WWE Bold Predictions: Braun Strowman to Pay For Backstage Assault
By Bryan Heaton
Mixed Match Classic is Better Than Anticipated
Forget about Tout – everyone else sure has. With all the criticisms about WWE as a company (sometimes warranted, sometimes not), one thing they cannot be faulted for is their willingness to embrace new technological advances. They don’t always pan out (ahem, TOUT), but for every failure there’s a WWE Network-like success.
So 2018 bring us the first-ever Mixed Match Classic. It’s a mixed tag match tournament (not intergender), with each team competing to win $100,000 for charity. Oh, and it’s airing exclusively on Facebook Watch. Per WWE’s official website:
"Each 20-minute episode will reflect a progressive approach to production, with elements optimized for mobile consumption, experimentation and social interaction, including the ability for the WWE Universe to engage with Superstars during the show."
This week brings us the premiere episode of the event, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out. On the first episode, Finn Balor and Sasha Banks represent Raw as they face SmackDown’s Shinsuke Nakamura and Natalya. While that offers an intriguing match, what’s more interesting is the production.
Just how much of a “progressive approach to production” will WWE take? Is the episode going to be filmed on iPhones and Galaxy Notes? Are we going to get weird Snapchat filters over the action? Nah, it’s going to look “normal,” I’d guess. But I do think it’s going to be much better than anticipated.
Beth Phoenix on commentary is a possible wild card – as far as I know, she’s never done any real commentary work before. But even if Phoenix is on par with Lita’s commentary from the Mae Young Classic, Corey Graves and Michael Cole will keep things on track. The visual and interactive aspects of the production are more intriguing – if the interactivity works out on Facebook, maybe it will come to the WWE Network in the future. Could you imagine truly interactive pay per view events? Not Cyber Sunday, the “Social Media Lounge,” or the like – real interactivity, where the superstars respond in real time. It’s an interesting idea.
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What do you think may happen in WWE this week?