WWE Raw Ratings Increase with Strowman vs. Lashley, WrestleMania Backlash Build
May 4, 2021
Monday night's episode of WWE Raw featuring a non-title main event between WWE champion Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman saw its ratings improve compared to last week.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Raw's three-hour broadcast on USA Network averaged 1.872 million viewers, which was up from last week's 1.774 million.
Drew McIntyre was on commentary for Lashley vs. Strowman ahead of their Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania Backlash. Things started to break down late in the bout when Lashley pushed Strowman into McIntyre.
That prompted McIntyre to get up on the apron and exchange words with The Monster Among Men, allowing Lashley to land a spear for the win.
McIntyre got the last laugh, though, as The Scottish Warrior took out both Lashley and Strowman with Claymore Kicks and stood tall to close the show.
Raw opened with the return of AJ Styles and Omos, who appeared on the red brand for the first time since beating New Day for the Raw Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 37 a few weeks earlier.
New Day got their rematch for the titles, but the result was similar to WrestleMania, as The Phenomenal One landed a Phenomenal Forearm off Omos' shoulders to retain the titles for his team.
The women's division also heated up on Raw with Charlotte Flair beating Dana Brooke and then petitioning Sonya Deville to add her to the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash. Deville agreed, leading to Rhea Ripley and Asuka coming down to the ring, and Asuka wiping out both of her upcoming opponents.
Additionally, a vignette aired hyping Eva Marie and her Eva-lution, meaning she is set to return to WWE for the first time since getting released in 2017.
Other key moments on Raw included Randy Orton and Riddle continuing to roll with a win over Elias and Jaxson Ryker, Sheamus beating the debuting Mansoor by disqualification due to interference from Humberto Carrillo and the team of Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander breaking up after a loss to Lucha House Party.
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