And STILL/NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion...
First world title defense on Raw since November 2021 sees Rollins defend against Priest.
Seth Rollins successfully defended his newly won WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Raw Monday night, extending his reign to double-digit days.
The Visionary defeated a very game Damian Priest, who accepted Rollins' open challenge on Twitter to set up the match, and then agreed to a stipulation during Raw to bar the rest of the Judgment Day from ringside (though Finn Balor would violate that rule).
The match itself was very well received, with Priest breaking out a lot of rarely used offence, including a top-rope hurricanrana and a headlock driver. It was yet another high-profile moment for the Judgment Day's Punishment, following his lauded match against Bad Bunny at Backlash last month.
With the #WorldTitle on the line, will this be @ArcherofInfamy's night on #WWERaw or can @WWERollins bounce back in this one? pic.twitter.com/9MFpZXnYq3
— WWE (@WWE) June 6, 2023
But Rollins was able to overcome Priest's attacks and stomp him for the win, defending the newly created title he won by defeating AJ Styles at Night of Champions nine days earlier.
Rollins has promised to be a fighting champion and to make the new World Heavyweight Championship a working man's title, so this is a pretty good start. It remains to be seen how often he defends the strap, but Raw closed with Finn Balor in the ring seething and staring Rollins down, so you'd assume that the Prince is Seth's next challenger.