5 Reasons why Big E won the WWE Championship on RAW
After the September 13th episode of RAW, Big E is officially the new WWE Champion. Bobby Lashley's WWE title reign ended at 196 days, marking the end of an incredible run.
As great as Big E's WWE title win was, this introduction partly serves as appreciation for The Almighty WWE Champion Bobby Lashley. He may not get his Brock Lesnar match, but he enjoyed a half-year-long run as the face of Monday Night RAW.
Bobby Lashley's push to become the WWE Champion may have happened purely due to circumstance, but he was as legitimate a champion as one could ask for. While fans thought that he won the WWE title only to be "sacrificed" to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 37, that wasn't the case at all.
For six months, Lashley dominated RAW, and it's only fitting that Big E made the jump from SmackDown to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
The funny part is that Big E wasn't even subtle about his cash-in. He announced beforehand on Twitter that he intended to cash in his briefcase on RAW. His role seemed to be more psychological at first, as he was constantly getting in Bobby Lashley's head.
After Bobby Lashley defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE title, Big E came out and cashed in, struggling a bit before capturing his first World title. Here are five reasons why Big E cashed in the MITB briefcase on Bobby Lashley to become the WWE Champion on RAW:
#5. Big E likely led to a big ratings pop
TV ratings are a big deal to WWE, even if they try to make anyone else think otherwise. Pay-per-views are obviously important, but in the larger picture, weekly TV serves a bigger purpose.
The television broadcast revenue that WWE gets is their biggest source of revenue. Did you wonder why there was a sudden switch into making SmackDown the A-Show over RAW? And why the biggest stars and feuds are now on SmackDown? It's because of the whopping $200 million a year that WWE gets for giving FOX broadcasting rights for SmackDown.
RAW isn't worth as much money as SmackDown right now, but it doesn't mean that it isn't already worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Pressure from TV executives normally plays a big role.
In this case, the Bobby Lashley vs Randy Orton match itself was likely moved from Extreme Rules to RAW for a ratings pop. Big E may have just secured a huge rating, which is important considering that AEW Dynamite beat RAW last week in the 18-49 demographic.