FunKay
03-15-2019, 11:03 AM
This one has a longer build than you might even think...
Cast your mind back to last summer. Becky Lynch was on a winning streak that confirmed her as the number one contender to the SmackDown Women's title held at that time by Carmella. The fans loved her and it was clearly her time. Enter: Charlotte. The supposed "Queen" of WWE. She managed to usurp Becky's position as sole challenger and enter the match. When Charlotte essentially stole the win, the title and the moment from its rightful owner, Becky snapped, and the crowd ate it up. This was the birth of "The Man". On that same show, Ronda Rousey tapped Alexa Bliss out to claim the Raw Women's title.
Throughout the autumn, Becky and Charlotte went back and forth in a hotly contested rivalry. The title switched to Lynch at Hell in a Cell and she was bizarrely portrayed as a villain in spite of the thunderous reactions she was receiving each and every week. The pair's story seemed to conclude when they squared off in maybe WWE's best match last year: a Last (Wo)Man Standing Match which saw Becky barely overcome her friend turned nemesis. All while this was happening Rousey was tightening her grip atop the Raw pecking order, defeating Bliss in a rematch, Nikki Bella in the main event of Evolution (first women exclusive WWE PPV y'know?) and anyone else who dared to challenge her throne.
Then came the build to Survivor Series - Raw versus SmackDown yet again. Amongst this tepid concept though was something truly special: Ronda Rousey versus Becky Lynch. An undefeated star positioned as better than the rest since the moment she arrived, versus the red-hot, people's choice. It felt special and it would've been. Hell, it gave birth to the best segment on WWE television last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KncowzqnhI0
In that moment, blood dripping from her face, arms wide, chest puffed out, Becky Lynch ascended to more than just the flavour of the month. She was made, the moment now iconic. However it came at a price. She was concussed, face broken and was thus forced to forfeit her spot opposite Rousey, selecting Charlotte as her replacement, knowing how tough and capable her long term rival was/is. It was during that match that Charlotte in turn snapped too. Gone was the smiling "victim" of a babyface and there in its wake was the "destined for greatness, by any means necessary" character she was born to play. She destroyed Rousey that night with a kendo stick, but gave Ronda purpose and a vendetta against both of SmackDown's leading women.
That vendetta carried into TLC in December when Rousey cost both Becky and Charlotte their brand's women's title, pushing them off a ladder, and allowing Asuka to claim the title for her own. Things were slowly ticking over throughout January as the three women casually sniped at each other on television, in the ring and on twitter. The Royal Rumble is when things went up a gear however as Becky Lynch lost a title match versus Asuka, only to emerge in the Women's Royal Rumble as a late substitute for an injured Lana. The final two of that match? Becky and Charlotte. Of course it was...
Becky overcame Charlotte once more, even in spite of a knee "injury" sustained in the midst of the Rumble. She was going to WrestleMania... and she made damn sure it was going to be Rousey she challenged. After all, there's unfinished business there. Since then there has been stupid shenanigans and an overemphasis on Becky's knee problems, which while rooted in good storytelling (the doctor's prevented her from facing Rousey before, she's afraid that they will do it again), has been poorly handled. The real story is the undercurrent involving Ronda Rousey though.
As it became obvious that this match would indeed by a triple threat, with Charlotte a substitute for Becky as hand-picked by Vince McMahon, and Becky the people's champion who has to fight from underneath to get back in, Ronda became a bit of an island. Rumour's circulate that she won't be long for WWE after WrestleMania, and the fans have turned on her for a plethora of reasons not least of all that she simply isn't "The Man" that Becky is. She seems genuinely saddened and hurt by this and its bled into her character work on TV and twitter. And now, at the last, she has snapped too. Gone is the happy-go-lucky "chasing my dream" babyface, and now stands a destroyer out for one thing; personal satisfaction rooted in vengeance against two women who have stolen her limelight and indeed, her dream, of being a people's champion
This is a tale of three turns, three character changes, and in spite of its crap storytelling in this last chapter, is going to go down as a legendary story in WWE's pantheon, something that will be confirmed if/when it main events, becoming the first women's match to do so...
________________
Post who you think walks out with the gold (and indeed if it is going to main event) below.
Cast your mind back to last summer. Becky Lynch was on a winning streak that confirmed her as the number one contender to the SmackDown Women's title held at that time by Carmella. The fans loved her and it was clearly her time. Enter: Charlotte. The supposed "Queen" of WWE. She managed to usurp Becky's position as sole challenger and enter the match. When Charlotte essentially stole the win, the title and the moment from its rightful owner, Becky snapped, and the crowd ate it up. This was the birth of "The Man". On that same show, Ronda Rousey tapped Alexa Bliss out to claim the Raw Women's title.
Throughout the autumn, Becky and Charlotte went back and forth in a hotly contested rivalry. The title switched to Lynch at Hell in a Cell and she was bizarrely portrayed as a villain in spite of the thunderous reactions she was receiving each and every week. The pair's story seemed to conclude when they squared off in maybe WWE's best match last year: a Last (Wo)Man Standing Match which saw Becky barely overcome her friend turned nemesis. All while this was happening Rousey was tightening her grip atop the Raw pecking order, defeating Bliss in a rematch, Nikki Bella in the main event of Evolution (first women exclusive WWE PPV y'know?) and anyone else who dared to challenge her throne.
Then came the build to Survivor Series - Raw versus SmackDown yet again. Amongst this tepid concept though was something truly special: Ronda Rousey versus Becky Lynch. An undefeated star positioned as better than the rest since the moment she arrived, versus the red-hot, people's choice. It felt special and it would've been. Hell, it gave birth to the best segment on WWE television last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KncowzqnhI0
In that moment, blood dripping from her face, arms wide, chest puffed out, Becky Lynch ascended to more than just the flavour of the month. She was made, the moment now iconic. However it came at a price. She was concussed, face broken and was thus forced to forfeit her spot opposite Rousey, selecting Charlotte as her replacement, knowing how tough and capable her long term rival was/is. It was during that match that Charlotte in turn snapped too. Gone was the smiling "victim" of a babyface and there in its wake was the "destined for greatness, by any means necessary" character she was born to play. She destroyed Rousey that night with a kendo stick, but gave Ronda purpose and a vendetta against both of SmackDown's leading women.
That vendetta carried into TLC in December when Rousey cost both Becky and Charlotte their brand's women's title, pushing them off a ladder, and allowing Asuka to claim the title for her own. Things were slowly ticking over throughout January as the three women casually sniped at each other on television, in the ring and on twitter. The Royal Rumble is when things went up a gear however as Becky Lynch lost a title match versus Asuka, only to emerge in the Women's Royal Rumble as a late substitute for an injured Lana. The final two of that match? Becky and Charlotte. Of course it was...
Becky overcame Charlotte once more, even in spite of a knee "injury" sustained in the midst of the Rumble. She was going to WrestleMania... and she made damn sure it was going to be Rousey she challenged. After all, there's unfinished business there. Since then there has been stupid shenanigans and an overemphasis on Becky's knee problems, which while rooted in good storytelling (the doctor's prevented her from facing Rousey before, she's afraid that they will do it again), has been poorly handled. The real story is the undercurrent involving Ronda Rousey though.
As it became obvious that this match would indeed by a triple threat, with Charlotte a substitute for Becky as hand-picked by Vince McMahon, and Becky the people's champion who has to fight from underneath to get back in, Ronda became a bit of an island. Rumour's circulate that she won't be long for WWE after WrestleMania, and the fans have turned on her for a plethora of reasons not least of all that she simply isn't "The Man" that Becky is. She seems genuinely saddened and hurt by this and its bled into her character work on TV and twitter. And now, at the last, she has snapped too. Gone is the happy-go-lucky "chasing my dream" babyface, and now stands a destroyer out for one thing; personal satisfaction rooted in vengeance against two women who have stolen her limelight and indeed, her dream, of being a people's champion
This is a tale of three turns, three character changes, and in spite of its crap storytelling in this last chapter, is going to go down as a legendary story in WWE's pantheon, something that will be confirmed if/when it main events, becoming the first women's match to do so...
________________
Post who you think walks out with the gold (and indeed if it is going to main event) below.