Construction for WWE Raw for an entire week revolved around Bobby Lashley challenging The Miz for the WWE championship. Although it took three attempts to really get the game off the ground, The Miz simply was no match for the challenger’s ferocity and power when Lashley won his first WWE world championship at the main event of the night.
Miz spent the night doing everything in his power to avoid putting his belt on the line, including running away from a fight to lose by count, but Shane McMahon was in the building to make sure there was a legitimate defense of the title. McMahon’s involvement was enough to prevent Miz from using unfair tactics to leave ThunderDome as a WWE champion.
CBS Sports was with you all night, bringing you recap and highlights of all the action of the night.
Bobby Lashley finally becomes WWE champion
Drew McIntyre opened the show with a promo on his first appearance since losing the WWE championship to The Miz at the Elimination Chamber. He said that whoever won between Miz and Bobby Lashley at the end of the night would have a big target in the back. As McIntyre was ready to speak to Sheamus before the match, he was interrupted by The Miz and John Morrison. Miz told McIntyre that he only did what was expected of a Money in the Bank contract holder, profiting at the right time, and told the former champion that he should focus his anger on Lashley. When Miz came up with the idea of working with McIntyre, he was interrupted by MVP, who asked if McIntyre was taking the field seriously before telling Miz that nothing can change his destiny and that the match would take place at the top of the second hour of the show.
Drew McIntyre def. Sheamus via pinfall with a Claymore. Sheamus and McIntyre fought before the match, leading to a group of referees helping to separate them so that the match was officially started. The two great men brutalized each other in a very forceful match that saw a combination of brutal movements and great power. After a long fight that saw several takedowns coming, McIntyre was able to win in an excellent match.
WWE Championship – Bobby Lashley won. The Miz (c) via count. At the scheduled time for 9 pm, Miz said he had cramps and diarrhea, prompting Lashley to attack him backstage. Adam Pearce postponed the fight for an hour, and Miz appealed to MVP and Lashley to have the fight at WrestleMania, which they declined. As soon as the fight started, Miz rolled out of the ring, grabbed his belt and ran backwards, winning the count. Backstage, McMahon said there would be a fight for the real title or he would take the title from Miz and hand it over to Lashley.
WWE Championship – Bobby Lashley won. The Miz (c) via shipping with Hurt Lock to win the title. Before the main event, McMahon made the fight a lumberjack fight. 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 escape from the ring, but was thrown back by the woodcutters. Lashley dominated Miz before hitting Hurt Lock to force the submission and win the championship.
Running a long angle with multiple starts and stops can be risky, but Lashley’s journey to finally becoming the world champion was largely done well. Miz knew there was no way to beat Lashley one on one, and he just wouldn’t be allowed to avoid his fate. Lashley finally makes things click during a race in WWE, and there’s a lot to be said for him to persevere at bad angles and fan reviews to finally put the pieces together in such a big place. The matches themselves were nothing, but that’s probably how it should have happened. Serie B
What else happened at WWE Raw?
- Nia Jax defeated. Naomi via pinfall after a chokeslam powerbomb.
- Tag Team Raw Championship – The Hurt Business def. Braun Strowman and Adam Pearce when Shelton Benjamin rolled Pearce. The match came as an attempt by Shane McMahon to “resolve conflict” between Strowman and Pearce.
- Damian Priest def. Elias via pinfall after hitting the lights. Before the fight, Priest and Bad Bunny clashed with Elias and Jaxson Ryker behind the scenes.
- A promotion by Randy Orton was interrupted by Alexa Bliss. Orton talked about throwing up black goo on last week’s Raw before Bliss interrupted on a monitor. She whispered “Bring it back” before a man came out with a hood on, removing it to reveal … Randy Orton. Orton in the video said Orton would come face to face with everything he did before Orton started choking again.
- Charlotte Flair won. Shayna Baszler via pinfall after hitting Natural Selection. Before the match, Flair announced that she wanted to challenge Asuka for the female title of Raw at WrestleMania before being interrupted and attacked by Baszler and Jax.
- Riddle & Lucha House Party won. Retribution via pinfall after Gran Metalik hit an elbow drop in Slapjack.
- Mustafa Ali won. Riddle via pinfall after a backstabber of the upper string. Ali demanded a fight with Riddle after his Retribution lackeys lost in the previous match.