After every WWE PPV, we ask you all to rank each match on the show using the star rating system made famous by Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.
The results are in from Day 1, WWE’s new New Year’s Day PPV Premium Live Event. Here’s how our little corner of the wrestle web graded what happened in the ring in Brooklyn on Nov. 21 - and how our subjective grades compare to Meltzer’s.
Many have asked “why Dave?”, which to me is fairly obvious. Love, hate, or don’t care about him, the Observer Star Rating is the proverbial industry standard. No one else’s are tracked by Wikipedia and other web outlets. You can’t place online bets on what grades other pundits will give big matches.
But in order to not make this all about Meltz, we added another fan-voted rating to the mix - this one from Cagematch. That site uses a ten point scale, so in calculating the difference between our score and theirs, I halved the Cagematch rating.
Here’s what that all looks like:
While we were the most generous, all three systems were pretty much on the same page. The only match with a greater the half-star difference between the Cageside Community and both The Observer & Cagematch was Miz vs. Edge.
The main event is where all three Ratings were most aligned. However, despite Brock Lesnar’s WWE title win winning our “Match of the Night” poll after Day 1 ended, it didn’t receive the most average Stars in this exercise. That honor went to New Day/Usos, round ∞.
Day 1 was the first event of 2022 so, of course, it’s the highest rated of the year. But with an average Cageside Rating of 3.45, it scored better than all but three 2021 WWE events (Crown Jewel, Money in the Bank, and Hell in a Cell). It was slightly more middle of the pack for Meltzer and Cagematch.
Here’s a look back at the shows since WrestleMania 37:
Do Cageside’s Community Ratings match up with your personal ones? Any final thoughts on Day 1?
Loading comments...