McIntyre made his first successful title defense against
Big Show the following night on
Raw,[SUP]
[282][/SUP] before moving onto a feud with
Seth Rollins,[SUP]
[283][/SUP] leading to a championship match between the two at
Money in the Bank, which McIntyre won.[SUP]
[284][/SUP] On 18 May episode of
Raw, McIntyre started a feud with
Bobby Lashley after Lashley and
MVP observed McIntyre's match from the stage.[SUP]
[285][/SUP] At
Backlash, he successfully defended the title against Lashley.[SUP]
[286][/SUP][SUP]
[287][/SUP] At
The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, he retained the championship against
Dolph Ziggler.[SUP]
[288][/SUP][SUP]
[289][/SUP] McIntyre then retained his WWE Championship against
Randy Orton, first at
SummerSlam in a singles match,[SUP]
[290][/SUP] and again in an
Ambulance match at
Clash of Champions.[SUP]
[291][/SUP] The following night on
Raw, McIntyre issued an open challenge for the WWE Championship which was answered by a returning Robert Roode, who McIntyre defeated.[SUP]
[292][/SUP] On 9 October episode of
SmackDown, McIntyre was the number one draft pick and was drafted to remain on the Raw brand.[SUP]
[293][/SUP] At the
Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on 25 October, McIntyre lost to Orton in a
Hell in a Cell match for the championship, ending his reign at 202 days.[SUP]
[294][/SUP]
On 16 November episode of
Raw, McIntyre regained the WWE Championship after defeating Randy Orton in a
no disqualification match, taking Orton's place to face the
Universal Champion Roman Reigns at
Survivor Series in an interbrand champion vs. champion match,[SUP]
[295][/SUP][SUP]
[296][/SUP] which McIntyre lost via technical submission following interference from Jey Uso.[SUP]
[297][/SUP][SUP]
[298][/SUP] McIntyre successfully defended the title against
AJ Styles and
The Miz who cashed in his
Money in the Bank contract at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a
triple threat Tables, ladders, and chairs match.[SUP]
[299][/SUP][SUP]
[300][/SUP] On 4 January episode of
Raw, after successfully defending the WWE Championship against Keith Lee, McIntyre was confronted by the returning
Bill Goldberg who challenged McIntyre to a championship match at the
Royal Rumble, which McIntyre accepted the following week.[SUP]
[301][/SUP] At the event, McIntyre successfully retained the WWE Championship against Goldberg. On the February 1 episode, during his promo about his match at Royal Rumble, he was interrupted by men's Royal Rumble winner
Edge and his friend
Sheamus. Sheamus, however, turned on McIntyre after Sheamus attacked him with a
Brogue kick. McIntyre then declared that Sheamus could challenge him anytime for his WWE title. On the February 8 episode of
Raw, he was announced for a
elimination chamber match for the WWE Championship alongside Randy Orton, Sheamus,
Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and The Miz at the
Elimination Chamber event. Later that night, he wrestled at a non-title singles match against Randy Orton. He lost the match by disqualification after Sheamus interfered and inadvertently attacked Orton with a Brogue kick. Afterwards, McIntyre executed a
Claymore kick on Sheamus.
