Mixed Match Challenge – February 20, 2018: Mad Nia and the Robe Warriors
IMG Credit: WWE
Mixed Match Challenge
Date: February 20, 2018
Location: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix
We’re on the last night of the first round with what could be an interesting match. This week will see Charlotte/Bobby Roode vs. Nia Jax/Apollo. Now given that every match has been Raw vs. Smackdown with Raw winning the first three and Smackdown winning the next two, the ending shouldn’t be a huge mystery here. Let’s get to it.
Miss last week’s show? I didn’t and here it is.
Cole explains how to keep comments on your screen. If you can watch Facebook Live, you probably know how to do that.
Jimmy Uso and Naomi are live commenting on the show.
First Round: Charlotte/Bobby Roode vs. Nia Jax/Apollo
Charlotte and Roode’s unofficial nicknames: the Robe Warriors. Apollo does the Titus Worldwide dance along with Titus and Dana Brooke, making Nia look like she wants to dive into a shark tank. The guys start but hang on a second as Roode needs to do some strutting. That’s not cool with Charlotte, who stops to give him a quick lesson. After a funny moment, Roode snapmares Apollo down and strikes the well received pose.
Apollo armdrags him into an armbar as we look at Nia. Back up and a dropkick gives Apollo two and let’s look at Nia again. Roode is frustrated so it’s off to the women, with Nia having to tell the cheering Titus to get off the apron. Dana Brooke grabs Charlotte’s foot so Nia yells at her, allowing Charlotte to unload with shoulders in the corner.
A dropkick puts Nia on the floor and Charlotte does Roode’s pose (though we seem to cut away when she shakes her hips). Back in and Nia runs her over but Charlotte knees her way out of a suplex attempt. Dana offers ANOTHER distraction so Nia can deck Charlotte, earning herself a rant from Nia. Charlotte slips out of a Samoan drop and a chop block sets up the Figure Four.
Unfortunately Nia is tall enough that she can headbutt her way out, meaning it’s off to the men as things speed up. The Glorious DDT is countered into a rollup for two, followed by Roode hitting a spinebuster for two of his own. Everything breaks down and Charlotte shoves Nia off the top, setting up the moonsault. Roode grabs the Glorious DDT to pin Apollo at 10:39.
Rating: C. I really wasn’t feeling this one as there wasn’t much of a way to convince people that either Apollo would beat Roode or that Nia would beat….well any big time opponent actually. They tried something with Nia being annoyed at Titus Worldwide but it’s not like there’s some kind of a deep history there.
Next week: Finn Balor/Sasha Banks vs. Miz/Asuka.
Balor says next week won’t be awesome, but it will be Too Sweet.
Asuka apparently still can’t speak English on this show so Miz says it’ll be Awe-ska.
Charlotte and Roode both do a WOO with Charlotte eventually giving Roode’s a pass.
After the winners leave, Nia has Titus take off his jacket and then yells at the entire team, blaming Titus and Dana for the loss. Apollo drops down behind Titus so Nia can shove him down. For some reason Dana takes a swing at Nia and that means a Samoan drop. Nia smiles to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Here’s the thing: this was a show we had to get through to get to the more interesting stuff. It’s not a good match in the first place and the Nia vs. Titus Worldwide stuff wasn’t anything either. You have to get that over with though to move on to the second round where things could get interesting. Not a terrible show, but the weakest so far.
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