McIntyre made his first successful title defense against Big Show the following night on "Raw", before moving onto a feud with Seth Rollins, leading to a championship match between the two at Money in the Bank, which McIntyre won. On 18 May episode of "Raw", McIntyre started a feud with Bobby Lashley after Lashley and MVP observed McIntyre's match from the stage. At Backlash, he successfully defended the title against Lashley. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, he retained the championship against Dolph Ziggler. McIntyre then retained his WWE Championship against Randy Orton, first at SummerSlam in a singles match, and again in an Ambulance match at Clash of Champions. 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. On 9 October episode of "SmackDown", McIntyre was the number one draft pick and was drafted to remain on the Raw brand. 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 McIntyre's first reign at 203 days (202 days as recognized by WWE).