Season two of Mixed Match Challenge came to an end at TLC tonight.
Carmella & R-Truth vs. Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal in the Mixed Match Challenge finals opened the TLC main card and also streamed live on Facebook Watch. Carmella submitted Fox to win the tournament.
By winning Mixed Match Challenge, Carmella and R-Truth will enter their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30 next month. WWE had also been hyping that the winning team would receive “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world,” and that storyline culminated after tonight’s finals. It was revealed that R-Truth had selected WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut for their vacation.
While this season of Mixed Match Challenge was plagued by injuries and replacement partners, Carmella & R-Truth and Mahal & Fox stayed intact throughout. They were winless during the round-robin portion of the tournament before each team won a match to make the playoffs.
Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal vs. Carmella & R-Truth will be the finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two.
Fox & Mahal and Carmella & R-Truth both won semifinal matches on tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge episode to advance to the finals, which are being held at TLC in San Jose, California this Sunday. Both of their wins were pushed as being major upsets.
Fox & Mahal defeated Bayley & Apollo Crews in Raw’s semifinal match, with Fox pinning Bayley after hitting a big boot. The Singh Brothers had broken up a pin after Bayley hit a Bayley-to-Belly on Fox, but it didn’t cause a disqualification.
Crews was replacing Finn Balor as Bayley’s partner.
Carmella & R-Truth defeated Asuka & The Miz in SmackDown’s semifinal. There has been a storyline of dissension between Asuka and Miz since they lost to Charlotte Flair & Jeff Hardy in the round-robin portion of the tournament. After Miz pulled Asuka in his way so that she would take a superkick from Carmella instead of him, Asuka turned against Miz, hit him with strikes, and walked out on him. R-Truth then hit an Unprettier on Miz for the win.
The team that wins Mixed Match Challenge season two will receive the number 30 spots in their respective Royal Rumble matches and “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
Here’s the updated card for TLC
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defending against AJ Styles
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against Dean Ambrose
If Braun Strowman is able to wrestle at the PPV: Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a tables, ladders, and chairs match (Strowman will challenge for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble if he defeats Corbin. If Corbin wins, he’ll become the permanent general manager of Raw. Corbin will lose all of his GM power if Strowman wins)
Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Nia Jax
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat tables, ladders, and chairs match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The Usos and The New Day in a triple threat match
Natalya vs. Ruby Riott in a tables match
Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre
Elias vs. Bobby Lashley in a ladder match (the first person to reach the guitar suspended above the ring will be able to use it during the match)
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton in a chairs match
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Cedric Alexander
Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal vs. Carmella & R-Truth in the finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two
Though the finals are less than a week away, replacement partners continue to shake up Mixed Match Challenge season two.
It was announced on Raw tonight that Apollo Crews will be replacing Finn Balor as Bayley’s partner on tomorrow’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge. Bayley & Crews will be facing Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal in a semifinal match on the show. Asuka & The Miz vs. Carmella & R-Truth is SmackDown’s semifinal match. That will also be taking place on tomorrow’s episode.
Bayley defeated Fox on Raw tonight, with Crews and Sasha Banks helping to even the odds against Mahal and the Singh Brothers.
Balor wrestled at WWE’s house show in Santiago, Chile last Wednesday but went home before WWE’s pair of house shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Twitter, Balor apologized for not being able to perform in Argentina.
Drew McIntyre attacked Balor in an angle on last Monday’s Raw. Balor vs. McIntyre is set for TLC on Sunday.
The finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two are also being held at TLC. The winning team will enter their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30 and receive “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
Alexa Bliss, Banks, Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, and AJ Styles (as part of a storyline where he was attacked by Daniel Bryan after the match where Bryan won the WWE Championship from Styles) are the other wrestlers who have been replaced over the course of Mixed Match Challenge season two.
The semifinals are set for season two of WWE Mixed Match Challenge.
Asuka & The Miz defeated Naomi & Jimmy Uso and R-Truth & Carmella defeated Jeff Hardy & Charlotte Flair in quarterfinal matches on tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge. It will be Asuka & Miz vs. Carmella & R-Truth in SmackDown’s half of the semifinals on next Tuesday’s episode.
Asuka & Miz were the winners of Mixed Match Challenge season one. Asuka submitted Naomi in tonight’s match after dissension between Miz and Asuka had been teased in storyline, with Miz blaming Asuka for their loss against Charlotte & Hardy last month. In tonight’s other quarterfinal, R-Truth rolled up Hardy for the pin after moving out of the way of the Swanton Bomb.
On the Raw side of the bracket, it will be Bayley & Finn Balor vs. Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal in the semifinals. That match is also taking place on next Tuesday’s episode.
The finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two will be held at WWE’s TLC pay-per-view in San Jose, California on December 16. The winning team will enter their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30. They’ll also receive “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending her title against Charlotte and Asuka in a triple threat tables, ladders, and chairs match is set for TLC, and Balor also has a match against Drew McIntyre at the PPV.
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.”
With the round-robin portion of the tournament over, WWE has revealed the playoff bracket for Mixed Match Challenge season two.
Ember Moon and her new partner (with Braun Strowman out of the tournament) vs. Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal and Bayley & Finn Balor vs. Mickie James & Bobby Lashley are set for the quarterfinals on the Raw side of the bracket. Those matches will take place on next Tuesday’s Mixed Match Challenge episode, with the winners advancing to the semifinals.
Charlotte Flair & Jeff Hardy vs. Carmella & R-Truth and Asuka & The Miz vs. Naomi & Jimmy Uso are the quarterfinal matches on the SmackDown side of the bracket.
Fox & Mahal defeated Natalya & Bobby Roode and Carmella & R-Truth defeated Lana & Rusev on tonight’s episode to advance to the playoffs.
The finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two will take place at WWE’s TLC pay-per-view in San Jose, California on December 16. The team that wins the tournament will enter their respective Royal Rumble matches at number 30. WWE is also promoting that the winners will receive “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
WWE has added a stipulation to this season of Mixed Match Challenge.
It was announced today that the winners of the mixed tag team tournament will be the 30th entrants in their respective Royal Rumble matches in January 2019. WWE is also promoting that the winners will receive “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
The four teams who are undefeated in the tournament are set to face each other on this week’s episode. Ember Moon & Braun Strowman will wrestle Mickie James & Bobby Lashley in the Raw match and Asuka & The Miz will face Charlotte Flair & WWE Champion AJ Styles in the SmackDown match. Asuka & The Miz were the winners of Mixed Match Challenge season one.
Mixed Match Challenge airs on Facebook Watch after SmackDown on Tuesdays. When the tournament was announced, it was noted that it would conclude at TLC on December 16.
Here are the current standings for Mixed Match Challenge season two:
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:
Asuka & The Miz vs. Lana & Rusev will also take place on Tuesday’s Mixed Match Challenge.
Natalya & Owens lost to Ember Moon & Braun Strowman on the season two premiere of Mixed Match Challenge. With Owens needing knee surgery, it was announced this week that he would have to be replaced in the round-robin tournament. The severity of the damage to Owens’ knee won’t be known until he undergoes surgery. Dave Meltzer reported that the expected timetable is that Owens will miss about four months if it’s minor surgery and eight months if it’s major surgery.
This is the third time that a wrestler has had to be replaced in Mixed Match Challenge season two. Moon replaced Alexa Bliss in the tournament, and James replaced Sasha Banks.
Braun Strowman & Alexa Bliss vs. Kevin Owens & Natalya is set for the episode, along with AJ Styles & Charlotte Flair vs. Jimmy Uso & Naomi. Season two will premiere on Facebook Watch at 10 p.m. Eastern time on September 18, and this season’s episodes will be 30 minutes long.
Strowman & Bliss and Uso & Naomi are both returning teams from season one. Strowman & Bliss defeated Uso & Naomi in the second round before losing to tournament winners The Miz & Asuka in the semifinals.
Charlotte and Natalya were also part of the first Mixed Match Challenge. Charlotte & Bobby Roode lost to Miz & Asuka in the finals, while Natalya & Shinsuke Nakamura were defeated by Sasha Banks & Finn Balor in the opening round.
Unlike season one, this edition of Mixed Match Challenge is a round-robin tournament. It will be a 14-episode series and culminate with the finals taking place at TLC on December 16.
Here are the teams for the tournament:
Raw: Strowman & Bliss, Owens & Natalya, Bobby Lashley & Sasha Banks, Finn Balor & Bayley, Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox
SmackDown: Styles & Charlotte, Uso & Naomi, Miz & Asuka, Rusev & Lana, R-Truth & Carmella
