During the March 1st edition of WWE RAW, Bobby Lashley defeated The Miz to capture the WWE Championship for the first time.
Lashley [who returned to the company following a ten year hiatus in 2018] was instrumental in The Miz’s plan to capture the WWE Championship from the dominant Drew McIntyre are WWE’s Elimination Chamber PPV.
Conducting business with Lashley through his associate MVP, The Miz capitalised on a post match beatdown provided by the former ECW World Champion allowing him to cash in his Money in the Bank Briefcase and defeat McIntyre via a Skull Crushing Finale.
The following week on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW, MVP & Bobby Lashley would reveal to viewers that the terms of their agreement with The Miz were simple. If Lashley assisted The A-Lister in defeating McIntyre for the WWE Championship then The Powerhouse behind The Hurt Business would be first in line for a WWE Championship opportunity.
MVP would place The Miz on the clock giving the WWE Champion less than one hour to accept The Hurt Business’ terms or face the consequences. Despite John Morrison and The Miz’s best attempts to weasel out of the Championship opportunity, The Miz was left with no choice but to accept MVP’s terms – despite a last minute involvement from former Universal Champion Braun Strowman.
On the March 1st edition of WWE RAW just 40 days away from WrestleMania, Bobby Lashley would defeat The Miz to capture the WWE Championship despite several injections of shenanigans from the defending Champion.
During the shows opening segment [an extended exchange between McIntyre, The Miz and MVP] Lashley’s associate would inform the reigning WWE Champion that his title reign would be ending promptly, very promptly with MVP confirming the title match would kick off at 9pm EST [just one hour into the show].
However The Miz would avoid defending his title until 10pm EST after faking illness backstage, at 10pm EST The Miz would then avoid defending his title once again. This time The Miz would employ much simpler tactics simply grabbing the title from the ringside area and running away with it.
Adam Pearce would later inform The Miz that he will defend his title in the shows main event and if he fails to compete fairly and give Lashley the title shot he is due, then The Miz will be stripped of the WWE Championship.
Ultimately during the shows main event , Lashley was able to defeat The Miz in a Lumberjack Match [a last minute added stipulation from Shane McMahon] via submission after locking in The Hurt Lock and forcing the tap out in under five minutes.
Speculation has been rife on social media since the Elimination Chamber with discussions as to the status of the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania following the shock cash-in victory from The Miz and Edge announcing his intentions to challenge Roman Reigns earlier in the night.
Fans of the WWE and curios individuals alike will need to wait until after WWE’s next upcoming PPV ‘Fastlane’ on March 21st in order to have a clearer of image of what to expect on The Grandest Stage of Them All… WrestleMania.
Full Live Results from tonights show are also available on ITRWrestling.com