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Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on tonight's edition of WWE RAW and defeated Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. This was teased earlier in the day when Big E tweeted that he would be appearing on RAW to cash in his briefcase.
After Lashley's WWE Championship defense against Randy Orton, Big E came out, cashed in, and became the WWE champion. Once the shock and awe of the cash in wears off, we will see that this was the right decision, but possibly wrong at the same time.
Let's start with the upsides of Big E cashing in. First off, the cash-in was done well. Not only did Big E keep his word and cash in on RAW like he said he would, but Lashley was also booked strong. He had a successful title defense against Orton but suffered a knee injury which he will use as an excuse in typical heel fashion. Lashley also has no one to blame but himself as Big E warned him he would cash in tonight.
Big E cashing in also makes RAW more interesting to watch, at least in the short term. While Lashley was a dominant and good champion, he was rapidly running out of opponents, and there were no credible babyfaces on the RAW roster to challenge and defeat him. With Big E now WWE Champion and the draft coming next month, RAW will have fresh faces desperately needed on the star-depleted red brand.
The other is that it makes perfect sense from a storyline standpoint. Lashley took out Big E's New Day brethren Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, the latter in brutal fashion on PPV. Fans had been hoping that Big E would cash in on Lashley to avenge his brothers, and he did. WWE is often criticized for not booking long-term stories, but they did so in this situation.
As for the downside of Big E cashing in on RAW, it feels like WWE hot-shotted the cash in to pop the ratings with Monday Night Football kicking off tonight. Typically, WWE likes to have one wrestler cash in their Money in the Bank briefcase early, and have the other wait a few months to cash in theirs.
While Big E is certainly a credible challenger and champion, he hasn't done much since dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Apollo Crews. WWE could have built Big E up and had him do more teasing, like with Paul Heyman, before cashing in.
The other issue with Big E cashing in is that Roman Reigns has one less challenger that can end his dominance. When you ask fans who should be the guy that ends Reigns' Universal Championship reign, Big E is at the top of most lists. While it isn't necessarily a guarantee that we won't get Big E vs. Reigns down the line, it seems less likely with Big E being WWE Champion.
So, there are small downsides to Big E cashing in on RAW instead of on PPV. There are way more upsides, but only time will tell how things will work out.
What are your thoughts on Big E cashing in the Money in the Bank on RAW against Bobby Lashley? Sound off in the comments section.
