In the space of the last 24 hours, the three remaining teams for Raw in the Mixed Match Challenge have been announced. As was the case with the first three teams, the pairings don't make sense.
On Monday afternoon, it was announced that Alicia Fox would be teamed with Goldust, and the returning Miz was paired with Asuka, who acted delighted to be teaming with a self-serving egomaniac who is in dire need of humbling. More on Miz in another Reaction Zone.
The final fan vote came down to Samoa Joe, Elias, & Jason Jordan to determine who'd be partnered with Bayley. Joe won the vote, but then he also suffered a foot injury in a winning effort vs. Rhyno on Raw. So Joe is out, and Elias is in. Remember, Elias rejected a hug from Bayley on a recent Raw, but we'll see.
Logically, Asuka should've been matched with Joe or Braun Strowman, but they put Strowman with the female Miz, women's champion Alexa Bliss, so the brat has someone else to hide behind. Bayley, based on past history, could've been with Finn Balor, but Sasha Banks landed that gig instead, which illustrates how Raw Uncreative really has no clue when it comes to Bayley. Here's what I had projected, before the teams began to be announced on January 3.
Asuka-Samoa Joe
Enzo Amore-Nia Jax (before Enzo took ill and was pulled)
Bayley-Finn Balor
Alexa Bliss-Miz
Alicia Fox-Goldust (the only one where I matched Uncreative)
Sasha Banks-Braun Strowman
The way Uncreative set it up sets Raw up to possibly fail:
Bliss-Strowman
Miz-Asuka
Fox-Goldust
Banks-Balor
Apollo Crews-Jax
Bayley-Elias
They teased that Crews may also have been injured on Raw in a tag match vs. Sheamus & Cesaro, which could open the door for a recovered Enzo, but he too appeared to be injured on Raw.
On paper, then, you have two hot babyfaces (Strowman, Asuka) paired with heels whose personalities are a match for each other (Bliss, Miz). We can picture Miz letting Asuka do all the work while he offends her by taking all the credit. Asuka won't eat a pin in this tournament, so that means if they lose, it'll be Miz who jobs. Similarly, I doubt Strowman will tolerate Bliss' bratty persona for very long.
Let me try to figure the remaining teams for Smackdown:
Natalya-Sami Zayn. Two Canadians joining together.
Becky Lynch-Shinsuke Nakamura. That would be worth the price of admission alone!
Carmella, then, would be coupled with either Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, or Big E of the New Day. Regardless of who it is, you'd have another tag team with a weak link (Carmella in this case), and ripe for an early elimination.
We'll see how it shakes out later today, and in the next Reaction Zone, we'll see if we can piece the tournament together.
