One night after the Elimination Chamber, new WWE Champion The Miz found himself in hot water. Miz spent Raw trying to make a deal he struck to give Bobby Lashley a shot at the title in exchange for slapping Drew McIntyre the night before.
Ultimately, Miz did not have to step into the ring, but Lashley had a chance to win the championship next Monday. Lashley had to get past Braun Strowman’s tough challenge to earn that chance, but did so before making a final statement by knocking out Miz to close the show.
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Bobby Lashley has a chance to win WWE title
The Miz opened the show with a special championship celebration of “Miz TV.” Miz talked about his shot and making a detour on Road to WrestleMania before being interrupted by Bobby Lashley and MVP. Lashley wanted to plead Miz’s debt for helping Miz put McIntyre in the Elimination Chamber to open the door to the money in the bank. Lashley gave Miz an hour to make his decision and threatened to be beaten anyway. Backstage, Miz threw Adam Pearce to delay any action in a match with Lashley “until the time is right.”
When the hour was up, Miz said he needed more time and that there are many other men out there who want to challenge him for the title. Finally, Miz said he needed time to be ready and asked for the decision to be signed for next week. Braun Strowman’s music struck when he interrupted the situation, saying that he is the only man to receive a title match while claiming that Shane McMahon and Adam Pearce were conspiring against him. This, in turn, brought up McMahon. McMahon told Strowman he couldn’t claim title matches. Strowman said if he couldn’t have the champion, he wanted the challenger. This prompted McMahon to book the match, saying that if Strowman beat Lashley, the Raw would feature a triple threat match for the WWE Championship next week.
Bobby Lashley defeats. Braun Strowman via pinfall after hitting a spear. The match immediately broke out into a brawl between the powerhouses, with heavy decisiveness and great effort. Lashley attacked Strowman earlier in the evening, took his knee out and went back to the legs after Strowman ran into the ring kick. Before Strowman could really start, Lashley won the relatively short match with a spear. After the win, Lashley hit another spear and locked herself in the Hurt Lock. Miz tried to rush the ring and hit Lashley with the champion belt, but he was hit with a spinebuster and javelin, propping up the show after bolstering his shot at the title in next week’s Raw.
All in all, this whole story played out well. The Miz is not a long-term champion, so the moments when he holds the title must count. Strowman initially felt like an insignificant inclusion in the mix, but he again showed Lashley how dominant he has been on his current run. Going to a world title match on Raw next week is a big deal as those moments are understandably rare. And Lashley ended up avoiding the cheap attempt and putting Miz down kept him strong on the road to his challenge. Grade: B +
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Riddle def. John Morrison via pinfall after hitting Bro Derek. Ahead of the game, Riddle celebrated his backstage victory in the US Championship with Lucha House Party.
- The New Day def. Retaliation via pinfall after Kofi Kingston hit T-Bar with Trouble in Paradise. After the match, Mustafa Ali shouted at members of the retaliation for their repeated failures.
- The Hurt Business def. Lucha House Party via pinfall in a tornado tag match when Shelton hit Benjamin Lince Dorado with Paydirt.
- Damien Priest def. Angel Garza via pinfall with Hit the Lights. Bad Bunny was in Priest’s corner, and earlier in the evening, Priest chased R-Truth away when Truth tried to attack Bunny to win back the 24/7 championship. After the match, Priest and Bunny quickly took charge of a number of 24/7 challengers.
- Randy Orton made a backstage promo address all his recent failures. He eventually concluded that he wasn’t being distracted by The Fiend, but rather Alexa Bliss. Orton then began to cough and spit out black gunk before walking away.
- Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Charlotte Flair & Asuka via pinfall after Jax hit Asuka with a leg drop. The finish was set when Flair hit Asuka with a big boot due to miscommunication. Flair tried to shake Asuka’s hand after the game, but Asuka pushed her away.
- Sheamus def. Jeff Hardy via pinfall after hitting a Brogue Kick.
- Charlotte Flair confronted Ric Flair backstage. Charlotte told Ric that his antics with Lacey Evans – including pretending her baby was his – had distracted her and made her fall short of her standards. Ric said he was just trying to expand their brand by standing behind a future champion in Evans.
- Lana & Naomi def. Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose via pinfall after hitting a double-team facebuster on Rose.
- AJ Styles def. Ricochet via pinfall with the Styles Clash. Omos hit Ricochet with a double-handed chokeslam after the game.