Big E made his first defense as WWE Champion in the new year when he took on Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens in a fatal 5-way match at the WWE Day 1 pay-per-view event. Lesnar was added to the bout after his planned Universal Title Match with Roman Reigns, who had to pull out due to testing positive for COVID-19, was nixed.
It was a wild match. Lashley speared Lesnar through the barricade. Big E sent Lashley through the announce table. Lesnar hit a top of 4 F5’s in the match. The finish saw Big E with the Big Ending to Lashley. Lesnar with the F5 to Big E for the win to become the new WWE Champion.
Originally, WWE announced that it would be a one-on-one match with Big E and Rollins. However, hours after announcing the match, Owens was added to the match after Rollins interfered in the Raw main event between Owens and Big E.
Because Rollins attacked Owens, it gave “KO” the disqualification win. Because of the stipulation of the bout, Owens was added to the match and Rollins was seen frustrated in his heel ways. Rollins earned this title shot when he became the number one contender by winning a fatal four-way ladder match on Raw. Finn Balor, Owens, and Rey Mysterio were Rollins’ opponents in that number one contender’s match. Lashley was later added to the match after winning a gauntlet match on Raw.
Big E has held the WWE Championship since cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Bobby Lashley this September.
