Big E Cashes In MITB Briefcase on Bobby Lashley, Wins WWE Title

Credit: WWE.com

Big E called his shot.

The 5’11” heavyweight cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Bobby Lashley to close out Raw on Monday night.

Some holders of the MITB briefcase use the element of surprise to gain an advantage over the titleholder. Big E threw that out the window when he announced hours before Raw he intended to challenge the winner of Raw’s main event between Lashley and Randy Orton:

True to his word, Big E made his way down the entrance ramp shortly after Lashley dispatched Orton with a Spear.

Lashley was on the verge of keeping the gold when he countered out of the Big Ending and delivered a Spear to Big E. The challenger kicked out, however, and his second attempt at a Big Ending was on the money. With that, Raw had a new champion at the top of the show.

The outcome represents quite a shift for Raw as Lashley and Orton were originally slated for a title match at Extreme Rules on Sept. 26. Their rivalry began several weeks ago on Raw when Lashley and MVP were granted a Raw Tag Team Championship match against Orton and Riddle.

RK-Bro retained by pinning MVP despite interference attempts by AJ Styles and Omos, but what happened after the bout truly set Orton and Lashley on a path to clash at a major show.

Not satisfied with merely picking up the win, Orton hit Lashley with an RKO out of nowhere as Raw went off the air.

That led to a contentious promo segment the following week ahead of a Tag Team Turmoil match meant to determine RK-Bro’s next challengers.

Lashley and MVP got themselves inserted into the match and won by last eliminating Styles and Omos to set the stage for a rematch against RK-Bro. Rather than getting their title shot Lashley and MVP pressed fast forward on the former’s Extreme Rules bout.

Now, it looks like the pay-per-view will instead see Big E make his first title defense, with an incensed Lashley presumably in line to receive a rematch. Taking down The All Mighty again would be a great way for Big E to kick off the biggest singles run of his career.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).