There are a lot of reasons to be excited about WrestlePalooza. Cody Rhodes will defend his WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre, and fans are guaranteed to see a new Women’s World Champion crowned as IYO SKY and Stephanie Vaquer battle it out for the vacated title.
But for most fans, the highlight of the event will be the mixed gender tag team match, pitting WWE’s two leading power couples against each other. The latest chapter in the long-running feud between Seth Rollins and CM Punk just got that bit more personal. Following Becky Lynch’s shock intervention at Clash in Paris, three-time women’s champion (and Punk’s wife), AJ Lee, made her return to WWE to even the odds.
Lee had been away from the company for just over a decade. And the announced tag team match between the two couples not only offers a rare spectacle for WWE fans, it brings back memories of a short-lived, but highly popular episode in WWE history: the Mixed Match Challenge.
The History of the WWE Mixed Match Challenge
The Mixed Match Challenge was an intriguing, fan fiction-esque aside that took place over two seasons in 2018. The episodic series, which played out on Facebook Watch, consisted of a tournament of mixed gender tag team matches. The first season saw the winners win $100,000 for a charity of their team’s choice, with all other teams earning a guaranteed $10,000 for their respective charities.
The second season’s reward, however, had higher stakes in terms of storytelling. The winners earned themselves the coveted No. 30 entry for the 2019 Royal Rumble. They also, somewhat randomly, won an all-expense-paid trip anywhere in the world.
Fans praised the series for its unique concept and many of its chalk-and-cheese pairings. However, some critics pointed to its lack of importance and its conflict with WWE’s overarching narrative and ongoing storylines. But with fans reacting well to the Punk and Lee/Rollins and Lynch feud, perhaps it’s time for WWE to consider reviving the mixed match concept – and not just because of this one storyline either.
The depths of the roster reveal plenty of opportunities to use the Mixed Match Challenge to WWE’s advantage. But who else could seek to gain from its revival?
Momentum for Montez from the EST?
The dissolution of the Street Profits now seems like a case of when, not if. Their Clash in Paris loss to the Wyatt Sicks revealed some underlying tensions which Uncle Howdy is now exploiting. Montez Ford has long been seen as the primary draw of the tag team and has the star power to go solo.
His real-life wife, Bianca Belair, knows all about solo star power, and putting Ford in her slipstream could be a great way to supercharge his arrival on the singles’ scene. As a pair with serious power couple potential, it could be a great way to elevate Ford to title-challenging heights while also reinvigorating Belair post-injury.
Judgment Day: Civil War
The Judgment Day’s successes continue, but so do their internal struggles. Dominik Mysterio’s rising star continues to grate with the group’s jealous veteran, Finn Balor. As for JD McDonaugh, their longstanding friendship would likely see him side with Balor should a major schism occur. But Raquel Rodriguez and recruit Roxanne Perez would be more likely to side with Dirty Dom, especially given the former’s loyalty to the absent Liv Morgan. There are potential hurdles wherever you look.
That in itself is the biggest ticking time bomb in the Judgment Day clubhouse. What happens when Morgan makes her inevitable return? Will Perez be jettisoned, or will Rodriguez protect her new tag team partner? And when these cracks expand into chasms, a Mixed Match Challenge may provide the perfect outlet to air these grievances. If a revival of the format is crying out for conflicts to give it more weight, you’d be hard pushed to find a storyline with more twists than the Judgment Day.
Melo & Miz: Friends, Enemies, or Frenemies?
Carmelo Hayes and The Miz might be bringing the best out of each other on the tag team scene, but their egos continue to be a source of strife. Whether they capture the tag team titles or not, a betrayal looks very much on the cards for the teacher-student pairing down the line. Whether it pushes the narrative towards that breakup or becomes a chapter in their rivalry, a Mixed Match meeting could follow the same direction as Punk and Rollins’ feud.
Having gotten engaged to NXT star Kelani Jordan in July, there’s a viable route to another interesting Mixed Match encounter. The Miz’s wife, Maryse, is a two-time women’s champion, and despite being retired, there’s a good chance that she could be convinced to return in aid of her husband’s endeavors.
Maryse last wrestled in WWE in 2022, and, rather aptly, it was a mixed gender tag team match alongside The Miz. Whichever way you cut it, the stars are aligning for this enemies-to-friends and back again tale between Miz and the young Melo.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
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