WWE Planning To Bring Back A Former Champion For Day 1 Raw

A familiar face to WWE fans could be returning to the company on the first episode of Raw in the new year.

New Year’s Day 2024 is on a Monday, so WWE has decided to celebrate that momentous occasion by presenting a loaded edition of Monday Night Raw. Since WWE ran a PLE called Day 1 in 2022, they decided to bust out the Day 1 name again for the Day 1 edition of Raw.

It has been reported by Fightful Select that WWE is looking to add to that edition of Raw by bringing back somebody who is known to WWE fans. The Fightful story noted that a source within WWE said that the “company is ‘on the one yard line’ in landing a former WWE Champion to appear on the show, and they feel confident they can get the deal done.”

Fans of American Football would know what the one yard line terminology means, but if you don’t know then it means it is very close to a touchdown, which in this case would mean some sort of deal being made with whoever this individual is.

The report from Fightful also clarified that it was somebody who is not currently on the WWE roster.

It was also mentioned that the term “former WWE Champion” was the term used by the sources who provided the information. When asked if the name was active or retired, that information wasn’t given.

After fans speculated that WWE Champion was a former WWE Champion meaning a “WWE World Champion,” Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted on Twitter/X that: “It could be Bob Backlund or Sasha Banks. I have no additional info. I’ll work on finding out more.” Sapp also said it wasn’t Jinder Mahal, who is already under WWE contract.

What that means is it could be a WWE World Champion type of person, but it could also be somebody who has held a Women’s Title like Sasha Banks/Mercedes Mone, who is certainly teasing a WWE return.

Lineup For WWE Day 1 Raw

The January 1st, 2024 edition of Raw takes place in San Diego with the following matches announced for the show.

* World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

* Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

* Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Ivy Nile

* Natalya & Tegan Nox vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark

As for CM Punk, he is not expected to be there according to a schedule that he shared publicly, but he is going to be at the January 8th Raw in Portland, Oregon.