10 WWE Evolution Impulse Reactions

3. Match Of The Year?

Becky Lynch Charlotte
WWE.com

Ronda Rousey's placement at the top of this card made all the sense in the world from a WWE promotional point of view. To them she was the missing piece of a puzzle they'd intentionally laboured over assembling. But as the show approached it became increasingly apparent how one feud - and one particular combatant - had become the story in WWE women's wrestling.

For better or worse, the Becky Lynch heel turn has fuelled her 'Straight Fire' in a way she inexplicably couldn't convince those backstage of when she was a genuinely beloved babyface.

Growing the character from indignant shades of gray to pitch black hatred, Lynch's performance in the role has been one of the standout successes of 2018, with reward for her exceptional work with Charlotte coming in the form of this heavily-hyped Last Woman Standing match.

It's a formula 'The Queen' already knows well. Long relied upon as a safe pair of hands in a headline spot, she had her best (nearly) topliner to date. It was the best contest in their series. It was the best Last (Wo)Man Standing battle in forever and it was, quite possibly, the best singles match of the year.

Rousey stole the show at WrestleMania in a tag match exquisitely engineered to get her over to the world in one night. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair fought hard for years to get here, and fought harder to prove their worth. And they both won big.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett