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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Mar. 1, 2021) from the ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month in the very same venue.
Advertised for tonight: The Miz defends the WWE championship against Bobby Lashley after the latter defeated Braun Strowman last week to earn the shot. In addition, Drew McIntyre, who lost the title to Miz at Elimination Chamber off the Money in the Bank contract cash-in, will make his return to television after a week away. All that and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAR. 1
Alone at night, I feel so strange. I need to find all the answers to my dreams. When I sleep at night, I hear the cries... what does this mean? I shut the door and traveled to another home, and now I’m liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of last week’s WWE Championship scene business.
Drew McIntyre makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He admits it’s been a bitch of a month and talks about Sheamus ending their twenty-year friendship, saying they’re gonna beat the absolute hell out of each other tonight. He moves on to speak about being cashed in on and looks wistfully at the WrestleMania sign for a minute before saying he knows his mission and it’s simple. Regain the title, main event WrestleMania.
He didn’t win the championship in the Performance Center, lead the charge in the ThunderDome, and make it the #1 championship in wrestling once again to get screwed at the finish line, and between Miz and Bobby Lashley, whoever wins tonight has a huge target on his back.
Enter the Miz, with John Morrison at his side.
They’re wearing suits and Miz demands to be reintroduced with a big championship introduction. The A-Lister continues, saying once he acquired the Money in the Bank contract, it was only a matter of time before he cashed in and became champion again. Drew asks him to step in the ring and give him a big hug, but Miz is savvy and stays on the floor.
Morrison says you wouldn’t be upset with a dolphin swimming in the ocean or an eagle flying in the sky, so why be mad at Money in the Bank for being cashed in? No, Bobby Lashley is to blame. Miz begs off, saying he had no choice and he had to make that deal with the Hurt Business for fear of his well-being, and why should Lashley get the first shot and not someone more deserving, like say Drew himself?
The A-Lister pitches them on working together and being the Three M-Egos but he’s getting nowhere fast—
Enter Montel Vontavious Porter.
He asks what everyone is fantasizing about and Drew says he doesn’t want nor need anyone’s help to regain his title. MVP moves on to telling Miz that he’s gonna lose tonight, informing him that his match will begin promptly at 9PM Eastern and Bob is gonna absolutely destroy him.
Sheamus makes his entrance and immediately starts brawling with McIntyre! Referees pull them apart and we go to break!
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Brawling to start, McIntyre in control at first but Sheamus fights right back, back and forth brawling, the Celtic Warrior with a knee to the jaw into a kneeling armbar. Back and forth some more, Sheamus blasts him to the floor with a Brogue Kick and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sheamus with repeated elbows to the chest before going back to the kneeling armbar, McIntyre to his feet, fighting out with chops, Irish Curse connects... NOPE! Fishhooking Drew’s mouth with a knee to his back, another knee drop across the jaw, putting his weight on McIntyre’s jaw before drawing him up the ropes. Beats of the Bodhran, Drew back inside, trading big right hands!
Front kick, McIntyre explodes out of the corner with lariats, overhead belly-to-belly suplex connects! A lariat sends Sheamus to the floor, Drew puts him into the post and the apron before belly-to-belly suplexing him into the corner of the desk! Drawing him up, a straight suplex onto the desk this time! Back inside, up top, diving lariat... SO CLOSE!
Sheamus skins the cat in the corner, McIntyre kips up, they have a staredown! Running headbutt cuts the Celtic Warrior off, Drew climbs up after him... BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPERPLEX CAN’T KEEP SHEAMUS DOWN AND WE GO TO BREAK!
Back from commercial, trading strikes, McIntyre gets two off a folding press, drops Sheamus with a spinebuster and jackknifes him for two! Jumping knee gets Sheamus a tight two in return, White Noise... NOT ENOUGH! Future Shock, another big nearfall! Brawling around the turnbuckles, Sheamus goes up top and pulls Drew after him, jockeying for position... DREW HITS AN AVALANCHE WHITE NOISE OF HIS OWN BUT HE CAN’T KEEP THE CELTIC WARRIOR DOWN!
Underhooks, Sheamus powers out, shove into the corner, kick to the midsection, Alabama Slam... DREW KICKS OUT! Sheamus lying in wait for McIntyre to rise, charging in... CLAYMORE COUNTERS THE BROGUE KICK! HE FALLS INTO THE COVER AND IT’S OVER!
Drew McIntyre wins by pinfall with Claymore.
Commentary hypes up Miz/Lashley with a countdown clock.
Naomi runs into Nia Jax backstage and they have a faceoff to send us to break.
Naomi vs. Nia Jax
Naomi trying to chip away, jawbreaker and punches, whip into a short elbow, Jax regains the momentum, Samoan Drop...
Nia Jax wins by pinfall with a jackknife powerbomb.
Commentary hypes Lashley/Miz up some more and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get a Rhia Ripley vignette.
Bobby Lashley makes his entrance and we cut backstage.
Miz complains about cramps and “coming out both ends” to five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce.
Soon enough Bob’s had enough and he runs backstage, grabs Miz by the throat, and tells him they’re gonna have a match and he’s “gonna beat that ass for the WWE Championship.” Pearce says if he has to carry him to the ring himself, he WILL defend the title at 10PM Eastern.
And on that bombshell, Braun Strowman makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Braun gets on the mic.
He says it’s clear five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce and Shane McMahon have it out for him. He sat at home and watched Elimination Chamber, and without him in it, it sucked. Now he’s standing out here because he has some tag match he just found out about and he has no idea who his partner is. They’re laughing at him but they don’t understand, it’s really starting to piss him off.
Enter Shane McMahon, with Pearce not far behind him.
Shane says they’re not laughing but they can see that his inability to reach his own personal goals has him angry and upset. So he’s here to help, like he’s helping himself. He’s taking some MBA courses, and one of them is all about conflict management. When in conflict management, the text of which is way above Braun’s level, the key is communication.
That’s what his tag match tonight is all about, and McMahon tells him that Adam had nothing to do with his match tonight, it was all him. It doesn’t matter who his partner is, he needs to work with WWE management, and he needs to be forced to do so. That’s why his tag partner is WWE management. Braun asks if Shane is his tag parter and McMahon does a little shuffle before denying it.
Shane says his partner tonight is actually going to be Adam Pearce, and he’ll sweeten the pot— the match will be for the tag titles. Braun admits that doesn’t sound that bad, but he promises him, if Pearce screws it up, he’s gonna get These Hands.
Strowman gives Adam a preview of These Hands, grabbing him by his lapel as Shane tries to talk him down and we go to break.
Five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce & Braun Strowman vs. the Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin) (c) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Strowman to start, freight training both champs and clotheslining Benjamin to the floor! Headbutt to Alexander, dumping him out after! Outside, freight training both of them again with a pounce and throwing Cedric back inside, Braun comes in after him, short whip into the corner, following it up with a short-arm lariat! One-foot pin, referee Shawn Bennett won’t count it because his shoulders aren’t down!
Bieling Alexander across the ring, another one, but when he charges in Cedric sidesteps and the monster goes into the post! Tag to Benjamin, basement dropkick, rising knee, clubbing blows! Shelton off the ropes, Strowman hoists him up, running powerslam connects but Shane gets up on the apron and demands Braun tag Pearce in! Strowman goes with it and Pearce comes in, cover reversed...
Hurt Business win by pinfall with an inside cradle from Shelton Benjamin on five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce, retaining the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
Post-match, Braun screams at Shane, promising to wreck this place and it’ll be on his head.
Backstage, Bad Bunny and Damian Priest are hanging out and chatting when Elias and Jaxson Ryker drift in.
Elias says he can feel the mutual respect and he’s got a once-in-a-lifetime business proposal for Bunny. Bad goes along with it and the Drifter says he’s well on his way to reaching the pinnacle in the music industry but he thinks he’s got potential for more and that’s where he comes in— Elias and Bad Bunny drop a single and turn the music industry upside down.
Bunny nods along, Elias says he’ll have his people call his people, and Bad whispers something in Spanish to Priest that turns out to be a “no”.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Elias is in the ring to sing us a song.
He kvetches about being snubbed by the Grammies and does his usual “walk with Elias” spiel before launching into some bars—
Enter Bad Bunny and Damian Priest.
Damian Priest vs. Elias
Circling, collar and elbow, Elias grabs a wristlock, reversed, out and back in and Priest goes right back to the arm. Side headlock, back to the wristlock, wrenching it in deep but the Drifter reverses into a kick. Whip across, front kick from the Archer of Infamy and then a leaping back elbow and a Shinjiro Ohtani spinning wheel kick! Lariat sends Elias to the floor, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Elias running the ropes, hip toss into an armbar, the Drifter out, kick combos, into the ropes and he wrenches Priest’s arm, putting his throat into the top rope! Smashing Damian’s face into the apron, choking him, Jaxson Ryker with a cheap shot while referee Darrick Moore is busy with Elias! Cover for two, reverse chinlock applied!
Priest fights out, punches, kicks, big bolo punch and a lariat! Calling for it, corner elbow sets up the Broken Arrow! Cover for two, Ryker up on the apron, Elias takes advantage, O’Connor roll, Damian kicks out, cover of his own, he ends up on the apron! Sidestep, kick to the face, the Drifter hammers him with a knee as he returns... NOT ENOUGH! Drift Away reversed, he puts Priest into the turnbuckles and hammers his kidneys with elbows!
Electric chair, Damian slips out and boxes his ears, roundhouse kick, inverted facelock...
Damian Priest wins by pinfall with Hit the Lights.
We get a recap of the events leading up to our WWE Championship match tonight, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
We see Miz and Morrison walking backstage and we go to break, whereupon my wife sits down at my desk and blesses y’all with more commentary.
During the break there’s an ad for a Godzilla versus King Kong movie. That’s pretty much wrestling, right?
Back from commercial, Randy Orton is interviewed backstage.
He says Alexa Bliss needs to stay out of his life or there’ll be no compassion for what comes next.
Bliss appears on a TV behind him with a jack-in-the-box. She cranks it a few turns and whispers “bring him back” before telling Randy there’s something he should know. Orton appears on the screen to tell... himself... that this doesn’t end on his terms and soon he’ll come face-to-face with everything that he’s ever done. The Viper starts dry heaving and ends up out of frame while the Randy on the screen gurns and growls.
We get entrances for our title match and Miz gets on the mic and wants to talk first.
He wants to talk business— Bobby Lashley has waited 17 years to be WWE Champion, but this isn’t the stage. He needs to do it at the grandest stage of them all, think about it. Bobby Lashley vs. the Miz at WrestleMania! MVP says he’s doing it right now!
Bobby Lashley vs. the Miz (c) (WWE Championship)
Miz immediately runs away, grabs his title, and hauls ass up the entry ramp and to the back! Lashley fumes in the ring as referee Rod Zapata counts...
Bobby Lashley wins by countout, which is actually announced for once.
Bob and MVP storm off as we go to break.
Back from commercial we get a recap of what we just saw, because we’re all paying for our sins.
Backstage, Shane McMahon gives Bobby and Montel a line about it being a valid title match but he promises that they’ll get a title match before the end of the night and he’ll even consider stripping Miz of the title.
Charlotte Flair makes her entrance and gets on the mic.
She talks about how Asuka has busted her ass for the last several months and she never wanted to be in the title scene because she’s been doing such a great job, so she was happy to just tag with her. But now she’s thinking that they’re six weeks from WrestleMania and Bianca Belair is wrestling Sasha Banks at WrestleMania, but who is Asuka defending against?
She thought about it and thought about it, and decided that she wants the title, she wants to face Asuka at WrestleMania. But no, Asuka is at home, injured, and she rolls footage of Shayna Baszler kicking Asuka in the face so hard that her teeth went flying last week. She knows that Asuka is gonna come back even stronger because that’s who she is, and when she comes back, she’s going to challenge her for the titles.
Shayna and Nia Jax make their entrance and Baszler speaks.
She talks some trash and tells her that this isn’t the road to WrestleMania she’s accustomed to, and Nia says the balance of power has shifted and it’ll be one of them that challenges Asuka if and when she returns. Does she even want to wrestle Shayna tonight, what with her pretty smile and all?
Flair with punches before the bell but Jax runs her over and the tag champs put boots to her! Nia drops the leg and we go to break!
Charlotte Flair vs. Shayna Baszler
Back from commercial, match is in progress and Baszler nearly drops Flair on her dome with a vicious Karelin lift! Double wristlock applied, Charlotte counters with a flapjack and Shayna is stunned! Baszler wading in with leg kicks and forearms, Flair back body drops her! Exploder suplex, kip-up, Charlotte hammering her with chops and she follows it up with a shoulder kneebreaker!
Chop block, figure four leglock blocked, sending Flair to the floor, she sidesteps Nia Jax into the steel steps but Baszler is right on her when she returns to the ring! Kirifuda Clutch applied, Charlotte fights out, stomp to the knee...
Charlotte Flair wins by pinfall with Natural Selection.
Shane McMahon rolls up on five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce to tell him to go tell Bobby Lashley that if Miz doesn’t defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley a second time tonight, they WILL strip him of the title.
Pearce goes to do it and we go to break.
Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) & Matt Riddle vs. Retribution (Mace, SLAPJACK, & T-Bar)
T-Bar right out the gates with a Chokebreaker for two! Retribution work Riddle over until he can get a hot tag to Dorado, SLAPJACK sidesteps him into the turnbuckles but he tags Metalik in...
Lucha House Party & Matt Riddle win by pinfall with a falling splash from Gran Metalik on SLAPJACK.
Post-match, Ali says he wants Riddle right now to show everyone what Retribution is all about, and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for tonight’s episode of Raw Talk.
Matt Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali
Intense mat grappling to start, Riddle goes for a triangle choke but Ali blocks and runs right into a Karelin lift! Out and back in, Matt with a right hand, boot up, Mustafa with a dropkick to the elbow! Whip across, off the ropes with a jumping neckbreaker for two! Out of the corner, Riddle snaps him into a sleeper hold but Ali gets the ropes! Lighting him up with palm strikes, Pele kick connects, kip-up!
Charging elbows, big knee strike, Mace and SLAPJACK running interference, Ali off the top...
Mustafa Ali wins by pinfall with what was either a high avalanche lungblower or a weirdly flat avalanche inverted DDT.
Backstage, Miz is complaining to Shane McMahon about being forced to defend the title again, trying to sell him on his value as a champion and so on.
This sends us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a hype reel for WrestleMania 37. (...in a row?!)
Bobby Lashley and MVP make their entrance to await Miz’s decision as to whether he’ll defend the title or be stripped of it.
Shane McMahon makes his entrance and says he’s decided that, in order to ensure the contest is fair, it’ll be a lumberjack match!
Bobby Lashley vs. the Miz (c) (WWE Championship Lumberjack Match)
Miz tries to hit Lashley with the belt but he grabs it and tosses it aside! The A-Lister tries to run away and attempts to bribe some lumberjacks but Drew Gulak throws him back inside! Miz tries to run away again, the Hurt Business throw him back in, Lashley with a reverse STO into mounted punches! Bob throws him out again, Retribution throw him back in again and Lashley takes it to him in the corner!
Whip across, thrust spinebuster, the Hurt Lock is on...
Bobby Lashley wins by submission with the Hurt Lock, winning the WWE Championship.
Lashley locks the Hurt Lock on again briefly and celebrates with the title.
That’s the show, folks.