Sudden Finish in Women’s Triple Threat Kills Match

By: Salvatore Cento

As champion, Becky Lynch holds both the RAW and Smackdown titles.Photo Credit: Sports.yahoo.com, prowrestling.com

It just happens sometimes. The build-up, the hype, and the promos leading up a match can be so much more entertaining than the actual execution (which in this case, is the match) in the world of professional wrestling.

It just happened to take place during Wrestlemania 35 in Metlife Stadium on April 7th, 2019. And this happened to strike in the main event, of all places, which was an all-women’s triple threat match.

Charlotte Flair, who was Smackdown’s women’s champion, faced off against Ronda Rousey, who was Raw’s women’s champion. Becky Lynch was the third combatant who came into this challenge as the crowd’s favorite since the conception of this feud.

Months of talking, beat downs, and reckless tirades. The latest event on the go-home edition of Raw saw all three competitors getting arrested with cops and cop cars being tangled into the fray.

Seeing all of this set the bar for the fans for what kind of match this was going to be.

For the most part, albeit a little short, we did get this. Charlotte Flair locked in the Figure Four on Ronda Rousey through one of the ring posts. Disarmer by Becky Lynch on the top rope. Double arm bars. Double spears. Wrestlers mechanically took advantage of already hurt limbs just to get the win.

But it was all forgotten when the bell struck with the winning pinfall. Just like that.

The commentators for the event went absolutely crazy. The woman who was been compared to Stone Cold Steve Austin time after time again just won both belts.

This was a Wrestlemania moment.

But it really didn’t feel like one. For all the mileage that was put into this program, the pin came so suddenly and from a place where it shouldn’t have come from.

Fans didn’t even have time to process that Ronda’s shoulders were on the mat.

Before you knew it, the referee was already on two. And there you go. New champion. Show’s over.

As a long time viewer of WWE and being used to these types of happenings, I do have to say as much as I’m criticizing how this went down, I understand why it went down like this. Protecting Ronda’s credibility was a priority in all of the higher ups within the company.

Michael Cole stating (or yelling) that this was Ronda’s first loss told me that. Ronda Rousey, once at the top of the UFC female division, was somebody who’s first professional wrestling loss should be a Wrestlemania moment. No doubt in that at all.

But the decision comes at a sacrifice for the winner. Her much sought after victory must come with a loss for the character.

No matter how much steam she should have behind her, such as Becky Lynch did, the train must stop at the crossing, reduce its speed and then go on ahead very carefully.

Until she loses both of the belts or an unified one (if one is created), Becky Lynch, better known as “The Man” will have a lot to say and do when it comes to defending her titles on the coming weeks with some huge contenders on her tail.

And there will be plenty more opportunities where the fans can pop when her theme music hits or when she applies her finishing move, “The Disarm-Her.”

But on the climax of the biggest wrestling show of the year, it went by too fast to even start clapping.