3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (Results & Review - 23 May)
3. ‘A Results Business’
Wade Barrett went on a mini-rant just before the Sol Ruca/Becky Lynch match that was almost immediately contradicted.
Michael Cole was hyping up Ruca’s efforts in the ring to date, talking about how she’d taken Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky “to the limit,” and if she could do the same with Lynch, perhaps she’d earn a Women’s Intercontinental Championship match.
Barrett responded that this is “a results business.” Wins and losses matter, and losing to Becky – no matter how competitive the match was – should not “earn” Sol a title match. Cole, not computing, pointed out that she finished third in the Royal Rumble, which Wade astutely noted meant that “she didn’t win,” observing that Tiffany Stratton finished second and wasn’t even on the WrestleMania 42 card.
This was a surprisingly refreshing bit to hear on WWE programming, where match results are almost immediately disregarded if they aren’t paramount to the storyline.
But just moments later, after Ruca won a brief match by disqualification, it was revealed that Sol would get a rematch against Lynch at Clash in Italy for the Women’s IC title.
On its own, the heel champ getting intentionally disqualified in a non-title match might merit a title match. But Ruca literally hasn’t won a match on the main roster, save for this one DQ victory in a two-minute bout – and that apparently earns her a PLE title match.
If results actually matter, then Ruca should have come into this feud with Becky with momentum – actual victories – under her belt to make Lynch’s desperation feel more visceral, and to make Sol’s quest for the title undeniable.
Instead, it just scans as WWE speed-running a title feud in six days rather than over a few weeks.