Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch had their best match in months in Melbourne - gone was the sloppiness awkwardly on display during their SummerSlam triple threat and Hell In A Cell title change, replaced with a dynamic enhanced greatly by the superlative character work from both on SmackDown Live in the last few months.
Charlotte's dominance was readily and rightfully apparent in the closing stages. Like the feud itself, the match didn't particularly pander to typical heel/face tropes - it in fact subverted them to give the fans the best of both worlds.
'The Queen' locking on a boston crab in the latter stages (after twice assuming control over a slightly overmatched Lynch) created the escape hatch for Becky that ultimate led to the DQ-triggering title belt even entering the fray. This was one of several pleasingly logical interludes in the contest, as was the manner in which she whipped the challenger as she lay defeated in the Figure Eight.
Decking Flair in the post-match, Lynch walked out defeated but not dethroned. On recent form, their Evolution semi-main should really be topping the bill.
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
