Shortly after Wrestlemania, James was drafted to Raw as part of the 2017 Superstar Shake–Up. In October, after being named the No. 1 Contender by "Raw" General Manager Kurt Angle, James faced Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship at , but was unsuccessful in capturing the title. A few weeks later on the edition of October 30 of "Raw", James once again challenged Bliss for the title in the main event but came up short. On January 28, 2018 at the Royal Rumble, James entered the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match at No. 26 and lasted over 8 minutes before being eliminated by long–time rival Trish Stratus. The following month, James competed in the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay–per–view, where she entered at No. 5 and eliminated Sonya Deville after a diving Lou Thesz press off the top of a pod before being eliminated by Bayley.