The Big Takeaway
Bobby Lashley beat Braun Strowman clean in the main event to secure his WWE title match against The Miz next week on Raw. Lashley laid out Strowman and Miz to end the show.
Drew McIntyre was not on Raw.
Show Recap
MizTV - Champions Edition
John Morrison was in the ring which was dressed with a red carpet and red, black and silver balloons. Morrison introduced Miz as the new WWE Champion. Miz got a big fireworks display (to along with lots of faked booing).
Miz said, “How do you like me now?” Sixteen years ago, people thought he would get fired within months of when he showed up in WWE but now all these years later, he was WWE Champion. All of the top stars of his generation are now gone and he is still on top. Batista is making buddy cop movies and John Cena is doing commercials.
The death of Tom Cole this week takes us back to one of the most sordid pro wrestling stories of the last 50 years, which involved media heavyweights at the time like Phil Donahue, Larry King, Geraldo Rivera and Phil Mushnick. It s the lead story of a new double issue of the Observer.
We look at the story and its tragic end this past week and all the key characters involved. We look at Cole s death, what exactly happened to him, different media appearances at the time, the WWF first settling his case, the unique plans for the Phil Donahue show, at the time the leading daytime talk show in the U.S. with a gigantic audience and how Vince McMahon planned the show and why it never transpired the way it was planned. Cole s memories of what happened, and things that triggered his past including a first suicide attempt that few knew about. This is a major piece of wrestling history that has been largely hidden except from those who were around at the time.