WWE Raw advertised Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus, Randy Orton-Fiend segment, the debut of Rhea Ripley and Asuka vs. Peyton Royce.

WWE Raw viewership continued to hold up with 1.843 million viewers for the WWE Fastlane go-home show.

WWE Raw Ratings—Last Five Weeks

• March 15, 2021—1.843 million
• March 8, 2021—1.900 million
• March 1, 2021—1.884 million
• February 22, 2021—1.890 million
• February 15, 2021—1.810 million

WWE Raw—Key Competition

Pro Wrestling Bits—Drew McIntyre Interview

WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Week—10,182,972 views (Up from 8,266,164)

• Most-Viewed: Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon (1,403,676 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Rhea Ripley is on her Way to WWE Raw (145,007 views)
• Median Viewership: 696,782

WWE Raw Results—Monday, March 22, 2021

Bobby Lashley def. Sheamus

Nobody on the outside of WrestleMania looking in has worked harder than Sheamus and the poor guy is booked against Bobby Lashley in what was going to result in a disqualification at best.

Sheamus became the de facto babyface of this match the second The Hurt Business showed up.

Last week’s Sheamus-Lashley match was great, but this week they tried to do too much wrestling and they seemed to get their signals crossed.

This match seemed to be deigned to either tease dissension with The Hurt Business; reunite Drew McIntyre and Sheamus or all of the above.

Asuka def. Peyton Royce; Rhea Ripley Debuts

Peyton Royce’s bad impression fo Bret Hart throughout this match was actually some of her best work. That’s how good Bret Hart was.

This match felt like a tryout for Peyton Royce to see if there’s anything to her ranting promo on Raw Talk. For what it’s worth, I think she passed with flying colors.

These two women certainly adhered to the recent edict to work through commercial break.

Rhea Ripley challenged Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship on her first night, and her reasoning was “because Charlotte has COVID.”

The Miz def. Jeff Hardy

This segment went way too long considering it was designed to challenge Bad Bunny for a WrestleMania match and announce a diss track. This could have been done in two sentences during an inset promo.

Has a healthy Jeff Hardy ever been this far outside the WrestleMania picture this close to WrestleMania?

Jeff Hardy has no path to WrestleMania whatsoever and ate a clean loss to The Miz after insisting he gets a fair fight. Speaking strictly from an in-ring standpoint, this might be the lowest moment of his career.

After using an offensive Puerto Rican word last week, Bad Bunny proved he is a bilingual potty mouth by calling The Miz a “b—h.”

Kofi Kingston def. AJ Styles

Omos didn’t have to embarrass AJ Styles and play into The New Day’s hands, he could have just pretended Styles’ answers were all right. Is it that important that people know Omos’ favorite color is mauve?

WWE is already doing comedy with Omos and he hasn’t even had his first match yet. WrestleMania can’t come soon enough.

At one point, this match seemed like it had an outside shot at being a WrestleMania match. They certainly wrestled like it.

Drew McIntyre def. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander

Bobby Lashley already made it clear he doesn’t want The Hurt Business getting involved in his matches. So, remind me, why are they fighting so hard for the right to be in his corner at WrestleMania?

The Hurt Business has collapsed violently, almost since the day Bobby Lashley won the WWE Championship. With a stipulation that The Hurt Business will not be allowed ringside for WrestleMania, there’s a chance WrestleMania weekend can come and go with no sign of Shelton Benjamin or Cedric Alexander.

For what it’s worth, Benjamin and Alexander got more offense on Drew McIntyre than most.

I thought McIntyre was going to try for a Double Claymore, but the way Cedric Alexander sold that second Claymore was better than all the previous Claymores combined.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke

Lana said she feels like Reginald has been dumped more than she has. Lana is such a good sport.

Reginald performed a front flip while on the apron, and it was one of the most impressive yet overlooked stunts you’ll ever see on any apron anywhere.

Braun Strowman def. Elias

Shane McMahon’s singing is actually slightly better than his promos these days.

Braun Strowman got a lot of air in an awkward-but-still-impressive dropkick to Elias.

WWE has added a Strowman Express sound effect to Braun Strowman’s running shoulder tackles. You’ll hear a lot of complaining about it, don’t listen. It’s great.

Shane McMahon’s leg injury was predictably a hoax.

Randy Orton Summons The Fiend

Randy Orton came prepared this time around, but his canister of gasoline had no effect on The Super Fiend.

The fact That The Fiend didn’t sell a thing while Orton was dousing him in gasoline should have been a hint that his plan wasn’t going to work.