For absolute clarity, this is the main event steel cage match these two had on this edition of Raw after their initial singles match to open the night ended in a non-finish.
I have come to really love this pairing ever since the Money in the Bank cash in. It’s not a perfect one but they do really work well together even when the booking fails them at times. Big E hasn’t been booked the way I’d really like a top babyface to be but it’s the WWE and there’s only so much they can do right at any given moment.
The match itself does a lot right. Big E and Lashley clearly enjoy working with each other and both guys really lay their shots in throughout all of this. They’re not doing anything groundbreaking with their psychology or structure here though. If anything, I’m bummed that so many of these Big E/Lashley matches open with extended heat segments instead of allowing Big E the shine he deserves.
That being said, once you get past that, this is strong stuff. They do WWE heavyweight spots about as well as you could ask. There’s intensity there and Big E’s also a pretty top notch seller that’s able to attract sympathy without going into the melodramatic side of things. Lashley himself is also excellent when called upon to sell here. He throws himself into those cage bumps and makes the most out of the most standard cage match spot that there is.
There’s also some fun side stuff with the New Day and Hurt Business interfering that allows for a cool crazy Kofi bump before things focus back on the two men in the ring. A fun little distraction and seeing Kofi do nutty stuff is always good.
Things wrap up with a Big Ending off the turnbuckles and that’s a suitably spectacular end to this match. Just an incredibly strong TV match to finish up this hot run of Big E/Lashley matches we’ve gotten over the last few weeks.
