SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan has announced Rusev & Lana as the second blue brand team for WWE’s Mixed Match Challenge. They join Bobby Roode & SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair as confirmed SmackDown teams. As noted, RAW teams confirmed as of this writing include Braun Strowman & RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss plus Finn Balor & Sasha Banks.
Above is video of the happy couple with Bryan and Aiden English, and below is WWE’s announcement:
Rusev to team with his wife Lana at WWE Mixed Match Challenge
SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan dropped a bombshell when he revealed that Rusev will team up with his wife Lana in the unprecedented WWE Mixed Match Challenge tournament on Facebook Watch.
The in-ring partnership between The Bulgarian Brute and The Ravishing Russian is an intriguing one to say the least. Rusev is a two-time Unites Champion who demands respect against any opponent in both singles and tag team competition. While Lana has not competed as extensively as her spouse, the Total Divas co-star has been quite visible in the struggle for supremacy in the SmackDown LIVE Women’s division and has officially entered the first-ever 30-Woman Over-the-Top Royal Rumble Match, signaling that she is, in fact, ready for top-notch competition.
Obviously, success for any tag team requires more than physical skill. There must also be an intuition between the competitors, something that can take years for two Superstars to develop. However, for a married couple in love, there is a much higher chance that element will already be intact, raising the odds that the WWE Mixed Match Challenge will end up being transformed into Rusev Day!
Together, Rusev and Lana will do battle in a ground-breaking tournament on Facebook Watch, where unlikely male-female WWE Superstar pairings will attempt to win $100,000 for a charity of their choice.
Check back with WWE.com to learn other #WWEMMC combinations as they become available. Follow WWE Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook for updates, and find out how you can impact the show’s matchups, stipulations and more along the way. WWE Mixed Match Challenge begins Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 10 ET/7 PT, exclusively on Facebook Watch.
