– They are expecting about 150 here tonight at the Bartow Armory in Bartow, FL.
Josh Woods beat Steve Cutler with a spinning kick.
A lot of heel work and jaw jacking by Cutler as he wore down Woods with head locks and holds. Woods took control, fighting back with strikes and hit a nice spinning kick for the win.
– Tom Phillips introduced King Constantine and Tom Kingdon for an interview. They proclaimed to be what real men should look like and they push the most weights in the gym. They even said the tag titles would not fit on them. They jokingly slapped Tom on the back which he sold with a face plant and the crowd followed up with a “You killed Tom!” chant. They were interrupted by Kenneth Crawford and Caesar who challenged them to a match.
King Constantine and Tom Kingdon beat Caesar and Kenneth Crawford via submission in a short match.
Kingdon got Crawford on his shoulder for a rack type submission.
Alex Riley beat Angelo Dawkins in a hard hitting match
They had dueling crowd reactions with Riley getting much larger cheers when he stood on the turnbuckles. Dawkins did a lot of crowd taunting and Riley shut him up and scored the pin.
Manny Andrade beat Chris Girard with the running knees
A lot of violent and aggressive action from Girard to try and keep Manny grounded. Big finish saw Manny armdrag Chris in to the corner and follow up with the running knees. Good match, Manny is winning over the local crowds.
Apollo Crews beat Elias Samson with the Too Easy standing moonsault
This was a tune up for Takeover Dallas. Elias put down Bartow, and did a lot of headlocks to wear down Crews. Samson was able to counter the moonsault once but not the second time.
– Tom Phillips announced that our main event would be a 2/3 Falls tag match between The Hype Bros and The Vaudevillains.
Hugo Knox, Tucker Knight, and Aliyah beat Tino Sabbateli, Riddick Moss, and Mandy in what was billed as an intergender match
Tino and Moss worked over Knight most of the match with some limited and safe interaction between the two women. Knox took the hot tag and scored the win for his team.
Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan via submission
Royce won with some sort of hold from behind with her legs and arms involved. Haven’t seen it before and looked good.
The Hype Bros beat The Vaudevillains two falls to one
The crowd was very in to the Hype Bros and the Vauds were acting completely heelish tonight even using their old ominous music from the last time they were heels. Hypes took fall one, Vauds fall two, then had a good final fall of Mojo getting a hot tag, running wild and nailing the Hype Ryder for the win with Zack off the top for the pin.
– The show was held in The Stampede Coral instead of The Saddledome. Much louder crowd than previous visits.
The Dudleys/Titus O’Neil def Fandango/Adam Rose/Heath Slater
Fun opener. Dudleys won with a 3D
Goldust def. Darren Young
Young attacked Goldust before the bell. Once the bell rang, Goldust pinned Young rather quickly. Match didn’t last longer then 2 minutes if that.
Natalya/Paige def. Tamina/Naomi
Natalya got a good hometown pop. Match was really good. Natalya won with the Sharpshooter. After the match, Tamina and Naomi attacked the faces from behind, but Sasha Banks came out to make the save.
Kane/Big Show/Jericho def The Wyatt Family
Good match. Jericho always gets a good reception here. Jericho won with the Codebreaker, but I’m not sure if it was Rowan or Harper he pinned.
> Intermission
R-Truth def Stardust
Good comedy match. Lots of “Cody” chants.
Dolph Ziggler def Tyler Breeze
Great match. By far, match of the night. Lots of near falls. The crowd was very split lots of Let’s Go Ziggler/ Let’s Go Tyler chants. Ziggler won with the Zigzag by far better then any of the tv matches these two have had.
Dean Ambrose def Bray Wyatt
Not a bad match. Crowd was down a bit from the hot Ziggler/Breeze match. Ambrose reversed the sister Abigail for the win.
Overall, this was a really fun show that worked well in the smaller venue for the house show.
Editor’s Note: Finn Balor suffered an ankle injury in doing the double foot stomp finisher against Samoa Joe. There is no update past that he left the arena on crutches.
Submitted by Lou Pickney
Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss
Asuka won by submission with the Asuka Lock. Asuka received a strong ovation, and Bliss plays the heel role really well. Bliss got most of the offense in what was a slow-paced but fun opener, though at one point Asuka slapped her hard across the face. Asuka has amazing natural charisma, connecting with the crowd without saying a word.
Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa vs. Blake/Murphy
Blake and Murphy won with the combo suplex/top rope frog splash on Gargano. The crowd cheered Gargano and Ciampa wildly and really didn’t like Blake and Murphy, including the poodle braids or whatever it was in Blake’s hair. Gargano and Ciampa got most of the offense before the finish. Solid match.
Nia Jax vs. Billie Kay
Nia Jax won with a leg drop in a nothing match. Kay is gorgeous and athletic, but with the lumbering, plodding Jax in there, you couldn’t hope for much from this match. Luckily they at least kept it short.
Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn pinned Corbin after hitting the Helluva Kick. The fans popped big-time for Zayn, who carried Corbin to an excellent match. And, to his credit, Corbin took a couple of bumps over the top rope that were impressive. After teasing a pair of planchas early, Zayn hit Corbin outside the ring off the stage area (where the entrance was) with a flip dive to the floor. Corbin had several great near falls on Zayn and played the heel role well.
Intermission — Eden Stiles plugged the merchandise, not that she needed to as fans were crowded around it wanting to buy to an almost comical level.
NXT Tag Champions Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan
Gable and Jordan won via DQ when one of the D&D team pulled the ref out of the ring as he was about to make a three count. Gable is as great as advertised, but I was really impressed by Jordan, who is showing considerable improvement. This ended up being the longest match of the night, and the crowd loved American Alpha and didn’t need much convincing to boo Dash and Dawson. One of D&D screwed up a move early and landed ass-first on Jordan’s head as he laid prone on the mat. Luckily he seemed to be okay after it, not looking groggy or whatever, but it was the lone legit scare of the night. I would have noted which one landed on him if I hadn’t immediately been more concerned with Jordan’s well-being. Gable and Jordan doing the Rockers/Rock and Roll Express double dropkick is a great spot, by the way.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Emma
It’s Bayley (as they actually called her in the ring introduction) won by pinfall after the Belly to Bayley. As the match began, the smarks in the section next to mine went from tolerably amusing to annoying, cheering for Emma and yelling things like “Bubbles” loud enough to distract the crowd from the match. One especially really loud guy screamed for Emma to “burst her bubble” and a bemused Bayley looked over in the crowd. I shook my head and pointed at the guy who shouted it, lest she think it was me being disrespectful. On the upside of crowd stuff, the balcony started singing “Just a Friend” by Biz Markie (a song from 1989), replacing baby with Bayley in the chorus. After the match, Bayley did her best to hug the handful of young kids at ringside.
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe
Balor retained his title, pinning Joe after the Coup de Grace. Balor was doing the Too Sweet thing like crazy as he approached ringside from the stage, then did the gun hand motion that had seemingly the entire house chanting “Bullet Club” very loudly. The annoying smarks tried to start a TNA chant that was quickly booed down. Match was fine, solid execution as you would expect. After the match, Finn got on the house mic and mentioned that he had wrestled around the world, including spending “a few weeks” in Japan which was clever. He said he wasn’t kissing ass, but that he’s proudest of what he has done in NXT. He then did the New Age Outlaws gimmick “If you’re not down with that…” and even did the DX-style crotch chop.
– Eden then plugged Raw on 2/29 one last time and wished the fans a good evening.
OVERALL:
– Before the show, ring announcer Dasha Fuentes played a trivia game with two kids for tickets to the 2/29 Raw show in Nashville. The answers were all NXT wrestlers. Some jerk in the balcony yelled out “Chris Benoit” as an answer and got summarily booed and shouted down by the audience. One of the kids hilariously guessed Bull Dempsey on one of the questions, which popped those in the crowd who knew he had been released today. Another guessed Ultimate Warrior on a question, which amusingly led Eden to remind them that they were talking about NXT wrestlers. In the end, both kids ended up with tickets.
– Most of the audience was young males, some families and kids but not many. There were a good amount of women there too.
– Fun show, definitely got my $65 worth for my seventh row seat. That actually was my first time at the War Memorial Auditorium ever, and it’s amazing that it isn’t used for non-WWE TV tapings of some sort since it has an ideal capacity for a mid-major promotion, a great setup with the balcony area like the Manhattan Center in some ways, and an overall awesome vibe.
– Hugo Knox beat Tucker Knight with the split leg moonsault after an evenly fought match. Early on, they allowed the fans to decide who the favorite would be, and tonight, it was Hugo. Tucker wore Hugo down before a hot comeback and the flashy moonsault for the win.
– Adrian Reese and Mandy beat Aliyah and Daria. Reese controlled most of the match, and picked up the win in a pretty quick match.
– Riddick Moss beat Patrick from Tough Enough, making his NXT debut. Quick match. The crowd was behind Patrick for his comeback before Moss put him away.
– Elias Samson beat Chris Girard. Intense action by the former Biff Busick, grunting and laying in his holds. Elias took control and heckled the crowd. Samson picks up the win with his neckbreaker. Before the matc, Tom Phillips interviewed Samson who sings a song about how awful Lakeland is.
– Apollo Crews beat Tino Sabbateli with the standing moonsault. This is the match of the night thus far. Tino was impressive and was able to keep up with Apollo’s athletic ability. They traded reversals early on with Tino following up by taunting the crowd. By far, this is Tino’s best match which says a lot about Crews.
– Manny Andrade beat Steve Cutler with the running knees. Manny is winning over the locals with great moves and action.
– Tom Phillips interviewed Dallas Harper, the 6’9″ signee who was brought in last October. He was wearing classy attire with suspenders and a bowtie. He put down the fans and the town, saying he would not be shucking and jiving.
– Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan. Royce took most of this match other than a few Morgan hope spots. These two worked well together.
– The Hype Bros beat The Vaudevillains in our main event with the Hype Ryder. This featured a lot of Mojo comedy including kicking a field goal out of Aiden English. Vaudevillains broke up one Hype Ryder attempt and almost stole the victory before the Hype Bros hit it and scored the win.
Submitted by Adam Kirby from the sold-out Minglewood Hall in Memphis, TN
Asuka over Emma
Solid back and forth with everyone over with the crowd which has been the case for every match. Crowd is electric for NXT’s first time in Memphis.
American Alpha over Blake and Murphy
Another very solid and competitive match. Already this show feels different from last Fall’s show in Nashville. This feels more like an ROH house show than a WWE house show, which the Nashville show in October felt like.
Alexa Bliss over Billie Kay
Not much here. Alexa worked over Billie Kay’s arm only to beat her with the sparkle splash. Alexa has definitely grown as an in-ring worker and had pretty fun crowd interactions. Alexa had most of the offense here and this was felt like a definite cool down match.
Samoa Joe over Sami Zayn
This continues the theme of the night of very competitive back and forth matches. Samoa Joe wins with the Coquina Clutch. Afterwards, extends a hand to Zayn only to flip him off instead. Very fun but short. Ready to see their next two matches on TV.
– Intermission. Dasha Fuentes is very good in her role tonight as announcer/time keeper. I’m impressed. Maybe it’s just because I was right behind her, but she was as into it as the wrestlers and ref. Great job.
NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson over Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa
Maybe the worst match of the show. Fell apart at the end with nobody knowing who was legal. Very much a whatever match. Great crowd interaction though.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley over Nia Jax
Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly after a throw into an exposed turnbuckle. Good match, never quite reached the heights of their Takeover London match, but played off of that match with Bayley repeatedly going for the guillotine. Crowd was very into it.
NXT Champion Finn Balor over Baron Corbin
Decent and competitive match with Corbin controlling most of it. This guy was constantly getting boos and jeers about how much he sucks or can’t wrestle or is going bald. Constant interaction with all the shit talkers in the crowd. Match went outside with Balor hitting the dropkick into the barricade and then rolling Corbin into the ring for the Coup de Grace. Balor finished the show with a rendition of “Walking in Memphis” about going to the top rope and driving his feet into Baron’s throat.
Very fun show with a lot of good and interesting work up and down the card from everyone involved. Definitely catch the Nashville and Indiana shows this weekend if you can.
WWE has hired new talent, but there is at least one departure as well in the last day.
Bull Dempsey (James Smith) was released Friday, confirming via Twitter. “It’s been real @WWENXT. Amazing group of coaches and coworkers and a helluva boss. Thank you for the opportunity @TripleH. See ya down the road. That being said, I’m available for bookings, appearances, birthdays, bar mitzvahs and everything in between.” He also gave a Gmail address where he’s now taking bookings.
Dempsey had gotten a push on NXT TV in the past, portrayed as a tough guy and then as a comedy figure, making fun of his weight issues. He was an audience favorite, but you could see they had lost interest in pushing him in recent months, similar to what happened with Sami Callihan before being let go.
The new hire is Cathy Kelley, 27, who is the latest person from Maria Menounos’ AfterBuzz network to be hired by WWE following Ryan Katz, an NXT producer, and Daria Berenato, who came from Tough Enough and was the first member of last season’s cast to be put in live matches. She has wrestling experience as an interviewer of the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood television show.
– Air Date: February 4, 2016 (Feb 3 in Canada) – Location: FedExForum in Memphis, TN
– The Big News:
Chris Jericho and A.J. Styles will have a rematch next week on Smackdown. Also, the main event actually had a real finish, but not before some tension between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.
– Show Recap:
Roman Reigns beat Rusev (w/Alberto Del Rio & King Barrett) via DQ
Less than 3 minutes into the match, Del Rio and Barrett pulled Reigns out of the ring and tossed him into the barricade for a DQ. Ambrose immediately ran out and attacked Rusev. He tried a diving elbow on Barrett and Del Rio but they moved and he nailed Reigns instead.
Ambrose was stunned, so Barrett grabbed him and Del Rio hit a superkick. They dragged him in the ring and Rusev applied the Accolade, but Reigns jumped in the ring with a chair and the League of Nations bailed. Lawler accused Ambrose of intentionally attacking Reigns, but Reigns very obviously did not see it that way. After a break, they announced a tag match with these men for the main event.
Backstage, Renee Young asked Ambrose if his attack on Reigns was a preview of Fastlane. Ambrose said it was an accident, because sometimes he gets wild. He added, “Trust me, when I come after Roman, he’ll know it.” Ambrose finished by saying they’d be on the same page tonight.
U.S. Champion Kalisto beat Kevin Owens via pinfall in a non-title match
In an inset promo, Kalisto said he’s fighting for himself, the legacy of the title and the honour of the fight. Dolph Ziggler did commentary. This was a good match. Owens took Kalisto to the outside and bounced him off the barricade. He cleared the table and set up for a powerbomb, but actually powerbombed Kalisto into Ziggler.
Owens then superkicked Ziggler, and took Kalisto back in the ring. Ziggler miraculously popped up to distract Owens, so Kalisto applied a school boy for the pinfall win. Owens knocked Kalisto down from behind but bailed as soon as Ziggler jumped in the ring.
Owens powerbombing Kalisto into Ziggler was the funniest thing on Smackdown in a while, but it was sort of meaningless considering he lost anyway and Ziggler was totally fine afterwards. Still, Owens was great here and he acted distraught afterwards because of the loss.
Backstage, Jo-Jo interviewed The Miz, who said everything he always says. I was distracted by the “Smackdown” sign behind Miz, because it had a sizable rip along the bottom. Do they only have one “Smackdown” sign?
Ryback beat Erick Rowan (w/Braun Strowman) via pinfall
Ryback has new gear, and yes, he’s basically dressed like Goldberg – plain black trunks, gloves, kneepads and boots. Strowman tried a distraction, but Ryback tossed Rowan into him to knock him off the apron. Ryback followed with a meat hook clothesline on Rowan for the win. Strowman clumsily pushed Ryback out of the ring and he slowly backed down the aisle as they all stared at each other.
They showed some members of the Memphis Grizzlies in attendance, including Vince Carter.
Backstage, Renee asked Becky Lynch why she would help Sasha Banks who is after the same title as her. Before Lynch could explain, Banks jumped in and said if she saw Lynch on fire, she wouldn’t help. They bickered back and forth until they sort of begrudgingly agreed to help each other to take out Team B.A.D. before moving on to Charlotte. Renee was confused.
They announced Brock Lesnar for Raw in Seattle this Monday.
A.J. Styles beat The Miz via submission
Chris Jericho joined commentary and was very good. Byron Saxton wasted no time in reminding Jericho that he lost to Styles on Raw, and Jericho and threatened to slap him. Jericho said Styles came into WWE the same way as him, completely on his own with no friends. Lawler repeated Miz’s “redneck rookie” line, and Jericho said he’s not a rookie and accused Miz and Lawler of having ego problems.
Styles won with a Calf crusher (that’s what they called it) in a good match. I’d complain about Miz getting too much offense, but Styles kicked out of most of his pinfall attempts at a one count.
After the match, Jericho went in the ring and said everybody knows Styles is good, otherwise he never would’ve gotten to WWE or beaten him. Jericho said Styles was good, but wondered if he was great. Jericho has been lying awake at night thinking about it, wondering if Styles could beat him again, so Jericho challenged him to a rematch on Smackdown next week. Styles shook Jericho’s hand and brought him in close, telling him “I’m better than great. I’m phenomenal, Chris, and you’re going to find out – again.” This was good, and the crowd was into A.J.
Backstage, Reigns told Jo-Jo that he and Ambrose are never really on the same page, because Ambrose is crazy, but that’s what he likes about him – they’re different. He said what happens in Fastlane will be no accident, but tonight they’ll fight together.
WWE Tag Team Champion The New Day beat Social Outcasts via pinfall in a six-man tag
New Day did a promo about how great it is having gold. The Social Outcasts interrupted and Adam Rose informed New Day that the tag titles were bronze, not gold. Rose said they would take the bronze off their wastes. New Day told him not to touch their wastes. They did some more “comedy” and then the match started.
The end of the match was a bit of a mess, but I did like the finish. Axel tried to win with his feet on the middle rope, but Woods knocked him off. Kingston then rolled up Axel and put his feet on the middle rope for the pinfall win.
WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) beat Alicia Fox (w/Brie Bella) via submission in a non-title match
As soon as the match started, I wondered if they would do the double big boot spot, and they did. That led to a comeback by Fox, which the crowd didn’t care about. Charlotte hit a “chop block” and applied the Figure Eight for the submission win. Match was about 4 minutes.
Another “comedy” segment with Goldust and R-Truth. Truth was at the hotel and Goldust showed up dressed as a barhop. Some stuff happened and then it was over. Goldust should seek out El Dandy. He’s a great wrestler.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns beat Rusev & Alberto Del Rio via pinfall
Lawler mentioned all night that we would see Ambrose and Reigns implode tonight. That led to the key spot in this match. Reigns made a hot tag and ran wild, but was taken outside the ring by Del Rio. Ambrose went for a suicide dive, but Del Rio moved, and Ambrose went right into Reigns. However, they didn’t collide because Reigns caught him.
Reigns looked annoyed and asked Ambrose what he was doing. Rusev tried to jump Ambrose, so Reigns hit him with a superman punch, shoved him back in the ring and hit a spear for the win. Afterwards, Reigns and Ambrose got along just fine and chuckled about what happened.
As the show ended, they plugged A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho for next week.
– Final Thoughts:
This show was a mixed bag. The main stuff was good, but it really dragged after the Styles match. I am glad they pushed a big match for next week and we finally had a main event end with a real finish.
After 3 months, Finn Balor and Apollo Crews finally reaches a conclusion to their match from November. Plus William Regal decides what to do after Sami Zayn & Samoa Joe both won a Triple Threat match last week.
Spoiler: It’s exactly what you expected him to do.
*****
The Vaudevillians beat The Hype Bros
The Vaudevillians are back and they are evil again, but they still have their happy baby face music. Eight years ago Zack Ryder did a run in on the main event of WrestleMania…just thought I would point that out. Speaking of Ryder, he is the one that the Vaudevillians got the heat on.
The move of the match was Ryder began making a comeback on both men and went for an inzigiri to Gotch. Gotch ducked, but English was right there to get it anyway. Mojo got the hot tag, but Ryder tagged back in quickly and the Vaudevillians won with the Whirling Dervish.
– Tom Phillips sat down with Carmella about her upcoming title match with Bayley. She is the daughter of former WWF jobber Paul Vandale. Remember the good old days when Carmella was a hairdresser and became a Diva because Enzo got her fired for dumping hair cream on her dog?
Anyway, she’s looking forward to wrestling Bayley next week and will beat Emma tonight.
– Dash and Dawson laughed at the idea of Enzo Amore and Big Cass talking about kicking their butts. They pointed out that Enzo and Cass lost their title shot. They can talk tough all they want, but they can not defeat Dash & Dawson.
Carmella pinned Emma
Carmella looks a lot better in street clothes than she does in her ring gear. They did not play up the storyline set up last week where the heels mocked Carmella for doing nothing to deserve being #1 Contender and the fact that Bayley won the tag team match a few weeks ago without her. Emma showed Carmella no respect, slapping her in the back of the head and Carmella suddenly won with a backslide.
– Both Sami Zayn felt he should be the number one contender following last week’s match where both he and Samoa Joe made Baron tap. Joe scared the cameraman and ignored the question.
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady defeated Two Men
Enzo really does cut a hell of a promo these days. He has improved so much from when he started, if you recall he used to be so bad that he wasn’t even trusted to get in a single offensive maneuver and would just spend the entire match selling. The jobbers never got named, but Colin gave one of them a hiptoss from inside the ring to the pretty black mats. Colin laid out the other with a Catatonic and Enzo pinned him with the Rocket Launcher.
– Apollo Crews was stretching backstage when a camera was shoved in her face. He said he has what it takes to be NXT Champion, but tonight is step one in becoming champion one day.
– NXT General Manager William Regal was about to announce Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe to determine the #1 Contender when Baron Corbin stormed in and demanded to be involved, even though he tapped out to two men. He then made Zayn vs Joe. Makes you wonder why they bothered making you wait a week. It was later announced that the match was booked for two weeks from now.
Asuka tapped out Santana Garrett
Santana is a well known women’s wrestler on the Independent circuit and spent over a year in TNA where she was Brittany. In case you don’t remember, she was in a relationship with Samuel Shaw and tried to have a lesbian relationship with Madison Rayne. She did a lot better than most against Asuka but got trapped in a rolling armbar. Santana got out, but got locked in the Asuka Lock for the tap out.
– Finn Balor said Mr. Regal made the right decision by making Joe vs Zayn.
NXT Champion Finn Balor pinned Apollo Crews
These two first wrestled back in November, but it ended in a disqualification when Baron Corbin interfered. Apollo hasn’t been seen much since losing to Baron at NXT Takeover and this is Finn’s first tv match since the same night.
This was a good, solid match. The crowd seemed exhausted at this point as there were people openly yawning in the front row. Everything these two did was very good. However the fans just couldn’t get into it until the finish. Balor began making his comeback, which woke them up, but they weren’t nearly as loud as they had been.
Crews kicked out of a Coup de Grace to the back and Finn kicked out of the Gorilla Slam and standing Moonsault. Finn hit the Slingblade, the corner dropkick and the Coup de Grace before pinning Crews with a brainbuster. After the match, Balor shook the hand of Crews.
That does it for tonight! Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Alberto Del Rio interfered for the DQ and Dean Ambrose made the save. This set up a tag team match for later in the show.
U.S. Champion Kalisto pinned Kevin Owens.
Dolph Ziggler was on commentary and distracted Owens. After the match, Owens laid both Ziggler and Kalisto out.
– The Miz did an interview talking about his upcoming match with A.J. Styles.
Ryback beat Erick Rowan
After the match, Braun Strowman attacked Ryback. Ryback has no gear. He’s ditched the singlet and is now wearing regular tights.
– Renee Young interviewed Becky Lynch. Sasha Banks came out during the interview.
A.J. Styles beat The Miz via submission with the calf killer
After the match, Chris Jericho cut a promo and challenged Styles to a match next week on Smackdown, which will be taped this coming Tuesday in Portland, OR.
– They advertised Brock Lesnar’s first live Smackdown appearance in a decade for Tuesday night in Portland, OR.
– Roman Reigns did an interview regarding the main event.
– The New Day did an interview. The Social Outcasts, minus Bo Dallas came out.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day beat The Social Outcasts.
Charlotte beat Alicia Fox with the figure eight.
Brie Bella was at ringside.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Rusev & Alberto Del Rio.
Raw set another all-time record low for the era for a non-football season broadcast last night averaging 3.37 million viewers.
The prior lowest audience outside of holidays and football season was 3.46 million set on June 29, 2015.
In particular was a strong third hour drop to 3.09 million viewers. Most of the third hours against the NFL topped last night’s final hour. This RAW was headlined by Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. New Day.
Going in, expectations weren’t strong with the Iowa Caucus coverage expected to hurt. The show was down 18 percent from last week, which showed the combination of the day after the Rumble increase and the Dwayne Johnson appearance didn’t carry over a week later.
For the three hours:
8 p.m. 3.59 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.46 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.09 million viewers
