Everything was lined up perfectly for Lynch to take the stage in front of one of wrestling’s hottest crowds. She might have lost to Rousey but the match, coupled with the overwhelming majority of the crowd singing her name, would have further catapulted her as one of the hottest acts the somewhat stagnant WWE has seen in some time.
And yet, one Nia Jax punch six days before Survivor Series and on “broken face” diagnosis later, Becky Lynch never got her payoff moment. She sat on the sidelines with an injury, and the match was twisted into Rousey against Lynch’s close friend-turned-rival-turned-friend Charlotte Flair , a match that was being penciled in as a WrestleMania showcase. Instead of Becky having an all-time classic, it was Charlotte Flair, the highly decorated champion and daughter of the Hall of Famer, having the match of the night with Rousey.
While the crowd’s chants of “BE-CKY! BE-CKY! BE-CKY!” rung throughout the building to begin the match, as the fight went on, the spectacle inside and outside of the ring took center stage. By the time Charlotte disqualified herself by hammering Ronda in the ribs with a kendo stick, she was the star of the show. With the same sort of brazen ruthlessness and swagger that helped Lynch to ascend as one of the company’s most beloved performers (at Flair’s expense, no less), Charlotte drew inspiration from Becky and made an unforgettable moment of mercilessly attacking Rousey in the ring.
On short notice at Survivor Series, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey showed plenty of reasons why they belong in the WrestleMania 35 main event. Courtesy of WWE
When Charlotte had finally had enough, and stumbled backwards up the ramp with a glazed, wild look in her eyes, Ronda Rousey’s own hometown crowd thanked Flair for what she did to the former MMA megastar.
In one night, the WWE already had what it needed for its WrestleMania package. Rousey, sneering and appearing to be genuinely hurt at a crowd mercilessly booing her, with close ups of bruises and cuts across her body. Flair, the long-believed chosen one of women’s wrestling’s future, dipping into her father’s playbook by going to any means necessary to get the job done against a rival. A hot crowd. A match that, if it wasn’t disrupted with a disqualification, could have been one of the best matches of the entire year in the WWE.
It was the perfect litmus test at one of the company’s biggest shows of the year, for a debate that’s simmered over the last few years.
Should a women’s match main event WrestleMania?
The answer from the fans in attendance at Survivor Series, who were more invested in the brawl between Rousey and Flair than a first-time-ever dream match between Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar , was a resounding yes. At a time where there is no clear hot men’s feud going into 2019, it’s not if the women’s division should have a chance to main event WrestleMania, it should simply be about who should be involved, and how they get there.
Last year, the WWE could have pulled the trigger by having Ronda Rousey main event WrestleMania 34 in her debut in the mixed-tag match between in which Rousey partnered with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H . They didn’t, and taking their time with the investment they put into Rousey was paid off in spades. The long-time wrestling fan showed a quick knack for the business from the moment she stepped into the ring in New Orleans, in a similar fashion to the way her tag team partner on that night did it when he transitioned from the Olympic wrestling mats to the squared circle.
But at that moment, it wasn’t quite the right time. Ronda wasn’t ready. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka was one of the better matches on the show, but didn’t have the build up of a ‘Mania main event either. It was too early.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair went from allies to embattled rivals in recent months, but even after their truce and Lynch’s selection of Flair as her replacement against Ronda Rousey, there’s still plenty of meat on the bone in their personal conflict. Courtesy of WWE
Following the massive success of the first all-women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, which had an absolutely electric crowd, and the bout between Flair and Rousey in Los Angeles, there should be no more reservations. Ronda is ready, Charlotte is ready, and the division as a whole is ready to headline the biggest show of the year.
The main event for WrestleMania 35 is staring WWE in the face. Ronda Rousey, the baddest woman on the planet and cultural phenomenon, in one corner. Charlotte Flair, the queen of the wrestling business herself, in another. And, in her own corner staring both of the other women down, should be Becky Lynch — “The Man,” the people’s champion, someone who, as recently as one year ago, no one would have believed could be in the ring for the main event at WrestleMania.
At WrestleMania 30, Daniel Bryan overcame Randy Orton and Batista to become the top star in the company. Five years on from the “Miracle on Bourbon Street,” as called by Michael Cole, it still holds up as one of the greatest main events in WrestleMania history.
Charlotte and Ronda proved in Los Angeles that it’s time for a women’s main event at WrestleMania.
Charlotte, Ronda, and Becky at MetLife Stadium next April could have not just a main event-worthy WrestleMania match — they may quite possibly have a WrestleMania main event for the ages.
It’s time.
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