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The so-called ratings war between Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live became a storyline on television when the blue brand delivered a victory to close out 2016 with a jam packed, pay-per-view worthy show. It’s likely that will be the only win for the Shane McMahon led crew, at least until later this year.
That’s because football season is over and the red brand already jumped up to 3.27 million viewers this week. SmackDown, meanwhile, brought in 2.65 million, up from last week’s 2.53 million but nowhere near Raw.
This week’s show featured Alexa Bliss retaining her women’s championship in a steel cage match against Becky Lynch thanks to an assist from the returning Mickie James. So while Raw may have won the week with ease, it’s not all bad, what with the women’s main event drawing relatively great numbers.
The future still looks bright.
For complete results and the live blog for SmackDown this week click here. To read a complete recap & review of all the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.