Bobby Lashley Retains WWE Championship, Beats Drew McIntyre In WrestleMania 37 Opener

The WWE Championship match between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre opened WrestleMania 37 thus becoming the first WWE match with fans back since the pandemic began.

After a slight weather delay, the two men entered the ring. The two men locked up early and it was a stalemate as neither man could get an advantage. The two behemoths clashed and finally came to blows trading knees and elbows.  A clothesline would send Lashley outside the ring, which led to the champion tossing the challenger into several barricades.

Lashley kept the momentum and started to punish McIntyre with hard strikes. However, after Lashley went shoulder-first into the ring post, McIntyre struck with an armbar. Lashley’s mixed martial arts experience showed as he broke out of the hold and punched the grounded fighter.

McIntyre would battle back into the match and hyped the fans up with a kip up. Lashley countered a Future Shock DDT, but McIntyre hit a Northern Lights Suplex shortly afterward. McIntyre continued working Lashley’s left arm until the champ hit several huge slams for two counts. Lashley would nearly get the Hurt Lock on, but McIntyre escaped and continued to attack with hard strikes.

McIntyre would hit several belly-to-belly suplexes and then landed three Future Shock DDTs for a shocking near fall. With Lashley’s toughness confirmed, McIntyre went for a Claymore Kick but Lashley slid outside to avoid it. A dive over the top rope would take out both Lashley and his manager, MVP. The champ would get back into the battle and looked to have the Hurt Lock in place until McIntyre managed to power out of it by ramming Lashley into the turnbuckle. McIntyre then locked in a kimura that further damaged Lashley’s arm.

After a Glasgow Kiss, McIntyre missed a Claymore due to a distraction from MVP. Lashley then locked in the Hurt Lock and McIntyre fell to one knee. Showing his perseverance, McIntyre stood up and attempted to get out of it by kicking off the ropes. However, Lashley kept the hold in and managed to make McIntyre pass out.

RELATED: WWE WrestleMania Night 1 Results (4/10/21)