EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Man did it. Becky Lynch knocked down every barrier put in her way to become the first woman to win a WrestleMania main event, the first woman to pin Ronda Rousey, and the first woman to hold the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships at the same time in the historic, Winner Take All main event of WrestleMania 35.
Everything Becky Lynch had up to, during and after the main event was earned. She earned her place in the WrestleMania main event by winning the 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble Match. She earned the opportunity to stand across the ring from Charlotte Flair when she’d spent so long standing in her shadow. And she earned the right to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ronda Rousey when she attacked her on Raw five months ago and made herself a star.
What Becky earned was her first major main event against women with a long, storied experience on this type of stage. And, for a time, Becky struggled to keep up. But both Flair and Rousey found their respective skills put to the test as well. Charlotte was forced to fight dirty, as she chopped Rousey square across the chest and face early in the match. Rousey was forced to adapt her move set, as she contended with a torqued knee after suffering a Figure-Four Leglock against the turnbuckle, and later, a full-fledged Figure-Eight. Both had to change. Becky Lynch, on the other hand, was who she was since before she started calling herself The Man. And everything that took her to the main event at WrestleMania took her over the finish line as well.
With Ronda Rousey entangled upside-down in the ropes, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch briefly team up to send the Raw Women's Champion crashing painfully to the floor: Courtesy of WWE Network.
She remembered everything. The bad blood with Charlotte Flair that led her to break up that Figure-Eight with a legdrop to The Queen’s sternum — shades of a similar maneuver from WrestleMania 32. She remembered the brutality that took her to the Match of the Year at WWE Evolution, breaking out a table for a fateful sequence that culminated in Charlotte being thrown through the pine by Lynch and Rousey. And she remembered the showdown she always wanted, the one she chose: The Baddest Woman on the Planet.
More importantly, she was ready, and she put Rousey away suddenly. Despite coming out on the short end of a hockey fight and finding herself stranded on The Baddest Woman on the Planet’s shoulders, she countered Piper’s Pit into a crucifix pin, sticking Rousey’s shoulders to the mat, as The Rowdy One was pinned for the first time in her WWE career. Clearly, it was a moment Becky had prepared for.
So now she’s the champ. And the champ again. Does that make her The Man? It doesn’t hurt. But what might make her The Man is the sum of what Becky Lynch did to get to this moment. She wanted it. She worked for it. And she took it all.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Man did it. Becky Lynch knocked down every barrier put in her way to become the first woman to win a WrestleMania main event, the first woman to pin Ronda Rousey, and the first woman to hold the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships at the same time in the historic, Winner Take All main event of WrestleMania 35.
Everything Becky Lynch had up to, during and after the main event was earned. She earned her place in the WrestleMania main event by winning the 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble Match. She earned the opportunity to stand across the ring from Charlotte Flair when she’d spent so long standing in her shadow. And she earned the right to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ronda Rousey when she attacked her on Raw five months ago and made herself a star.
What Becky earned was her first major main event against women with a long, storied experience on this type of stage. And, for a time, Becky struggled to keep up. But both Flair and Rousey found their respective skills put to the test as well. Charlotte was forced to fight dirty, as she chopped Rousey square across the chest and face early in the match. Rousey was forced to adapt her move set, as she contended with a torqued knee after suffering a Figure-Four Leglock against the turnbuckle, and later, a full-fledged Figure-Eight. Both had to change. Becky Lynch, on the other hand, was who she was since before she started calling herself The Man. And everything that took her to the main event at WrestleMania took her over the finish line as well.
With Ronda Rousey entangled upside-down in the ropes, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch briefly team up to send the Raw Women's Champion crashing painfully to the floor: Courtesy of WWE Network.
She remembered everything. The bad blood with Charlotte Flair that led her to break up that Figure-Eight with a legdrop to The Queen’s sternum — shades of a similar maneuver from WrestleMania 32. She remembered the brutality that took her to the Match of the Year at WWE Evolution, breaking out a table for a fateful sequence that culminated in Charlotte being thrown through the pine by Lynch and Rousey. And she remembered the showdown she always wanted, the one she chose: The Baddest Woman on the Planet.
More importantly, she was ready, and she put Rousey away suddenly. Despite coming out on the short end of a hockey fight and finding herself stranded on The Baddest Woman on the Planet’s shoulders, she countered Piper’s Pit into a crucifix pin, sticking Rousey’s shoulders to the mat, as The Rowdy One was pinned for the first time in her WWE career. Clearly, it was a moment Becky had prepared for.
So now she’s the champ. And the champ again. Does that make her The Man? It doesn’t hurt. But what might make her The Man is the sum of what Becky Lynch did to get to this moment. She wanted it. She worked for it. And she took it all.
