Drew McIntyre will defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley at Backlash, but both men threw hands for the first time last night on Raw in what quickly escalated into a wild pull-apart brawl.
McIntyre set the wheels in motion by delivering a Claymore ("it's clearly a kick") to MVP earlier in the show, and Lashley came out to make the save. Then, The Almighty One teamed with Porter to take on The Street Profits in the main event, and when Lashley got himself disqualified for locking his Full Nelson on without a tag, Drew rushed the ring.
Both men traded heavy shots, but McIntyre was quite obviously made to look a bit stronger, and barely sold Lashley's spear at all. Eventually, the NXT Superstars that were in attendance as the live crowd (yes, they finally followed AEW's lead) poured into the ring and managed to keep them apart.
Lashley vs. McIntyre has great potential, but WWE really needs to allow the former to come out looking like the proper main event destroyer we all know he is - even if him actually winning the title here is highly unlikely.