Report: Why WWE Raw Title Changed Hands at WrestleMania 37
04/12/2021 06:12 pm EDT
Night Two of WrestleMania 37 saw Sheamus defeat Riddle to become a three-time United States Champion. It had been a few years since "The Celtic Warrior" had held any singles gold, but he managed to pick up the victory after nailing a jaw-dropping Brogue Kick while Riddle was in midair attempting a Floating Bro. According to Dave Meltzer via the Wrestling Observer, the decision to take the title off "The Original Bro" was a simple one — he was never supposed to be champion to begin with.
Fans will recall that the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February featured a triple threat match for the United States Championship where Bobby Lashley dropped the title to Riddle when the former NXT star pinned John Morrison. Morrison was actually a fill-in for Keith Lee, who was pulled from the match due to a undisclosed injury and has not appeared in a WWE ring since.
"Riddle was never supposed to be champion," Meltzer explained on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "They had to do it because Keith Lee was supposed to win it, for whatever the reason is, was pulled. They had to get the belt off Lashley because they were giving the WWE Title to him. It was one of those situations. They couldn't give it to Morrison because Morrison was in the Bad Bunny angle. Riddle got the belt because there's no other choice so this rectifies it."
No word yet on if Riddle will get an immediate rematch on Raw tonight.
Check out the full results from both nights of WrestleMania 37 here:
Night One
- WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley def. Drew McIntyre
- Natalya & Tamina def. Lana & Naomi, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke, Riott Squad, Billie Kay & Carmella (Tag Team Turmoil Match)
- Cesaro def. Seth Rollins
- Raw Tag Team Championships: AJ Styles & Omos def. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
- Braun Strowman def. Shane McMahon (Steel Cage)
- Bad Bunny and Damian Priest def. The Miz and John Morrison
- SmackDown Women's Championship: Bianca Belair def. Sasha Banks
Night Two
- Randy Orton def. The Fiend
- WWE Women's Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Natalya & Tamina
- Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn
- United States Championship: Sheamus def. Riddle
- Intercontinental Championship: Apollo Crews def. Big E (Nigerian Drum Fight)
- Raw Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley def. Asuka
- WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. Edge, Daniel Bryan
Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.