Big E successfully retained his WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley in a Steel Cage match at the end of this week’s Monday Night Raw, and it looks like he’s already got his next challenger lined up. E and “The All Mighty” kicked off the episode with the match that was announced last night at Extreme Rules, only for the referee to throw it out once The New Day and a reunited Hurt Business started brawling. Adam Pearce then confirmed a second title match would be held inside the cage later in the night.
Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin once again interfered midway through the main event, but were beaten down by Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston (who nailed a trust fall from near the top of the cage onto both men). E eventually kept Lashley down by hitting the Big Ending from the second rope.
BIG ENDING FROM THE SECOND ROPE!
…and with that powerful move, @WWEBigE retains the #WWEChampionship! #SteelCageMatch #ThatWasAwesome #WWERaw @fightbobby pic.twitter.com/c2bEzXF6CS
— WWE (@WWE) September 28, 2021
E’s post-match celebration was short-lived, as Drew McIntyre’s music hit and “The Scottish Warrior” pointed at E with his sword to close out the show. The two-time former world champion has been unable to challenge for the title ever since he lost to Lashley inside Hell in a Cell earlier this summer. Now that E is champion that rule is no longer in effect.
Other than a one-sided feud with Jinder Mahal, McIntyre wasn’t given much else to do after dropping out of the world championship picture. He also started acknowledging in interviews that he stuck around the title scene for quite a while, to the point where some fans were starting to get tired of him.
“I understand some fans may be like, ‘Ugh, I’d like a new fresh face in the picture. Realistically, I have been fighting for the title, or been champion, for over a year now — which is a pretty significant time — but I don’t think anyone is saying, ‘Oh my goodness, Drew’s not working as hard as he can to give us the best matches possible and do the best he can with every interview possible,'” McIntyre said on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast back in June. “I think it’s more, ‘I would like to see something different here and see Drew do something different over here.'”
There’s also a chance McIntyre’s challenge towards E might not matter as the 2021 WWE Draft is scheduled to begin on this Friday’s SmackDown. If Drew gets drafted over to the Blue Brand, he’ll likely reignite his feud with Roman Reigns that started at Survivor Series last year.
