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PHOENIX — Despite being brought to the brink of exhaustion by a determined Sasha Banks, Ronda Rousey remained Raw Women’s Champion at the 2019 Royal Rumble event, starting her Road to WrestleMania with a remarkable career first.
With 48,193 WWE Universe members on the edge of their seats, Banks and Rousey held nothing back in the early goings, with Rousey busting out Three Amigos — a signature maneuver of Sasha’s idol, WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero. Unshaken by Rousey’s “tribute,” Banks kept her cool and dodged a lethal right hand from The Rowdy One, who instead punched the ring post with such force that its digital panels went to static.
Banks’ offense intensified from there, taking the submission expert to the ground with an excruciating Armbar of her own that threatened to tear Rousey’s arm out of the socket. Banks then trapped Rousey in the Bank Statement, but Rousey broke the hold and hit Piper’s Pit, using that momentum to focus her attack on Sasha’s right arm. When the action spilled outside the ring, Ronda trapped Banks in her signature Armbar, forcing Sasha to tap. Fortunately for The Boss, submissions do not count outside the ring, so the match continued.
After managing to escape the Bank Statement once again, Rousey incapacitated Banks with a gutwrench powerbomb into a second Piper’s Pit, scoring the first pinfall victory in her combat sports career. With the Raw Women’s Championship on her shoulder, Rousey now looks ahead to WrestleMania … and whoever her next challenger might be.
Banks, to her credit, ultimately showed respect for the victorious Rousey, but her flashing of the “Four Horsewomen” hand sign affirmed that there’s unfinished business between Banks’ longtime allies and Rousey’s “Four Horsewomen” crew.