Get well soon, @NoamDar! @DrewGulak has a special present in the form of an INFORMATIVE… POWERPOINT PRESENTATION!!!!! #205Live @AriyaDaivariWWE pic.twitter.com/rX0Q4KZD33
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 13, 2017
For those who watched 205 Live yesterday night, they may have been surprised to listen Drew Gulak and Arya Daivari saying “Get well soon” to Noam Dar, another member of Enzo Amore’s Zo Train. Those who thought it was a part of a storyline were wrong.
Noam Dar is in fact currently out of action and will be undergoing surgery to repair and “clean up” a knee injury. to “clean up” the injury. No word emerged from WWE on the specifics of the injury and on how long Dar will be out of action. Noam Dar wrestled Cedric Alexander on last week’s episode of 205 Live.
BREAKING: @WWE presents the Mixed Match Challenge tournament, airing LIVE exclusively on Facebook Watch! #WWEMMC https://t.co/eHsyDsoUhm pic.twitter.com/gdPEueEB8C
— WWE (@WWE) December 13, 2017
Speaking of 205 Live, for 12 weeks from January 16, the show will be pushed back and start at 10.30 PM EST, instead of 10PM (3AM in UK). The reason is for 12 weeks, WWE will air a new in-ring series called Mixed Match Challenge. WWE Superstars from both RAW and SmackDown Live rosters will be competing in a single-elimination mixed tag-team tournament to win $100,000 to support the charity of their choice. The show will stream exclusively on Facebook Watch at 10PM EST on Tuesday nights.
Each 20-minute episode, with no commercials or advertisements, will allow social interaction, like the ability for the WWE Universe to engage with Superstars during the show, select matchups, match stipulations and more, on Facebook.
According to Variety, the episodes will be filmed in the same venue as SmackDown Live every week and will have its “own look and feel” as 205 Live or Main Event do. The filming of the show will also use “tighter shots of the action, bolder, brighter graphics and 360-degree video.”
WWE Universe will have the opportunity to vote on Facebook for the final competitor from the Raw roster, as well as which tag team member of The New Day will be added to the SmackDown LIVE roster.
Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox, Asuka, Bayley, Braun Strowman, Enzo Amore, Finn Balor, Goldust, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, The Miz will represent RAW alongside the member chosen by the fans.
Becky Lynch, Bobby Roode, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Jimmy Uso, Lana, Naomi, Natalya, Rusev, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura and one of the member of The New Day, chosen by the fans, will represent SmackDown Live. Full teams will be announced on January 4th.
Many of the Superstars involved reacted on social media. Nia Jax, like Alexa Bliss, is interested to team up with Braun Strowman, Natalya with Big E, Goldust with Sasha Banks, Carmella with Bobby Roode. Finn Balor is begging to team up with Bayley, something Bayley is absolutely okay with. Rusev and Lana want to work “in family”.
If Facebook has secured the exclusive rights to the new series and are paying WWE for the distribution rights, WWE will have the option to distribute the series as a VOD content on the WWE Network later.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWTMohNwQhc]