Building WWE Raw for an entire week was around Bobby Lashley challenging The Miz for the WWE Championship. While it took three tries to get the game off the ground, The Miz was simply no match for the toughness and power of the challenger, as Lashley won his first WWE World Championship in tonight’s main event.
Miz spent the night doing everything in his power to prevent him from putting his belt on the line, including running from a game to take a loss on count, but Shane McMahon was in the building to ensure that there would be a legitimate title defense. McMahon’s involvement was enough to deter Miz from using covert tactics to leave the ThunderDome as WWE Champion.
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Bobby Lashley eventually becomes WWE Champion
Drew McIntyre opened the show with a promo in his first appearance since losing the WWE Championship to The Miz in Elimination Chamber. He said anyone who won later that night between Miz and Bobby Lashley would have a big target on his back. As McIntyre was ready to address Sheamus before their game, he was interrupted by The Miz and John Morrison. Miz told McIntyre that he only did what was expected of a money contract holder, paid in at the right time, and the former champion said he should focus his anger on Lashley. While Miz used the idea to work with McIntyre, he was interrupted by MVP, who asked if McIntyre was taking the field seriously before telling Miz that nothing could change his fate and that the match at the top of the second hour of the show will happen.
Defeat Drew McIntyre. Sheamus via penval with a Claymore. Sheamus and McIntyre wrestled before the game, leading to a pack of referees helping them break to get the game officially underway. The two big men would make each other cruel in a very hard match that saw a combination of fighting and big power movements. After a long battle that had several falls, McIntyre was able to claim the victory in an excellent match.
WWE Championship – Defeat Bobby Lashley. The Miz (c) via countdown. On the scheduled start time at 9pm, Miz claims he has cramps and diarrhea, which led to Lashley attacking him behind the stage. Adam Pearce moved the game back an hour and Miz appealed to MVP and Lashley to rather hold the game at WrestleMania, which they refused. As soon as the match starts, Miz rolls out of the ring, grabs his belt and runs backwards, taking a countout victory. Behind the scenes, McMahon said there would be an actual title fight, or he would deprive Miz of the title and award it to Lashley.
WWE Championship – Defeat Bobby Lashley. The Miz (c) via submission with the Hurt Lock to win the title. Prior to the main event, McMahon made the match a woodcutter match. Miz tried to hit Lashley with the championship belt after the bell rang and tried to enforce a disqualification, but Lashley intercepted the blow. Miz then tried to run from the ring, but was again thrown in by the woodcutters. Lashley dominated Miz before locking up the Hurt Lock to force the submission and win the championship.
It can be risky to run a long corner with a few starts and stops, but Lashley’s journey to eventually become world champion has largely been done well. Miz knew he would not win one-on-one against Lashley, and he would simply not be allowed to avoid his fate. Lashley finally has things that click during a WWE run, and there is a lot to be said that he will persevere through bad angles and criticism from fans to finally put the pieces together in such a great place. The matches themselves were nothing, but that was probably how everything should have played out. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Defeat Nia Jax. Naomi via pinfall to a chokeslam powerbomb.
- Raw Tag Team Championship – The Hurt Business def. Braun Strowman & Adam Pearce when Shelton rolled up Benjamin Pearce. The match took place as an attempt by Shane McMahon to ‘resolve conflict’ between Strowman and Pearce.
- Damian Priest def. Elias via pinfall and Hit the Lights. Before the match, Priest and Bad Bunny caught it with Elias and Jaxson Ryker behind the stage.
- A Randy Orton promotion was interrupted by Alexa Bliss. Orton talked about the vomiting of black goo in Raw before interrupting Bliss on a monitor. She whispers ‘Bring it Back’ before a man with a hood walks out and removes it to reveal … Randy Orton. The Orton on the video said Orton would come face to face with everything he had ever done before Orton started choking again.
- Charlotte Flair defeats Shayna Baszler via pinfall after hitting Natural Selection. Before the game, Flair announced that she wanted to challenge Asuka for the Raw women’s title at WrestleMania before being interrupted and attacked by Baszler and Jax.
- Riddle & Lucha House Party def. Retaliation by fall after Gran Metalik hit an elbow drop on Slapjack.
- Defeat Mustafa Ali. Riddle via penval to a backstitch of the upper rope. Ali claimed a match with Riddle after losing his Retribution lackeys in the previous match.