Why Vince McMahon Changed This Week's WWE Raw Main Event
Why the New Day vs. Bloodline turned into Big E vs. Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley...
Vince McMahon's decision to change this week's WWE Raw main event came after observations made during last week's house shows in Georgia and South Carolina.
Per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, word on how well the Triple Threat bouts pitting Big E, Bobby Lashley, and Roman Reigns against each other had gone on the live events filtered through to Vince McMahon. The WWE Chairman and CEO then decided to switch the Raw main event, doing so at around midday on Monday (20 September).
Vince believed that the Triple Threat main event would help Raw draw a stronger television rating. He may have been correct in that assertion, as Raw improved to a 0.49 P18-49 rating and an average overall viewership of 1.793 million despite stiff competition from NFL Monday Night Football.
Raw was originally built around a trios match pitting Roman Reigns and The Usos' Bloodline stable against The New Day. This ended up playing out as Raw's opener, with former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley's interference leading to the Triple Threat being booked for later on.
Looking strong in both bouts, Reigns pinned Lashley in the main.