Backstage Notes From Last Night's WWE Raw After WrestleMania 37
Last night's quiet WWE Raw after WrestleMania 37 was a product of creative changes...
A quiet WWE Raw after WrestleMania 37 played out last night, offering only a handful of surprises - and none of them major - following on from the biggest wrestling show of the year.
This continued the disappointing recent theme of the Raw after 'Mania underwhelming, despite its former status as a night of great change in the promotion. With 2019, 2020, and now 2021 as evidence, those days now appear to be over.
Per a report from Fightful Select released just before the show, the Raw we got last night was the result of multiple creative changes made over WrestleMania weekend. The writeup mentioned there'd be a Triple Threat featuring "top" performers on the show, which turned out to be Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for a shot at Bobby Lashley's WWE Championship, which McIntyre won.
McIntyre was assaulted by ex-RETRIBUTION members T-Bar and Mace (still in RETRIBUTION garb) to close the night. He faces Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash 2021 next month.
Raw's other big developments saw The Viking Raiders' Ivar return following an eight-month injury absence and Charlotte Flair turn heel, debuting a new attitude after attacking Asuka and Rhea Ripley.