6 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (Dec 15)

2. WWE Content: Super-Served!

WWE Mixed Match Challenge
WWE.com

News broke this week that WWE is debuting a new show - Mixed Match Challenge - live on Facebook in the new year.

This is as worrying as it is boring. Surely, there is no further demand for further WWE content. The little-told tale of 205 Live should confirm that. Still, Mixed Match Challenge will feature genuine flagship stars, so there may yet be an appetite to see these inter-gender matches, even though they'll likely exist in a meaningless non-canon vacuum.

What's concerning is that WWE is promoting the show purely to gauge the reach and potential revenue within the digital field. If this is a hit - and here's hoping it bloody isn't - WWE can, at the very least, drive the price of their TV deals up, and thus luxuriate in the same old tedious formulas that have crippled the product creatively for years and years and years. At most, they can increase their presence on Facebook and maintain their status as the USA Network's flagship programme, spewing out churn that by definition cannot mean anything nor act as a platform to build towards anything special.

If it is a failure, USA may hold a negotiating hand with the knowledge that WWE has no way of replacing TV as its primary revenue stream. Please.

To underscore that nothing means anything, Sami Zayn, in a match for his WWE career this Sunday, is featured on the promotional poster - telegraphing the result.

Nothing matters but content.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!