Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy captured the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships.
WWE Raw featured the crowning of new Raw tag team champions as Seth Rollins and new disciple Buddy Murphy defeated The Viking Raiders. Andrade defeated Rey Mysterio in an entertainingly death-defying Ladder Match, while Brock Lesnar made quick work of Ricochet by kicking the floundering babyface in the nether regions during a promo segment.
WWE Raw hauled in another record low with just 2.030 million viewers up against stiff competition from the NCAA College Football Championship game. Numbers should rise back up closer to the mean on an unopposed holiday show.
WWE Raw Viewership—Last Five Weeks:
- January 13, 2020—2.030 million viewers
- January 6, 2020—2.385 million viewers
- December 30, 2019—2.439 million viewers
- December 23, 2019—1.835 million viewers
- December 16, 2019—2.053 million viewers
WWE Raw Key Competition:
- NBA on TNT: Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics
- The Bachelor
From the Forbes WWE Vault:
WWE Total YouTube Viewership for Raw Last Monday: 7,908,663 (Down from 10,435,284 views)
- Most-Viewed: Brock Lesnar Sends R-Truth to Suplex City (1,797,547 views)
- Least-Viewed: The Viking Raiders vs. The Singh Bros. (136,277 views)
- Median Viewership: 539,384
Average Attendance for “C City”: 4,546
Average WWE Raw Ticket Price at the INTRUST Bank Arena: $40
Estimated Live Gate for WWE Raw: $181,840
WWE Raw Results: Monday, January 20, 2020
Opening Segment Featuring Seth Rollins, AOP and Buddy Murphy
Seth Rollins’ new t-shirt is quite dope.
All Buddy Murphy had to do was turn heel and now he gets to wear a suit on camera instead of always being in his gear. Talk about a come-up.
The first promo as a heel is always crucial, especially for an unproven #WWE Superstar like Buddy Murphy, and he didn’t even get to say a single word. Why did he join Rollins? What was his motivation? What's his mindset? What can I expect? Nothing? Okay then.
AOP couldn’t have been too thrilled with Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy cutting the line and challenging for the Raw Tag Team Championships.
Andrade def. Rey Mysterio—United States Championship Ladder Match
Vic Joseph casually referenced Rey Mysterio’s Ladder Match against Eddie Guerrero like we weren’t supposed to remember that a human child was literally at stake.
Andrade was very lucky not to break his neck after overshooting a scary-looking bump on a ladder.
Rey Mysterio will never run out of ways to use a ladder.
Aleister Black def. Local Competitor
Until Aleister Black’s next Buddy Murphy-like rival comes along, all of his matches should be three-second squashes.
This entire match can be viewed in a single GIF.
Brock Lesnar Appears Live
Paul Heyman has really stepped up his suit game in 2020.
Hearing Ricochet’s music play after Paul Heyman asked who could eliminate Brock Lesnar felt like a punchline.
Ricochet’s promo started out rough per usual but once he settled into a rhythm it was actually pretty good.
Over the past two weeks, Brock Lesnar has picked up a microphone and said "that's whassup" and "not scared," and I'm pretty sure it's more words than he spoke in all of 2019.
This segment as a whole did Ricochet no favors.
Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton Battle to a No Contest
Poor Charly Caruso had to pretend like Randy Orton is a significant favorite to win the Royal Rumble. I will go on record in saying that there is no chance Randy Orton wins the 2020 Royal Rumble. No chance. At all. None. Zero. Zilch.
Randy Orton’s reaction to getting chopped by Drew McIntyre was impeccable selling that bordered on comedy.
There was never really an an official Drew McIntyre babyface turn, but if there was ever any doubt, getting jumped by a heel stable all but confirmed it.
Not only will Randy Orton not win the Royal Rumble, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t eliminated by Drew McIntyre.
Becky Lynch def. Kairi Sane
After about 10% of Asuka's mist landed on Becky Lynch last week, the WWE graphics department impressively enhanced the spot during replays.
Asuka made the unconventional decision to coach from the top of the ring post and the referee did nothing to stop it, so apparently this is a pro wrestling rule that I have been unaware of for the past 33 years.
Buddy Murphy and Seth Rollins def. The Viking Raiders—WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
It took forever for Seth Rollins to hit his cue and knock Ivar off the top rope, even after Erik screamed “get up!”
Seth Rollins has an uncomfortable history of delivering the Curb Stomp on MLK day and that tradition won him the Raw Tag Team Championships.
So AOP is supposed to act like it doesn’t bother then that they won’t be able to compete for the tag team titles on Raw as long as their stablemates have them?
Buddy Murphy didn’t even get to comment on his first tag team championship victory.
Erick Rowan def. Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy should steal Erick Rowan's creature and run as fast as he can with it, all the way to AEW. If Vince wants it back, hold him up for money.
Jerry Lawler seems to believe a snake is in Erick Rowan’s bag, which is not that bad of a guess. Too bad the on-air guess all but confirms it isn’t a snake.
Erick Rowan’s Royal Rumble Elimination Prediction: Somebody steals his creature and he jumps over the top rope to run after them.
Rusev and Liv Morgan vs. Bobby Lashley and Lana
Mojo Rawley is in the midst of pulling off (stealing) my idea for the WWE 24/7 Championship to be held by a monster willing to take on all comers.
If Rusev and Liv Morgan lose this match then I’m done with this feud.
What is Rusev even doing in this feud at this point. And what an uneventful debut for Liv Morgan. Can we move on now?
.
