Mixed Match Challenge – October 30, 2018: Turn It Off
IMG Credit: WWE
Mixed Match Challenge
Date: October 30, 2018
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Vic Joseph
We’re getting pretty deep into the competition now as some teams are over the halfway point with their matches. That means things are going to start getting more interesting around here in some cases, but at the same time we might get some of the most one sided matches on the show. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Raw Division: Alicia Fox/Jinder Mahal (0-2) vs. Braun Strowman/Ember Moon (2-0)
The guys start so Jinder offers the power of shanti. That earns him a shove so he goes for a test of strength instead. This goes as well as you would expect and a shoulder sends him over for a tag to Alicia. Fox’s shoulder works a bit better on Moon, who stands up and watches as Fox runs the ropes so long that she needs water.
Somehow Fox is fine enough to take her down into a chinlock for a bit, followed by a big boot for two. The chinlock goes on again because Fox doesn’t have a very deep offense. Ember finally gets up and brings Braun in again so house can be cleaned. Strowman chases the Singh Brothers into a suicide dive from Ember, leaving Fox to go after Braun. She puts her hat on his head, which powers him up enough to powerslam Mahal for the pin at 9:17.
Rating: D-. This would be one of those matches where there was nothing to see as there was no drama and Fox is just so bad in the ring. Moon is talented but not ready to carry her through a match like this. That leaves Jinder vs. Braun and you can imagine what a waste of time that is. Big waste of time here, as are most Mahal and Fox matches.
Finn Balor and Bayley are ready to win next week in Manchester.
Lio Rush says Mickie James and Bobby Lashley aren’t losing next week.
Smackdown Division: Lana/Rusev (0-2) vs. AJ Styles/Charlotte (2-0)
Rusev grabs a Lana sign from the crowd so Charlotte picks up one of her own for a SIGN OFF before the bell. They stare at each other as the match starts and exchange chops with Lana’s actually making the most noise. Rusev throws in a Flair strut and let’s cut to R-Truth and Carmella ordering food in the back, with various grunting still heard from the ring. Charlotte chops Lana to the floor as we’re over three minutes in now with all four still inside. Rusev chops AJ down and gets a RUSEV DAY chant.
For some reason AJ leaves so Charlotte can chop Rusev, which doesn’t do much good. Instead here’s Lana back in to deck Charlotte as we actually get going over four minutes into the match. Charlotte does a reverse Worm and gets kicked in the chest as we discuss Truth’s pizza choices. Lana gets two off a facebuster so Charlotte suplexes her down. The guys come in and AJ hits the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. Rusev sends him into the corner where Charlotte tags herself in as everything breaks down. Charlotte’s moonsault hits Rusev and the Figure Eight makes Lana tap at 7:44.
Rating: D-. I can’t put this beneath the first one but this is the kind of thing that I would be embarrassed to be seen watching. Maybe AJ was gassed from the Smackdown match with Bryan but my goodness this was awful. They’re getting worse and worse about hiding the fact that they have nothing to do in these matches and that’s making the shows harder to watch. I expected more from AJ and Charlotte, making this more disappointing than anything else.
Naomi and Jimmy Uso are ready for Truth and Carmella.
Truth and Carmella can’t go to England because Truth can’t find his passport.
Overall Rating: F. If this is as good of a show as they can put on, just cut the rest of the season down and give us AJ/Charlotte vs. Strowman/Moon in the finals. There was no point to watching this show as they knew exactly where this was going and they put in as little effort as they could. It’s one thing to do some comedy but to do it every single week is really tiring. I don’t hate the show by any means because it’s such a low level thing that it’s not worth getting mad at, but it’s still something that is becoming less and less fun to watch every week.
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It’s going to be interesting, if they do AJ/Flair v Strowman/Moon, with the finals being at TLC. Why would 2 title contenders and a titleholder be used for the MMC finals, when there’s better matches to be had?
Balor/Bayley v Rusev/Lana would have been a perfectly fine TLC Kickoff Show match, and none of those people are doing anything else.
That second match is the entire problem with the whole concept. Why are Rusev and Lana 0-3? And why are AJ and Charlotte 3-0? Because the record is based on main roster perception, which it should NOT be. This is supposed to be a fun thing, where the winners don’t get any benefit. Why then, use main roster “ability” in picking winners? Why not make this a tournament “for the fans” and let them pick the winners based on which team is entertaining them more? People like Lana and Rusev and if the leash was off, they’d entertain the heck out of you. Same with, say, Truth and Carmella. This thing is killed by pretending credibility matters.