We’re back for another exciting episode of mixed tag team action. As always, our hosts for the evening are the team of Beth Phoenix, Michael Cole, and Corey Graves. They welcome us to the show and inform us that tonight we’ll see the last quarter-final match of the tournament with Lana and Rusev taking on the team of Bobby Roode and Charlotte. As always they show us how to use a phone before the two teams make their way down to the ring.
Match 1: Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode vs. Lana & Rusev
Charlotte and Bobby head out first. Charlotte dances to Roode’s music as he poses and Graves acts like she has a crush on Roode saying, “I have never seen her light up like she does when Bobby Roode is around.” Beth Phoenix, however, is of the mind that Charlotte just sees a great partner.
As Flair and Roode make their way down to the ring we get a promo from them recorded earlier in the day but they don’t really say anything of great importance other than Bobby Roode being annoyed that Rusev calls him “Bob.”
Lana and Rusev then come out and rip their shirts off Hulk Hogan style. They are not wearing matching gear tonight. We get a backstage promo from them as well. Rusev bellows, “WOAH!” instead of “WOO!” which caused me to laugh.
Rusev tries to get Lana fired up on their way to the ring telling her that she’s a monster who breaks boards and then, in a nice callback to his work as Big Bart in Southpaw Regional Wrestling declares, “You’re not a chicken! We eat the chickens!”
Rusev tries to get the crowd to sing “Lana is the best! Lana #1!” but Charlotte and Bobby Roode “WOO!” at them. Rusev shoves Roode which Charlotte takes umbrage with. She shoves Rusev back which pisses off Lana who shoves her back and takes a swing at her that ends up catching Roode in the face. This causes both teams go at it for awhile while Michael Cole notes that the bell has not even been rung yet as Rusev and Lana bail to the floor for a breather.
The bell finally rings and the match begins with Lana and Charlotte starting things off in the ring with a collar and elbow tie up. Charlotte takes control early, but after words of encouragement from Rusev Lana goes for a test of strength. Lana nails Charlotte with a kick to the midsection and then gets her in a side headlock.
Charlotte slams Lana into the corner but misses a charge. Lana then sends the Women’s Champion into the turnbuckles and covers for two. Lana follows with mounted punches as Cole declares, “this is the best she’s (Lana) ever looked in the ring.”
Lana continues her offense and hits an X-Factor. She covers but is only able to get a two count. Lana follows with chops as Rusev shouts words of encouragement from the apron. She then mocks Roode which allows Charlotte to take control. She hits a sack of shit slam on Lana and tags are made bringing in the men.
Roode runs wild for a bit, before getting a two count off a Buff Blockbuster. Roode tries for the DDT but Rusev counters with a superkick that earns him a near fall. Rusev follows with kicks to the back and then slows things down by grounding Roode.
Roode manages to fight back to his feet. He lays in some chops but is cut off by Rusev slamming him into the corner. Again Rusev grounds Roode, but again Roode fights back to his feet. Rusev nails him with another superkick and then heads up top. Rusev comes off the top with a flying headbutt but Roode moves so Rusev eats canvas.
Roode makes the HOT TAG to Charlotte who runs wild on Lana. She chops Lana down and then struts. Charlotte nails Lana with a big boot and then slaps on the Figure Eight. Rusev gets into the ring and drags Lana back to their corner to make the save.
Charlotte responds by slapping Rusev in the face and yelling at him. This allows Lana to roll her up while she’s distracted. Charlotte manages to kick out so Lana tags Rusev in. Rusev comes in and we see that Roode is still dead out on the floor. Rusev gets a wicked smile on his face.
Charlotte lays into him with chops, but Rusev just continues to smile. More chops from Charlotte follow and Rusev laughs at her and asks, “Is it hurting? It’s not hurting me. Is it hurting you?” as he points at her hand.
Charlotte merely smiles back at him because unbeknownst to Rusev, Roode has recovered and is wildly thrusting his pelvis behind the Bulgarian Brute.
Roode nails Rusev with the Glorious DDT and covers. ONE! TWO! THREE! Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair are your winners.
Winners: Bobby Roode & Charlotte Flair
Lana looked a lot better than she has in the past, though whether that’s because of her own hard work or simply being in the ring with someone who made her look good I don’t honestly know. Either way, this was decent match, though it lacked some of the zaniness of other Mixed Match Challenge matches. [**⅝]
Hype Package!
We get a promo from Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman where Braun threatens to murder The Miz in their match next week. We then get a promo from The Miz and Asuka. Asuka yells some stuff in Japanese and The Miz is like, “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” before they chant, “We will win!” together.
Meanwhile in the Arena…
Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair celebrate their win by dancing in the ring as the commentary team thanks us for watching.
Final Thoughts
Mixed Match Challenge continues to be a pleasant addition to my weekly wrestling diet. As I’ve said before it’s never the best technical match of the week nor does it feature to most epic storylines, but more often than not it’s the match that will make me chuckle the most, which is a fine thing for a match to be.
Atomic Drop 