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WWE News: This Week’s ‘WWE NXT’ & ‘Thursday Night SmackDown’ Spoilers [March 16 & 17]

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 04:00 PST, Mar 16, 2016

Note: The following contains spoilers for WWE NXT, airing on March 16, and WWE Thursday Night SmackDown, airing on March 17.

With less than three weeks until WrestleMania 32, everything in the WWE Universe points towards the epic night in Dallas on April 3. While most of the drama involving The Undertaker, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon is reserved for WWE Raw, USA’s Thursday night offering continues to look at the stories that involve Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and Roman Reigns.

On top of that, this week’s Thursday Night SmackDown addresses the issues of what the WWE plans to do with the United States and Tag Team Championships at Mania. The show also includes appearances by Kevin Owens, A.J. Styles, The New Day, The League of Nations, Chris Jericho, and so many more.

On WWE NXT, the tag team division and the women’s division are in focus as the NXT Universe waits to see who will challenge for the titles of those respective divisions at NXT TakeOver: Dallas on April 1.

WWE Thursday Night SmackDown spoilers

This episode was taped in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 15.

  • This week’s WWE SmackDown begins with Roman Reigns cutting an in-ring promo about Triple H, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and WrestleMania 32.
  • Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz.
  • Kevin Owens and A.J. Styles have a backstage segment that sets up a match for later in the show.
  • Dean Ambrose is shown on the TitanTron out enjoying his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Goldust. Post-match, D-Von and Bubba Ray attacked Goldust. R-Truth and The Usos made sure that the beating stopped.
  • A pre-recorded interview between Michael Cole and WWE United States Champion Kalisto confirmed that Sin Cara’s tag team partner is accepting The Big Guy’s challenge for WrestleMania 32.
  • WWE Divas Champion Charlotte and father Ric Flair begin an in-ring promo and eventually bring out Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. Violence ensues but Charlotte escapes unharmed.
  • After an in-ring promo from WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day, another WrestleMania 32 match is confirmed between them and The League of Nations.
  • Kofi Kingston defeated “King” Wade Barrett, but the League of Nations wins the post-match brawl.
  • Dean Ambrose is shown out-and-about in Cincinnati again, this time at a bar for St. Patrick’s Day.
  • When the Social Outcasts try to hold up the show, Dean Ambrose comes out and clears the ring with a kendo stick. The Lunatic Fringe cuts a promo on Brock Lesnar, who returns to WWE SmackDown next week.
  • WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens defeated A.J. Styles in non-title match when Chris Jericho provided a distraction. Y2J continued to beat on The Phenomenal One after the match as SmackDown ended.

The SmackDown spoilers above have been confirmed by Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT spoilers

This episode was taped on January 27 at Full Sail University, just outside of Orlando, Florida.

  • The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley) defeated Angelo Dawkins and Kenneth Crawford.
  • Emma defeated Deonna Purrazzo.
  • Tommaso Ciampa defeated Jesse Sorensen.
  • Bayley & Asuka defeated Eva Marie & Nia Jax.
  • American Alpha (Chad Gables & Jason Jordan) defeated The Vaudevillains to become the No. 1 contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
  • General Manager William Regal announces that Asuka is the new No. 1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship.

These WWE NXT spoilers have been verified by Wrestling Inc.

Where To Watch

The WWE Network airs new episodes of WWE NXT on Wednesdays at 8/7c. It is available for streaming on-demand immediately. Additionally, on Thursdays, replays of WWE NXT are available to stream on-demand with a Hulu Plus subscription. USA airs WWE Thursday Night SmackDown at 8/7c. While they are not made available on the WWE Network for several weeks after they air on USA, replays of WWE SmackDown are made available on-demand with a Hulu Plus subscription starting Friday.

[Image via WWE]

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