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It’s here!
The first episode of Mixed Match Challenge streams live tonight (Tues., Jan. 16, 2018) starting at 10 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch. If you need help figuring out how to watch the show, click here.
The first match-up in the tournament features the Monday Night Raw team of Finn Balor and Sasha Banks taking on the SmackDown Live team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Natalya. We’ll have coverage of the show below.
Mixed Match Challenge Week 1
It’s Geno. Let us do this.
We’re just one minute into this thing and they have 70K live viewers. That’s a lot.
Renee Young and Byron Saxton are the hosts and they’re literally ringside setting up the show as the wrestlers are making their entrances. Finn Balor and Sasha Banks out first. They didn’t wear matching gear, if anyone was wondering about that.
They finally cut to Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Beth Phoenix, who will be calling the show. They hit over 100K viewers just as Natalya and Shinsuke Nakamura made their entrances.
They ran through various social media videos they shot to announce the teams in the tournament, or at least some of them. They plugged the FB page to see the rest.
Nakamura, by the way, did wear Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart’s old jacket. He really rocks that thing.
Finn Balor & Sasha Banks vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Natalya
It’s wild just how well Nattie and Nak fit together. If it wasn’t clear this isn’t intergender, they made it clear right away when Nattie tagged herself out in lieu of getting physical with Banks and the referee forced Balor into the match.
Phoenix is good on commentary but she needs to speak up or they need to turn her mic up.
They did a spot in the match where Banks tried a suicide dive to the outside and Nakamura caught her before putting her down. She came back with a crossbody that Nak ducked and hit Natalya.
They cut backstage to show Sami Zayn and Becky Lynch sitting together, with Becky on a computer and Zayn on his phone. Cole told us they were “interacting with WWE fans” because this show is all about social interaction. It legitimately looked like Zayn had his calculator app open.
The crowd was awfully dead in spots but they did what they could to bring them back into it. Balor got the hot tag and went to work but Nakamura made a big comeback. When Finn was setting up for the Coup de Grace, Nattie hit the rope to knock him down. Sasha saved her partner from a pin after a flying knee shortly after.
Kinsasha missed and Banks was tagged in while Nattie was still on the outside, so she did the double knees spot.
Back in the ring, they both got in and did a “Too Sweet” before Nakamura was taken out and Sasha locked in the Bank Statement. Natalya tapped.
Finn Balor & Sasha Banks def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Natalya
Nothing groundbreaking, but a fun match.
Balor and Banks celebrated in the ring while they cut back to Renee and Byron. They cut to videos promoting next week’s match pitting Big E & Carmella against The Miz & Asuka.
End.