The build to WWE Raw for a full week had centered around Bobby Lashley challenging The Miz for the WWE championship. While it took three tries to actually get the match off the ground, The Miz was simply no match for the ferocity and power of the challenger as Lashley captured his first WWE world championship in the night’s main event.
Miz spent the night doing everything in his power to avoid putting the belt on the line, including running from a match to take a countout loss, but Shane McMahon was in the building to make sure there would be a legitimate title defense. McMahon’s involvement was enough to keep Miz from using underhanded tactics to leave the ThunderDome as WWE champion.
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Bobby Lashley finally becomes WWE champion
Drew McIntyre opened the show with a promo in his first appearance since losing the WWE championship to The Miz at Elimination Chamber. He said that whoever won between Miz and Bobby Lashley later in the night would have a huge target on their back. As McIntyre was ready to address Sheamus ahead of their match, he was interrupted by The Miz and John Morrison. Miz told McIntyre that he only did what is expected of a Money in the Bank contract holder, cashing in at the opportune time, and told the ex-champion that he should focus his anger on Lashley. As Miz pitched the idea of working with McIntyre, he was interrupted by MVP, who asked if McIntyre was taking the pitch seriously before telling Miz that nothing can change his fate and the match would happen at the top of the second hour of the show.
Drew McIntyre def. Sheamus via pinfall with a Claymore. Sheamus and McIntyre brawled before the match, leading to a pack of referees helping break them up to get the match officially started. The two big men would go on to brutalize each other in a very hard-hitting match that saw a combination of brawling and big power moves. After a lengthy bout that saw several near falls, McIntyre was able to get the win in an outstanding match.
WWE Championship — Bobby Lashley def. The Miz (c) via countout. At the planned 9 p.m. start time, Miz claimed to have cramps and diarrhea, leading Lashley to attack him backstage. Adam Pearce pushed the match back an hour, and Miz made an appeal to MVP and Lashley to have the match at WrestleMania instead, which they refused. As soon as the match began, Miz rolled out of the ring, grabbed his belt and ran to the back, taking a countout victory. Backstage, McMahon said there would be an actual title match or he would strip Miz of the title and award it to Lashley.
WWE Championship — Bobby Lashley def. The Miz (c) via submission with the Hurt Lock to win the title. Before the main event, McMahon made the bout a lumberjack match. Miz tried to hit Lashley with the championship belt after the bell rang, trying to force a disqualification, but Lashley intercepted the blow. Miz then tried to run from the ring but was thrown back in by the lumberjacks. Lashley dominated Miz before locking in the Hurt Lock to force the submission and win the championship.
Running a show-long angle with several starts and stops can be risky, but Lashley’s journey to finally becoming world champion was largely done well. Miz knew there was no way he was going to win one-on-one against Lashley, and he simply was not going to be allowed to avoid his fate. Lashley finally has things clicking during a WWE run, and there’s a lot to be said for him persevering through bad angles and fan criticism to finally put the pieces together in such a huge spot. The matches themselves were nothing, but that’s probably how everything should have played out. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Nia Jax def. Naomi via pinfall after a chokeslam powerbomb.
- Raw Tag Team Championship — The Hurt Business def. Braun Strowman & Adam Pearce when Shelton Benjamin rolled up Pearce. The match happened as a Shane McMahon attempt at “conflict resolution” between Strowman and Pearce.
- Damian Priest def. Elias via pinfall after Hit the Lights. Before the match, Priest and Bad Bunny got into it with Elias and Jaxson Ryker backstage.
- A Randy Orton promo was interrupted by Alexa Bliss. Orton talked about vomiting black goo on last week’s Raw before Bliss interrupted on a monitor. She whispered “Bring it Back” before a man walked out in a hood, removing it to reveal … Randy Orton. The Orton on the video said that Orton would come face to face with everything he has ever done before Orton began choking again.
- Charlotte Flair def. Shayna Baszler via pinfall after hitting Natural Selection. Before the match, 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. Retribution via pinfall after Gran Metalik hit an elbow drop on Slapjack.
- Mustafa Ali def. Riddle via pinfall after a backstabber from the top rope. Ali demanded a match with Riddle after his Retribution lackeys lost in the previous match.