aw REsultsWWE Raw advertised Drew McIntyre’s return, in addition to a hotly anticipated WWE Championship match between Bobby Lashley and The Miz.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.890 million viewers for the fallout of Elimination Chamber after The Miz’s shocking WWE Championship win.

WWE Raw Ratings—Last Five Weeks

• February 22, 2021—1.890 million
• February 15, 2021—1.810 million
• February 8, 2021—1.715 million
• February 1, 2021—1.892 million
• January 25, 2021—1.820 million

WWE Raw—Key Competition

Pro Wrestling Bits—Bobby Lashley, Future WWE Champion

WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Week—11,404,953 views (Down from 8,783,634)

• Most-Viewed: Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley (3,414,456 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Rhea Ripley is Coming to WWE Raw (235,777 views)
• Median Viewership: 491,012

WWE Raw Results—Monday, March 1, 2021

Drew McIntyre def. Sheamus

WWE Raw advertised an opening match between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, but it just amounted to a very long talking segment with six different speaking roles including WWE announcer Greg Hamilton.

Props to Drew McIntyre for making the ultimate babyface move by vowing to not get involved in Miz vs. Lashley.

This was a very stiff match as Sheamus hit McIntyre with a stiff knee and McIntyre almost set Sheamus flying out through the ropes with an aggressive Irish Whip.

Every move in this match was either designed to look like it hurt, hurt for real or a combination of both. For better or worse, this was every bit the physical war that they promised.

The staredown of mutual respect between Sheamus and Drew McIntyre almost made me think Sheamus would screw Bobby Lashley on behalf of McIntyre

Nia Jax def. Naomi

Since there were left than 10 minutes let until Miz’s deadline, it’s safe to assume this was going to be a short match. It was. Nia Jax squashed Naomi like she was Lana.

Thankfully, with such limited time allotted for this segment, there was no time for any “my hole” references.

Bobby Lashley vs. The Miz—WWE Championship Postponed

WWE Raw with two carny tricks in one hour, first by promising a match that resulted in a long talking segment before commercial, then by delaying an announced Miz vs. Bobby segment. What casual fan with other options is sticking around at this point?

I’m terribly interested to see how this rating holds up with WWE baiting and switching its way through this show.

WWE Raw announced no repercussions for The Miz should he no-show this title match, therefore giving fans less incentive to tune in.

The Hurt Business def. Braun Strowman and Adam Pearce—WWE Raw Tag Team Championships

Judging by this segment, I’m guessing the direction is Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon, with an outside chance of Adam Pearce facing McMahon.

Tonight could be a truly special night for The Hurt Business, and Black Excellence at large, and standing in between that is—of all people—Braun Strowman and a 42-year-old Scrap Daddy.

Cedric Alexander sold like crazy for Braun Strowman, and it was very entertaining to watch.

Almost everybody except Shane McMahon was made to look like a fool in this segment.

Damian Priest def. Elias

Elias sounds way more up Bad Bunny’s alley as a potential WrestleMania opponent than The Miz, who will (hopefully) be coming off a WWE Championship run.

Damian Priest’s entrance taunt looks so ridiculous without pyro.

Damian Priest sells way too much for a guy who’s supposed to be featured as an up-and-coming big man.

Bobby Lashley def. The Miz by Countout—WWE Championship

At 10 p.m. EST, those looking to tune in to see Bobby Lashley vs. The Miz for the WWE Championship were instead treated to a replay of Randy Orton puking bile and dry heaving at the sight of his evil twin.

Bobby Lashley was listed as the CEO of the Hurt Business, when I’m pretty sure his official title is Chief Hurt Officer.

WWE used two sets of pyro on Bobby Lashley, that’s how you know they’re serious about his push.

WWE is really taking advantage of not having to worry about pissing off an entire arena of people. Pissing off Twitter, though, might be just as bad.

This disappointing match led to MVP saying “bullsh*t” unedited in a backstage segment.

Charlotte Flair def. Shayna Baszler

With no women’s Elimination Chamber this year, “I’m Charlotte Flair” might be good enough for a world title shot on Raw.

Charlotte Flair and Shayna Baszler typically have very little chemistry together, but this was easily their best match.

At this point, WWE aired a countdown clock for the third time, as Miz now had an additional 20 minutes until the WWE Championship match with Bobby Lashley. Mind you, the match still has not been confirmed as a No Disqualification Match.

The Lucha House Party def. RETRIBUTION; Mustafa Ali def. Riddle

After a clean loss to the Lucha House Party, this really feels like the beginning of the end of RETRIBUTION.

The entire fate of RETRIBUTION felt like it rested on this match between Mustafa Ali and Riddle.

If Ricochet would have joined RETRIBUTION, we might be talking about an entirely different trajectory for this stable come WrestleMania season.

Outside of an ugly top-rope backstabber, Riddle and Mustafa Ali worked very well together.

Bobby Lashley def. The Miz—WWE Championship Lumberjack Match

If this night doesn’t end in Bobby Lashley as WWE champion, how bad of a taste would people have in their mouthes about WWE?

Shane McMahon said The Miz was to “in some form, legitimately defend the WWE Championship” and I got nervous all over again.

Unfortunately, Lashley did not get promo in three different segments, which might have been the new clubhouse record in WWE.

The locker room filled with lumberjacks just made me think WWE was going to use a lumberjack to “protect” Bobby Lashley in defeat or force this match to end in disqualification.