Sheamus looks to have earned himself a WWE Championship match after turning his back on long-time friend Drew McIntyre on Raw.
The Irishman stunned the reigning WWE Champion with a Brogue Kick at the start of Monday’s show, insisting afterwards that their friendship was over.
McIntyre later said Sheamus had gotten his wish of challenging for the title.
McIntyre had been confronted by Royal Rumble winner Edge, who had been mulling over his options for WrestleMania with a title match now in the bag follow Sunday’s pay-per-view.
READ MORE: Edge and Bianca Belair triumph at Royal Rumble
While it is far from nailed down – WrestleMania is still two months away – it looks more likely that Edge will have at least one more battle with Randy Orton before then, after those two clashed to end the show.
It’s fair to say, though, that WWE are keeping their options wide open with regards to storylines going into its biggest show of the year; while Edge traded words with McIntyre and wrestled Orton on Raw and McIntyre raged at Sheamus, Orton’s feud with The Fiend still looks far from being resolved.
As he and Edge fought in the main event, The Fiend’s sidekick Alexa Bliss got involved, costing the Viper the match as the Hall of Famer won in what was his first bout on Raw since 2011.
While that tangled web continued to weave its way through Raw, a far clearer path seemed to be emerging for Charlotte Flair. Cost a tag-team title match on Raw by father Ric and Lacey Evans, Flair abandoned partner Asuka – who ended up being beaten by Lana and Naomi – to pursue the pair. It seems a safe bet that once done with her family feud, it’ll be Asuka and Flair battling for the former’s Raw championship.
Elsewhere on Raw, Carlito wrestled on the show for the first time in the better part of 12 years as he teamed with Jeff Hardy to defeat Elias and Jaxson Ryker, while Raw tag team champions The Hurt Business were successful in their title defence against Lucha House Party.
Matt Riddle continues to take a bit of a beating as he was given a thumping by US Champion Bobby Lashley – ultimately winning their title match by disqualification after the champion went a little too far.
Xavier Woods got the better of Mustafa Ali in the latest instalment of their ongoing rivalry, while there was a Raw debut for Damian Priest, who defeated The Miz.
