WWE Champion Bobby Lashley successfully negotiated his first title defence by defeating The Miz on Raw.
Just seven days after dethroning Miz who'd himself only been champ for eight days, Lashley put the gold back on the line to start the episode of Raw. Perhaps predictably, the outing was relatively short lived, and while Miz lasted a little longer than he did when losing the title, it was still a fairly comprehensive, one-sided affair as Lashley again cinched in the Hurt Lock for a submission.
Drew McIntyre continues to have his focus set firmly on the WWE title and insisted he'd be going after Lashley following his successful defence, only for the Scot to be blindsided by Sheamus who continues to be a thorn in his side. A week after they waged an absolute war, the two behemoths again locked horns in a bout that failed to reach a real conclusion after they collided, nailing each other with a pair of steel steps.
Two of Raw's title pictures developed over the course of Raw - it emerged that United States Champion Riddle would defend his gold against Retribution leader Mustafa Ali next week, but the impending challenger had to watch on this week as his cohort Slapjack lost a match against the former UFC star with Bo Derek.
Elsewhere, Xavier Woods defeated Shelton Benjamin with a small package as The New Day warmed up for a Raw tag team title defence against The Hurt Business next week.
There was another successful title defence for the busy, reigning WWE Women's tag team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, fresh off their outing to NXT last week. On Raw they turned back the challenge of Lana and Naomi after Jax powerbombed Lana, though the challengers' cause was not helped by interference by Reginald who just about seems to be involved in anything and everything these days.
Something continues to brew between Braun Strowman and Shane McMahon - a foul tempered Strowman prowled around for much of the night, demanding an apology from Shane McMahon for ordering him to team with Adam Pearce a week ago. He far from got it; McMahon repeatedly hinted that he had something to say to the Monster Among Men but continued to stop shy of spitting it out, with the former Universal Champion's temper simmering. It has become apparent Shane was mocking Strowman's intelligence, giving him the run around before blatantly calling him "stupid."
Another ongoing storyline on Raw remains Randy Orton, The Fiend and Alexa Bliss. This week they again pulled AJ Styles into the mix as Styles mocked Orton's continued problems with his tormentors. It resulted in a main event match between the pair, which Styles won via a Phenomenal Forearm after Bliss once again appeared on screen to taunt Orton who once more spewed up the suspicious if not inadvertently comical black liquid.
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