The Big Takeaway: After WWE put out a pure Raw-rehash episode last week fronted by Scot Stanford, Main Event returned to its usual format this week with two pretty good tag matches.
Zack Ryder & No Way Jose worked well in tandem to score a victory in the opener, and Mickie James & Alicia Fox picked up a rare win at the end of the show.
**********
Tom Phillips and Percy Watson were on commentary this week as Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness were in England covering NXT UK.
Zack Ryder & No Way Jose defeated Curt Hawkins & Tyler Breeze (5:03)
A couple of notes before this one: Ryder has had a new mix done on his entrance music so that it feels a little fresher, Breeze is now sporting a beard that arguably rivals Ryder’s for shape and style, and Hawkins is now 0-256 coming out of this one.
Jose’s conga line made up for the lack of interest from the crowd as the early going saw Jose take on Hawkins and Breeze. A failed split-leg moonsault by Hawkins allowed Jose to get the hot tag to Ryder, who all but finished off Hawkins with the Broski Boot — only for the cover to be interrupted by Breeze.
Hawkins went pretty close to finally getting his win as he rolled up Ryder for 2.75. But the finish was all action as the ring filled and Jose hit Hawkins with the pop-up punch and then launched Ryder up in the air on to Breeze to hit the Rough Ryder for the win.
This was fun while it lasted. The conga line always gives Jose’s matches a little something else in terms of atmosphere and heat.
Mickie James & Alicia Fox defeated Dana Brooke & Ember Moon (7:13)
Despite being on the main roster for over 10 years now, Fox doesn’t pick up many wins. The surprise win for her & James here over Brooke & Moon, in a somewhat slow and muted match, is their first for 2019.
Fox and James cut the ring in half, dominating Moon with quick tags. Eventually, James missed a big boot looking like she’d tweaked her right knee and Brooke got the hot tag. Brooke barged into the ring, awkwardly taking out both James and Fox, before hitting a flapjack on Fox.
The high spot was Moon assisting Brooke off her shoulders to hit a senton onto Fox, but it wasn’t enough as Fox was able to come back to hit a big boot on Brooke. James then finished Brooke off with the Mickie-DT for the win.
With Braun Strowman out of action, Ember Moon will be teaming with Curt Hawkins in the Mixed Match Challenge season two playoffs.
Hawkins replacing Strowman in the tournament was announced during tonight’s episode of Raw. The Mixed Match Challenge playoffs will begin on this Tuesday’s episode, with Moon & Hawkins facing Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal and Mickie James & Bobby Lashley vs. Bayley & Finn Balor.
Ember Moon defeated Fox on Raw tonight and was accompanied by Hawkins for the match. Mahal defeated No Way Jose.
On commentary, Michael Cole pushed the storyline that Baron Corbin is punishing Moon for having teamed with Strowman. Hawkins has lost 236 straight matches.
Alexa Bliss, who was Strowman’s Mixed Match Challenge season one partner, was supposed to team with him again before being forced out of the tournament due to injury before it began. Moon was her replacement.
Charlotte Flair & Jeff Hardy vs. Carmella & R-Truth and Asuka & The Miz vs. Naomi & Jimmy Uso are SmackDown’s quarterfinal matches in Mixed Match Challenge. The finals of the tournament will take place at TLC on December 16, with the winning team entering their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30 and receiving “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
Jeff Hardy filled in for AJ Styles in one of two matchups featuring undefeated teams on an episode of Mixed Match Challenge from St. Louis. The late replacement and some other changes gave the show a different dynamic in some ways.
In the aftermath of losing the WWE Championship on SmackDown, Styles was pulled from his scheduled match later that night teaming Charlotte Flair in the tournament. Hardy instead teamed with Flair to give Asuka & The Miz their first loss in Mixed Match Challenge.
Losing on this episode snapped a winning streak that began when Asuka & Miz won the inaugural season of Mixed Match Challenge earlier this year.
Hardy was only a one-time replacement, so Flair & Styles now remain the only undefeated team in the SmackDown block. Over on the Raw block, Ember Moon & Braun Strowman defeated Mickie James & Bobby Lashley in another clash of undefeated teams.
Adding a new prize in the tournament, the Mixed Match Challenge winners will enter as number 30 in their respective Royal Rumble matches. They will also receive an all-expenses paid vacation. This is getting more grand than Wheel of Fortune.
A notable change in the presentation of the show was no references to the wacky team names previously used throughout the tournament. No remarks were made relating to the team names they spent eight weeks trying to get over. Graphics for the standings even listed the names of team members instead of the amalgamated names used in prior weeks.
Kayla Braxton and Vic Joseph hosted a pre-show that ran approximately 10 minutes — which was mostly pre-taped promos and wrap-around segments. The interviews on the pre-show for some reason reminded me of Randy Hales interviewing wrestlers on Memphis TV to plug cards for the Evansville loop.
Much of the pre-show was lame duck anyway. The live stream opened with the aftermath of Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship on SmackDown. AJ Styles was still down selling in the ring. Production personnel were also changing the ring skirting to represent the change in programming. Bryan smirked and sneered at the crowd as he walked up the ramp with the WWE title belt draped over his shoulder.
Michael Cole returned for commentary alongside Renee Young and Vic Joseph.
Ember Moon & Braun Strowman defeated Mickie James & Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush)
Moon pinned James after The Eclipse. Moon & Strowman improve their undefeated streak to four wins. James & Lashley drop to the second spot in the Raw block standings with three wins and one loss. During the match, a cutaway showed Paige informing Charlotte Flair that an unnamed person would replace AJ Styles later in the show.
Strowman and Lashley looked horns in the match for what Gorilla Monsoon might have called “the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.” Strowman was positioned as a monster. Neither would go down until Strowman finally knocked Lashley off his feet with a kick. Lio Rush caused a distraction that allowed for Lashley to spear Strowman. Easily reversing a suplex, Strowman gave Lashley a gourdbuster.
Moon chased Rush around the ring and James cut her off by leaping off the apron with a flying knee. Back in the ring, Moon superkicked James as she leapt off the top rope. Moon then climbed the turnbuckles to deliver The Eclipse for a pinfall.
Charlotte Flair & Jeff Hardy defeated Asuka & The Miz
Flair submitted Asuka with the Figure Eight. The men started the match with some basic spots. The women tagged in to trade holds and chain wrestle. Flair went up-and-over the turnbuckles where she proceeded to boot Miz off the apron. Asuka hit Flair with a hip attack that in turn knocked her off the apron.
Charlotte made a comeback leading to a hot tag. Hardy ran wild on Miz even as Miz tried to counter. Hardy used Whisper in the Wind for a two count. Miz cut him off as they traded near falls. Miz gave Hardy a DDT, but Flair jumped in to break up the count on a lateral press. Asuka hit Flair with a series of kicks that sent her out of the ring. Asuka hit Hardy with a backfist of fury that allowed Miz to schoolboy for a two count.
Asuka and Miz throw stereo Yes Kicks. Miz told Asuka to “watch and learn.” Hardy then proceeded to duck a kick and execute a Twist of Fate on Miz. Flair then speared Asuka and applied the Figure-Eight for a submission.
Next week on Mixed Match Challenge, the four teams with the worst records face off in their respective blocks. Natalya & Bobby Roode meet Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal in a battle of winless teams within the Raw block. Likewise, Lana & Rusev face Carmella & R-Truth in the SmackDown block.
Whichever teams lose next week, those teams are apparently eliminated from the tournament. That is an unexplained new development in the rules. There is still supposedly a playoff of sort. Maybe that will also be explained in due time — at least until plans change again.
Undefeated teams are set to face off on next week’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge.
Not only undefeated during this season, the winning streak of Asuka & The Miz began when they won the inaugural edition of Mixed Match Challenge by going unbeaten in four matches. Last April in the finals, Asuka and Charlotte Flair were on opposing sides days before their title match at WrestleMania.
Next week, Asuka & Miz face Flair & WWE Champion AJ Styles — who are also undefeated in the second season. Flair had a different tag team partner in season one as she teamed with Bobby Roode and lost to Asuka & Miz in the finals.
Two more undefeated teams meet in the Raw block when Mickie James & Bobby Lashley face Ember Moon & Braun Strowman next week. Both teams were hastily put together when injuries reshaped the tournament.
Alexa Bliss was supposed to re-form her team with Braun Strowman, but Ember Moon instead teamed with Strowman when Bliss had to be replaced in the tournament. Replacing Sasha Banks in the tournament, Mickie James partnered with Bobby Lashley.
On last night’s episode from the United Kingdom, James & Lashley extended their winning streak as they defeated Bayley & Finn Balor. Also on the episode streamed live from Manchester, England, Naomi & Jimmy Uso defeated Carmella & R-Truth in a match that involved a rap battle and dance breaks.
Though further details weren’t provided, WWE uploaded a post-show video where they noted that Bayley & Balor had advanced to the Mixed Match Challenge playoffs despite their loss.
Here are the updated standings for Mixed Match Challenge season two:
The mixed match tag team tournament continued from Atlanta with two more round-robin matches. Two teams improve their undefeated records in the tournament with three wins each in their respective blocks. Two other teams drop to three losses as their winless streaks continue.
Ember Moon & Braun Strowman defeated Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers)
Strowman pinned Mahal after delivering a powerslam. Monster Eclipse remain undefeated, and Mahalicia are still winless in the tournament.
Strowman was overpowering Mahal at every turn when the women tagged in. For some reason, Fox began running the ropes with Moon just watching her do so. Fox gassed out and drank water. The Singhs then caused a distraction that allowed Fox to give Moon a neckbreaker.
The next few minutes were the heat spot, a hope spot, and the babyface comeback. Strowman cleaned house on Mahal. Moon wiped out the Singhs with a tope to the outside. Meanwhile, Strowman was mauling Mahal when Fox confronted him in the ring.
Fox was wearing a hat when she rhetorically asked Strowman, “Who do you think you are?” Fox started chest bumping Strowman while also proclaiming herself as captain. Strowman stole her hat, put it on his head, and proclaimed himself captain. This spot would have been much funnier if it took place on the Jericho cruise — or at least somewhere on water. Here it was just wacky and nonsensical.
Leading into the finish, Moon swooped in to hit Fox with the Eclipse. Strowman then powerslammed Mahal to score the pinfall.
On the next episode in the Raw block, Country Dominance (Mickie James & Bobby Lashley) meet B’N’B (Bayley & Finn Balor) in the tournament.
Raw block standings —
Ember Moon & Braun Strowman (3-0)
Mickie James & Bobby Lashley (2-0)
Bayley & Finn Balor (2-1)
Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal (0-3)
Natalya & Bobby Roode (0-3)
Charlotte Flair & AJ Styles defeated Lana & Rusev
Flair submitted Lana with the Figure Eight leglock. Fenomenal Flair improves to three wins, and Ravishing Rusev Day dropped to three losses.
The match began with Rusev and Styles grabbing signs from fans at ringside. They held up the signs in a “yay/boo” spot. A chop-off developed next in the match. Rusev earlier in the week had challenged Styles to a chop-off. They all traded chops. Charlotte then challenged Rusev to a chop-off.
Charlotte was chopping Rusev when Lana attacked her from behind for a cheapshot. Lana hit an X-factor for a two count. Lana was mocking Charlotte when she fired up on Lana. Styles was a house of fire when he tagged in. He executed an ushigoroshi on Rusev, but Rusev kicked out at two on a subsequent lateral press.
Lana jumped in at one point for a Russian leg sweep on Styles. Charlotte cut off Lana and climbed the turnbuckles. Rusev sacrificed himself to save his wife by stepping in to take the moonsault from Charlotte. Lana tried for a schoolboy, but Charlotte kicked out. For the finish, Charlotte applied the Figure Eight, and Lana then tapped out.
Next week in the SmackDown block, Fabulous Truth (Carmella & R-Truth) face Day One Glow (Naomi & Jimmy Uso).
Braun Strowman & Ember Moon vs. Finn Balor & Bayley and AJ Styles & Charlotte Flair vs. R-Truth & Carmella are set for next week’s Mixed Match Challenge episode.
Balor & Bayley wrestled on last night’s show, with them defeating Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox. After a storyline where there was dissension between Fox and Sunil Singh during the match, Balor took out Mahal and Singh with a tope con hilo and Bayley hit the Bayley-to-Belly on Fox for the win. Jimmy Uso & Naomi also defeated Rusev & Lana last night.
Strowman & Moon and Styles & Charlotte both won matches on the season two premiere of Mixed Match Challenge. R-Truth & Carmella lost to The Miz & Asuka last week.
This season’s Mixed Match Challenge is a round-robin tournament. It will culminate with the winners of the Raw block facing the team that wins the SmackDown block at TLC on December 16.
Here are the updated standings for the tournament:
Season two of WWE Mixed Match Challenge kicked off on Tuesday night. Unlike the inaugural season being single elimination, the latest mixed tag tournament is round-robin style. Two blocks representing Raw and SmackDown will decide which teams advance to the finals.
The commentary team consisted of Michael Cole, Renee Young, and Vic Joseph. A short pre-show had Joseph and Kayla Braxton hyping the debut of season two.
Ember Moon & Braun Strowman defeated Natalya & Kevin Owens
Moon pinned Natalya after an Eclipse off the shoulders of Strowman. That finish played off the previous finisher of Strowman and Alexa Bliss when they teamed in the tournament. This match pitted “Monster Eclipse” against “Team Pawz” in the first round. They started off doing some walking and talking as they all argued back and forth.
Moon and Natalya chain-wrestled to a stalemate. Moon was gaining ground when she climbed the turnbuckles. Natalya tripped Moon up to send her crashing down off the top rope. After powerbombing Moon, Natalya applied the Sharpshooter in the center of the ring. Strowman grabbed Moon’s hand to pull her to safety — breaking the hold.
Strowman tagged in to maul Owens. Strowman was mowing down Owens when Owens caught him with a superkick on the outside. Owens rammed Strowman into the ring post — and then he shoved Strowman over the announce desk. They teased a countout like this was on a New Japan show. Strowman barely broke the count.
The women tagged back in for the finish. Moon hit Natalya with an enzuigiri. Moon then ordered Strowman into the ring. Moon leapt off the shoulders of Strowman into an Eclipse for a pinfall on Natalya. Monster Eclipse start the tournament at 1-0 — while Team Pawz are now 0-1.
Charlotte Flair & AJ Styles defeated Naomi & Jimmy Uso
Flair submitted Naomi with the Figure Eight leglock. This match — with “Phenomenal Flair” against “Day One Glow” — had a lot of gaga early on. That is understandable considering Styles was working double-duty after defeating Andrade “Cien” Almas in a match on SmackDown. Charlotte was also pulling double-duty in a sense. Though she was not in an actual match, she was involved in a physical angle with Becky Lynch during the closing segment on SmackDown.
Styles and Uso did some comedy at the outset. Both went to kick the other when teasing a knuckle lock. They both had a hold of each other’s leg, and eventually they both agreed to let go after some bickering. They shook hands. They bickered about that too — arguing over the firmness of the handshake. Both angry, they tagged out instead of fighting. Interesting strategy in a combat sport.
Flair and Naomi paired off for some exchanges. Flair twerked at one point. She also strutted. They had a callback to the comedy spots done earlier by the men. Flair was sent outside. Naomi went to dive, but Styles caught her. Uso got upset at Styles for touching his wife. Flair then did a pescado onto the married couple. From there, the pace quickened and the intensity increased.
Naomi missed a split-legged moonsault. Flair capitalized with a moonsault off the top. A hot tag brought in Styles to clean house. Uso countered a Styles Clash into a Samoan drop. After a double-down and an exchange of kicks, Naomi made a blind tag.
As a melee developed, Flair locked in a Figure Four leglock on Uso. Naomi splashed Flair to break the hold. Styles rushed in to make the save on a pinning attempt. Naomi hit Styles with a Rear View. Flair cut off Naomi to apply the Figure Eight. Naomi tapped out. Phenomenal Flair are 1-0, and Day One Glow drop to 0-1.
Next week on Mixed Match Challenge, the Raw block has Bobby Lashley & Sasha Banks against Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox. The SmackDown block has the inaugural tournament winners — Asuka & The Miz — facing Carmella & R-Truth.
Alexa Bliss won’t be wrestling on tonight’s season two premiere of Mixed Match Challenge.
WWE posted a video this morning where Cathy Kelley announced that Ember Moon would be replacing Bliss on tonight’s episode and teaming with Braun Strowman against Natalya & Kevin Owens. The explanation given for Bliss not wrestling was WWE claiming that Bliss suffered an arm injury at Hell in a Cell, with Kelley saying that Bliss isn’t cleared to compete after seeking medical attention due to numbness in her left arm. Ronda Rousey submitted Bliss with an armbar in their Raw Women’s Championship match on Sunday.
The video also noted that Bliss hasn’t been cleared for this weekend’s house shows. Bliss was on Raw last night and accompanied Alicia Fox & Mickie James for their match against Moon & Nia Jax.
Charlotte Flair & AJ Styles vs. Naomi & Jimmy Uso is the other match that will be taking place on Mixed Match Challenge tonight.
Bliss & Strowman made it to the semifinals of Mixed Match Challenge season one before losing to Asuka & The Miz. This season will feature a round-robin tournament. There will be 14 episodes, with it culminating at TLC on December 16.
The Big Takeaway: No Way Jose continued his winning Main Event run with a victory over Tyler Breeze. Ruby Riott and her cronies then saw off Ember Moon in a match that marked their collective debuts on this show.
**********
No Way Jose defeated Tyler Breeze (5:15)
Jose and Breeze looked like they were having a lot of fun out there for this good opening match. They were full of smiles and laughs early on, and it was infectious on the pre-Raw crowd as they did some comedy.
They worked really hard, with lots of back and forth. The middle of the match was dominated by Breeze working over Jose’s left leg and culminated in him putting Jose in a single-leg Boston crab in the middle of the ring. Jose fought his way out as the crowd got into it.
The finish saw Breeze get slingshot into the corner and then, dazed, run straight into Jose, who popped him up and nailed him with his knockout punch for the win. The victory marks Jose’s sixth straight win in as many weeks on Main Event.
Ruby Riott (w/ Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) defeated Ember Moon (5:23)
It’s good to see WWE finally using this show to promote some of the strong talent in the women’s division and use it as a training ground when there isn’t room for another match on Raw.
Both Riott and Moon were making their Main Event debuts here, and it has to be said that both looked good in the ring. Ember Moon particularly stood out — she is incredibly agile and has a move set that really showcases her skill.
The match felt like it would be Moon’s for the taking, but The Riott Squad lurked at the ring apron and you sensed that they would ruin things for Moon, which is exactly what they did. After lots of close holds early on, they both had moments to shine, but the end saw Moon thwarted by Logan and Morgan as she looked to hit The Eclipse.
Moon was up top and fought off Morgan first, then Logan. It looked as though she might still come through with the victory, but Riott sprung up and hit her mid-air with the Riott kick for the win. This was a nice twist to mark a fine show debut for this pair.
Two fatal four-way matches and a face-to-face segment have been announced for next week’s go-home edition of Raw.
The four-ways will feature all of Raw’s participants in the Money in the Bank ladder matches. Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Bobby Roode will face off in one of them, with Sasha Banks, Ember Moon, Alexa Bliss, and Natalya set for the other.
For the women’s match, WWE is questioning whether Bliss and Natalya will be able to compete after suffering storyline leg injuries. Bliss bailed on a six-woman tag tonight, leaving Banks & Moon on their own against The Riott Squad until Bayley tried to sub in for her.
Natalya’s storyline knee injury happened right before Nia Jax hit a Samoan drop to defeat her. Both Jax and Ronda Rousey checked on Natalya following the match, then argued as they tried to console her in the back. Jax insisted that she’s Natalya’s friend just as much as Rousey is.
Jax and Rousey will be involved in next week’s face-to-face segment as part of the final build for Rousey challenging for Jax’s Raw Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank.
Strowman defeated Roode tonight, and Balor beat Owens by disqualification when Owens wouldn’t stop stomping on him in the corner. Owens got a ladder out after the match and hesitated when going for a frog splash off it. Balor closed the show by hitting Owens with a Coup de Grace from the ladder.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno and The B-Team to retain their titles
Very basic match. Everyone seemed very tired at this point in the tour.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali to retain his title
This was really good, getting “This is awesome” chants from a crowd that basically didn’t know them at the beginning. Alexander won with the Lumbar Check.
The faces won with an O’Connor roll that was transitioned into a bridging German suplex. This had pretty much no heat.
– Finn Balor defeated Baron Corbin
They tried to keep this quick, going under seven minutes. Balor picked up the win with the Coup de Grace.
– Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss, Bayley, and Sasha Banks to retain her title
Jax pinned Bliss after a Samoan drop. They wrestled the usual WWE four-way style. Banks did a 619 at one point, which was appreciated by the audience.
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ Sunil Singh) to retain his title
Fun match that was better than expected, even counting the offense from Mahal. Rollins was one of the most over guys on the entire show.
– Elias and Bobby Roode did an in-ring segment. They both (very badly) sang “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. Elias attacked Roode, but he ended up eating a Glorious DDT in the end.
– Ronda Rousey, Ember Moon & Natalya defeated Mickie James, Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
WWE made a pretty big mistake by having Rousey enter wearing the Juventus Turin jersey in a city where the majority of fans support Torino FC, the other city soccer team, resulting in Rousey almost getting booed out of the building for a moment.
The entire match was Natalya getting beaten up before Rousey’s hot tag, with Moon not doing any moves. James tapped out to Rousey’s armbar in around seven minutes. Rousey is already very over here even though not a lot of people watched her UFC run.
– Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Samoa Joe
Usual house show main event. Reigns got a surprising amount of cheers and was, with Rollins, probably the most over person on the show. Reigns speared Owens and got the pin after Strowman hit Joe with the powerslam and Lashley hit Zayn with a superplex.
The first three wrestlers have qualified for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches.
Three qualifiers took place on Raw tonight, with Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, and Ember Moon advancing to the June 17th pay-per-view. Balor and Moon won triple threat matches, while Strowman defeated Kevin Owens.
Before Balor advanced, Roman Reigns seemingly had the main event won until Jinder Mahal interfered to cost him the match. There was a show-long storyline where Mahal wanted Kurt Angle to put him in a qualifier and didn’t think Reigns deserved a spot. Balor pinned Sami Zayn after Mahal’s interference.
Moon defeated Ruby Riott and Sasha Banks by hitting an Eclipse prior to pinning Riott.
WWE offered some clarity for the PPV at the start of Raw tonight as Angle announced that there would be one men’s ladder match and one women’s ladder match, with them featuring wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown. There will be eight wrestlers in each match.
The qualifiers will continue on SmackDown tomorrow night. Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev, The Miz vs. Jeff Hardy, and Charlotte Flair vs. Peyton Royce will decide the next three wrestlers to join the Money in the Bank matches.
Both will be triple threat matches, with Sasha Banks facing Ember Moon and Ruby Riott for a spot in the women’s ladder match and Roman Reigns taking on Finn Balor and Sami Zayn for a spot in the men’s one. With Money in the Bank again being a dual-brand pay-per-view, WWE hasn’t officially announced how many ladder matches there will be.
Reigns and Riott are both coming off wins at Backlash. Reigns defeated Samoa Joe in the main event, while Riott beat Bayley on the pre-show. The story of Riott vs. Bayley was that Banks didn’t accompany Bayley to the ring to help even the odds against The Riott Squad after Bayley watched from backstage and didn’t help Banks against the group last Monday.
On Sunday’s Backlash post-show, it was revealed that The Miz would also be in a qualifying match on this week’s SmackDown.
Money in the Bank is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th.
Ember Moon and No Way Jose are the first call-ups to the main roster following WrestleMania 34.
Moon appeared on Raw tonight, teaming with Nia Jax to take on Alexa Bliss and Mickie James. Bliss had run down Jax prior to their match, taking jabs at her and saying she was wrestling under distress throughout their match last night at WrestleMania 34. After saying that Jax didn’t have a partner, Jax said she was wrong and introduced Moon. She won the match for her team with a springboard stunner called the eclipse. No Way Jose made his debut soon after, conga line and all. He defeated an unarmed opponent in quick fashion with his wind up punch finisher.
Ember Moon, real name Adrienne Reese, signed with the company in 2015 and made her television debut for NXT in 2016. She won the NXT women’s title on November 18 of last year and lost it this past Saturday to Shayna Baszler at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. No Way Jose, real name Levis Valenzuela Jr., signed in 2015 and appeared on NXT television starting in 2016, with his most memorable feud being with Austin Aries. He had been off television for most of 2017.