter, so he was already at a disadvantage before the bell even rang.

They had the last 20 minutes of the show, so they had plenty of time to make this feel competitive and give both men a handful of standout moments.

It seems redundant to say this was a good match. Everyone knows how good these two are, so nobody is going to be surprised to find out they worked well together.

Both men came close to winning several times with some of the biggest moves, but they both seemed to avoid every attempt at a Stomp or Claymore. Eventually, Damian Priest came out to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, but McIntyre hit him with a Claymore before he had the chance.

He hit Rollins with another Claymore, but when he went for the pin, Rollins got his foot on the bottom rope. The Scottish Warrior tried to put him through the announce table, but The Visionary countered and hit a Pedigree. This allowed him to hit the Stomp to win the match and retain his title.

Result: Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Samantha Irvin seemed a little more energetic than usual during her introductions on this show. 
• McIntyre was unleashing some stiff chops during an exchange of strikes. 
• The powerbomb counter Rollins used when McIntyre tried to hit the Claymore Kick was an incredible display of power. 

The Final Word

WWE hyped up this episode of Raw by giving it the Day 1 name from a previous PPV and advertising a big return and a pair of title matches.

The big return was The Rock, who received a warm reception but ultimately won't impact WWE programming unless his tease of a match against Reigns comes to fruition.

Ripley and Rollins retained their belts in two fun matches, R-Truth and The Miz reunited and picked up a win, and Lynch helped Jax have one of the best matches of her WWE career.

Even though this was supposed to be a special episode, it didn't feel much different from what we get every week. Sure, The Rock showed up, but that was all that set this apart.

The rumored return of Andrade El Idolo to WWE didn't happen, but that is probably smart so his comeback was not overshadowed by The Rock.

WWE is still producing solid programming every week, so hopefully we can expect that trend to continue in 2024.

Grade: B-