The March 8, 2021 Edition of RAW was a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand which took place on March 8, 2021 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Summary[]
Prior to his rematch against The Miz, Bobby Lashley reflected on the 16 years he had waited to become WWE Champion. He said he would make an example of The A-Lister as a warning to anyone in the locker room who dared to come between him and his title as The All Mighty Era began on The Road to WrestleMania. Miz claimed that the circumstances that caused him to lose the WWE Title were unfair, namely that he was forced to defend the title twice in one night with the second encounter being a Lumberjack Match.
Once the bell rang on their subsequent title contest, however, it was Lashley who absolutely punished his opponent through the majority of the contest before driving him into the canvas and making him tap out to the Hurt Lock. Clearly, The All Mighty is here to stay.
In the aftermath, Drew McIntyre commented on being the presumptive next challenger to Lashley, only to suffer a sudden sneak attack courtesy of Sheamus.
Questioning the motivation behind his being excluded from the WWE Title Elimination Chamber Match several weeks ago and Shane McMahon’s actions toward him on Raw last week, Braun Strowman made it clear he felt laughed at and disrespected. He demanded an apology from Shane-O-Mac. Although Shane did come to the ring and apologize, it seemed as if he had more to say before he inevitably took his leave.
Later in the evening, Shane indeed called Braun back to the ring. After indirectly mocking The Monster Among Men's intelligence mercilessly, Shane put the exclamation point on the ridicule with an unflattering Strowman impression before losing his irate pursuer in a chase through the ThunderDome.
After his former friend turned bitter enemy Sheamus attacked him backstage, Drew McIntyre demanded an impromptu No Disqualification Match against The Celtic Warrior.
As payback, McIntyre attacked before the bell rang and set a brutal tone for the entire matchup. The contest was truly "carnage in creativity" which incorporated the steel ring steps, the announce table, Kendo sticks, the steel ring post, low blows, the vicious Dublin Smile, thumbs to the eye, steel chairs and every maneuver in both Superstars' respective arsenals.
Both McIntyre and Sheamus picked up the unforgiving steel ring steps, charged forward and collided with each other. In the process, the impact took both competitors completely out of the action and forced the official to call for the bell.
Following the announcement that The New Day will challenge Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin for the Raw Tag Team Championships next week, Xavier Woods brought The Power of Positivity to The Hurt Business' Shelton Benjamin. When Benjamin turned his attention to Kofi Kingston outside the ring, Woods took advantage and rolled his opponent up in a small package for the three-count.
After the leader of RETRIBUTION Mustafa Ali pinned United States Champion Riddle one week ago in a non-title match, it was announced that Ali will challenge the titleholder next week. En route to that high-stakes matchup, Riddle overcame the dangerous SLAPJACK with Bro Derek.
Prior to the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match, Nia Jax introduced Reginald as being the titleholders’ new sommelier after he was fired from Carmella and slapped by Sasha Banks on Friday Night SmackDown. That investment paid off. In the final moments of the match, Naomi turned her attention to a meddling Reginald. Although Reginald paid a painful price for his interference, Jax took advantage of the distraction and knocked Naomi off the apron before hurling Lana to the canvas for the title victory.
After AJ Styles' comments earlier in the night that Alexa Bliss’ mind games were taking apart The Viper's psyche and making him "weak," Randy Orton set out to show The Phenomenal One why he is still WWE's Apex Predator.
Both Superstar fought tooth-and-nail throughout the WrestleMania-caliber matchup. Omos pulled Styles out of the ring seconds before Orton could execute the RKO. As The Viper stared down Styles' own personal colossus, Alexa Bliss suddenly appeared on the TitanTron playing with her disturbing Jack-in-the-Box toy. She then lit a match, and when she blew it out, flames shot from the squared circle, and the black substance once again spewed from Orton's mouth. Clearly disoriented, Orton fell victim to the Phenomenal Forearm and the three-count that gave Styles the victory.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Bobby Lashley (w/ MVP) (c) defeated The Miz (w/ John Morrison) to retain the WWE Championship (9:05)
- Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre in a No Disqualification Match ended in a No Contest (18:10)
- Xavier Woods (w/ Kofi Kingston) defeated Shelton Benjamin (w/ Cedric Alexander) (3:45)
- Riddle defeated Slapjack (w/ Mustafa Ali) (3:55)
- Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Naomi & Lana to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (8:00)
- AJ Styles (w/ Omos) defeated Randy Orton (15:40)
Other on-screen talent[]
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