Notes On When It Was Decided to Have Big E. Win WWE Championship, Backstage Reaction

New details have been revealed about when WWE decided to have Big E. cash in Money in the Bank and win the WWE Championship on Raw. As you surely know by now, the New Day member cashed in on Bobby Lashley on this week’s Raw to capture the title for the first time. Fightful Select has some notes on when those plans firmed up.

According to the site, Big E cashing wining the title at some point was talked about being a reality “very early” after he won Money in the Bank. Those plans were escalated this weekend after Smackdown where it was revealed that Randy Orton’s match with Bobby Lashley had been moved from WWE Extreme Rules to Raw. The plans to have E. win the title and move to Raw were decided upon on Saturday, though those plans were kept under wraps until Money when E. was informed he’d win.

The site also notes that much of the roster stayed around to watch the match, which is different than the typical situation and many members of the roster will leave before the show goes off the air. The reaction backstage was “seemingly universal elation” for E.