Cruz was pummeled; in the absence of Trump, Cruz goes back to being the one that has to be taken down.
Cruz handled himself well.
And Trump was vindicated. Fox News was back to its embarrassing level of childishness in the way it conducted the debates. The remaining candidates did alright, they mostly ignored the stupid questions asked and answered the questions they wished they had been asked.
But out of all the debates, in my opinion the best has been by Fox Business and the worst, silliest, have been by Fox News. Wallace and Kelly, insufferable. They can’t get it through their heads that the debates are not supposed to be about them; their job is to let the candidates debate one another on topics they consider important.
Cruz handled himself well and gained from being able to defend himself. Trump was only briefly referred to via jokes, which all agreed fit, the debate went better without him, and viewers concluded they’re better off without the butt of those jokes. Trump lost a chance to gain as Cruz did while raising doubts whether he could have defended himself as well as Cruz did.