Report: Double Count-Out During Tag Team Title Match On WWE Raw Was A Botch

The New Day and Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander of The Hurt Business squared off once again on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw. The match soon descended into chaos and confusion, though, after Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston were counted out. 

Babyfaces Xavier Woods and Kingston quickly scampered up the ramp and were reluctant to restart the match despite MVP challenging them to return to the ring. The Raw Tag Team Champions did eventually change their minds but many fans were confused about why The New Day appeared to be the heels during the back and forth with MVP. 

Kingston and Woods ultimately went on to retain the title a few minutes later. 

Bryan Alvarez reported on Wrestling Observer Live that The Hurt Business were supposed to win by count-out but Benjamin didn't get back in the ring in time. As the officials are told to call the match like it's a shoot, the referee called for the bell and declared the result a double count-out. 

Alvarez said: "I was told that the finish of the match, and this was this morning so this is no longer speculation, the finish was supposed to be that The Hurt Business would win via count-out, but they're supposed to call it like a shoot and they didn't get in the ring fast enough so the ref called it a double count-out... So yes, it was a botch but it wasn't like a big-time botch. It was just one guy didn't get back in, so instead of a normal count-out it was a double count-out."