Hello WWE fans, today we will look at the results of recent WWE shows, the Lita-Becky Lynch feud, and how NXT’s viewership numbers are higher when Io Shirai is WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
RESULTS
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
2/4/2022
Ricochet (w/ Cesaro) defeated Ridge Holland (w/ Sheamus)
Ridge Holland & Sheamus defeated Cesaro & Ricochet
Jimmy Uso (w/ Jey Uso) defeated Erik (w/ Ivar)
Aliyah defeated Natalya via countout
WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Rick Boogs) defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Shanky) in a, “WWE Intercontinental Title Contender’s Match”
The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) defeated Los Lotharios (Angel & Humberto)
RESULTS
WWE RAW
2/7/2022
Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
AJ Styles defeated WWE United States Champion Damian Priest in a non title match
Dominik Mysterio (w/ Rey Mysterio) defeated The Miz (w/ Maryse)
Bianca Belair defeated Nikki ASH
Kevin Owens defeated Austin Theory
Doudrop defeated Liv Morgan
Riddle vs. Seth Rollins ended in a no contest
Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins defeated RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle)
There was also a promo segment involving Lita and Becky Lynch on this episode, promoting their upcoming match at Elimination Chamber on Saturday 2/19. Many fans are happy to see Lita back, they’re enjoying her promo segments, and they’re looking forward to Lita’s match at Elimination Chamber for the RAW Women’s Championship.
But I think a way to make things even more interesting would be if they have a match this Monday on “RAW”, Becky Lynch purposely loses via countout so that she retains the RAW Women’s Championship, and then -to prevent Lynch from doing it again at Elimination Chamber- WWE officials change their match scheduled for that Saturday to a “Steel Cage” match.
It would go along with the Elimination Chamber theme and it would play up to Lita’s extreme reputation. WWE could make use of their archive by making mention that Lita was in the first, “Steel Cage” match in WWE history involving women, and show highlights from that match, which was in November 2003 against former WWE Women’s Champion Victoria. This would also be a timely way to promote the Peacock streaming service, enticing fans to check out that historical match.
RESULTS
WWE NXT 2.0
2/8/22
The Creed Brothers (Brutus & Julius Creed) (w/ Ivy Nile, Malcolm Bivens & Roderick Strong) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) in a, “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 2022 Semi Final” match
Tiffany Stratton defeated Wendy Choo
Pete Dunne defeated Draco Anthony
LA Knight defeated Sanga (w/ Grayson Waller)
Sarray defeated Dakota Kai
MSK (Nash Carter & Wes Lee) defeated Edris Enofe & Malik Blade in a, “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 2022 Semi Final” match
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose defeated Kay Lee Ray
This episode suffered record-low viewership. Many changes have been made to the NXT brand since September, and there is no doubt that those changes were done with the intention of making NXT better. But a negative change that has likely been overlooked by many has been a change to NXT’s women’s division- Io Shirai’s removal from the WWE NXT Women’s Championship scene.
When Io Shirai was WWE NXT Women’s Champion, she was often put in main event matches. Here are the viewership numbers from those episodes: 7/1/20- 792,000 7/15/20- 631,000 8/26/20 (tag team match)- 824,000 9/23/20 (mixed tag team match)- 696,000 10/28/20- 824,000 11/18/20- 638,000 4/7/21- 768,000
Keep in mind that these episodes took place during the Wednesday Night Wars, the period when NXT was going head to head with, “AEW Dynamite”. Io Shirai was defeated for the WWE NXT Women’s Championship on the 4/7/21 episode by Raquel Gonzalez. Here are the viewership numbers from when she was in the main event as champion. 7/20/21- 709,000 9/28/21- 655,000
While those numbers are in no way bad, the viewership numbers did not reach the level that they reached when Io Shirai was in that position, even with NXT no longer going head to head with, “AEW Dynamite”.
Mandy Rose defeated Raquel Gonzalez for the WWE NXT Women’s Championship on 10/26. She has been in the main event for only one episode so far since then, and it was the most recent episode, which had 400,000 viewers.
These viewership numbers do not reflect Raquel Gonzalez or Mandy Rose’s values as champions, nor does it indicate that NXT 2.0’s success is solely on the shoulders of its women’s division. However, it does indicate that Io Shirai is the top name in that division, and when she is the face of it, Shirai brings in the highest numbers that the division can.
Website: Harold-Williams.com
Twitter: @HWilliams13