Bengaluru, February 1: We witnessed a triple threat main event match on the January 14th episode of WWE Monday Night Raw for the mid-card title present on the Red brand, where Bobby Lashley reigned supreme Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to win the Intercontinental Championship. And that came as a complete shock to the fans as it happened with just two weeks left for Royal Rumble.

We already had some hint of the upcoming rivalries on Raw en route to Wrestlemania 35. The former Intercontinental Champion was certainly a big part of those plans. But those plans had to be changed to a big extent after the big win secured by the All Mighty, who is unlikely to drop the title anytime soon.

Meanwhile, we also got to know the reason WWE crowned Bobby Lashley as the Intercontinental Champion. Initially, Dean Ambrose was all set to start a new feud against Finn Balor for the IC title during the Wrestlemania 35 season. But he was later booked to move into the Universal Championship picture against Brock Lesnar. Plus, Ambrose's wish to leave WWE also worked as an inducer for Lashley’s title win.

Seth Rollins was always the favorite to win the men's Royal Rumble match and start a 'non-title' feud against Bobby Lashley. This could have set him up for the main event scene at Wrestlemania 35 where he challenges Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. For now, he should be involved in a feud with The Dominator 'for the Intercontinental title.'

The source further confirmed that it was a sudden decision to give Bobby Lashley the Intercontinental Championship. It was just to stretch the Seth Rollins-Dean Ambrose rivalry, which is expected to restart in due course. With the title on the shoulder, Rollins could not defeat him via clean pin-fall. But now that he has lost the title, Rollins has a chance to defeat his former brother in a clean way. There is an additional reason for the title switch as indicated by the source, (courtesy of wwfoldschool.com)

"Dirty Sheets also noted that WWE officials decided to put the Title on Lashley instead of having Ambrose feud with some other babyface (like Elias) to please the black WWE fans, as some of them were upset with the return of Hulk Hogan (who returned on RAW to pay tribute to his late friend Gene Okerlund)."



It's been a long time since we have seen one of the black superstars hold a title and with Hulk Hogan being back on WWE TV, this could fuel up the same old racial controversy from a few years ago. So WWE wanted to play safe and keep the black fans happy with this move. Lashley's win was appropriate from a storyline perspective, too as Ambrose's title run became stale within just one month of reign.