Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's James Stewart (Photo: Suzuki Racing)

Both Dungey and Reed walked away with solid results, but they were the most unassuming third- and fourth-place finishes I’ve ever seen from them. Dungey kept the leaders in his sights up until a late fall, but still managed to maintain his consistent form and start the season off on the podium. Reed rode patiently and accepted a sold result over a risky charge. (Keep in mind that he hasn’t raced at this level since his injury nearly a year ago, so look for TwoTwo to gradually regain his form.)

Meanwhile, there was an air of uncertainty surrounding Stewart after he passed on the opening ceremony activities and looked far from top form during the races in Anaheim. Stewart posted the fastest practice lap of the day, so it’s not as if the speed isn’t there. Rumors began swirling that during his fast lap in the afternoon, Stewart may have tweaked his knee in some way. Based on the way he rode in the evening, something definitely appeared off, but he stayed out of trouble, took advantage of opportunities that were available to him, and brought home some points with an eighth-place result.

He later confirmed that something happened to his knee and that he was forced to overcome a lot of pain all night. But given where his expected title rivals finished on the evening, it wasn’t nearly as bad a result as it could have been considering the circumstances. Stewart has already stated on Twitter that he’ll be in Phoenix, so hopefully whatever happened to his knee is now an afterthought.

Anaheim was set to be the big rookie debut for Barcia, particularly after his victorious performance at October’s Monster Energy Cup. 'Bam Bam' started the evening off with a heat race win and appeared to be a threat in the main event until a mistake resulted in an ugly crash at the tail-end of the event. Barcia remounted and rejoined the competition, but something wasn’t quite right after his spill. He dropped from a surefire third-place finish to seventh but still did enough to show that he’s going to do everything in his power to give his more experienced counterparts fits all season.

Outside of Millsaps’ impressive ride to victory, Canard emerged as the biggest surprise of the night in Anaheim. After being involved in one of the most frightening crashes ever seen last season and the subsequently year-long road to recovery from a broken back, Canard looked like his old self on Saturday, going toe-to-toe with Millsaps for the win -- and almost walking away with what would have been one of the more emotional victories in recent memory. Through all of the talk coming into the season, Canard has been somewhat overlooked himself with new teammate Barcia stealing away a bit of the spotlight. Nevertheless, the hard-luck rider showed once again that he too is capable of fighting for the crown. The lack of attention for Trey has been a result of his injuries and comeback. He really hasn’t raced since his impressive rookie season in 2011, so it makes sense to want to take a wait and see attitude. So far, so good, and with that great comeback ride under his belt, it’s now time to see if Canard can keep the momentum going.

With so little going to script in Anaheim, an even greater emphasis will be placed on Phoenix this weekend. Virtually every major title contender -- even Dungey and Reed -- is in need of a convincing rebound outing. No rider has more to show than Villopoto, who will likely come out firing from the moment the bikes hit the track. And the pressure will be on Millsaps as well to prove that A1 wasn’t a fluke. He’s definitely having fun right now, so we’ll see how it all plays out.

We have plenty of drama already and we haven't even reached Round 2.