Report: WWE Title Match Moved To Raw To Counter AEW Dynamite's Strong Ratings

While a Raw Tag Team Championship match between RK-Bro and Bobby Lashley & MVP was originally scheduled for the September 13 episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE pulled that match on Friday and brought forward the scheduled WWE Title bout between Orton and The All Mighty.

Lashley's next WWE Championship defence was originally booked to be against Orton at Extreme Rules, and that match is still scheduled for the September 26 pay-per-view.

According to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, WWE opted to make the change because of AEW Dynamite's strong ratings on September 8, which beat Raw in the key 18-49 demographic. Dynamite averaged 681,000 viewers in the key demo compared to Raw's 678,000 on September 6.

"They moved the pay-per-view match to Raw. Originally they were going to do the tag team title match. The whole show last week was built to set up this tag team title match on this week's Raw and then they pulled the match because they lost in the ratings and they're putting Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley, the pay-per-view main event on TV tomorrow night. Yeah, that's among the responses [to AEW]. I'm not surprised," Meltzer said.

Also scheduled for tonight's edition of Raw is an open challenge from Damian Priest, Charlotte Flair vs. Shayna Baszler, Natalya vs. Rhea Ripley and The New Day, Mansoor & Mustafa Ali vs. AJ Styles, Omos, T-Bar & Mace.

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