7 Match Star Ratings For WWE Money In The Bank 2021

3. Rhea Ripley Vs. Charlotte Flair - RAW Women's Title Match

charlotte flair rhea ripley
WWE.com

Somehow, some way, this actually worked.

The build was horrendous - just the absolute dirt-worst manifestation of WWE's awful values. Two entitled heels played a game of ar*ehole chess to build the all-important momentum.

And yet, in the ring, this actually worked.

To an improbable extent.

After an indictment of a start, in which fans chanted loudly for a performer that hasn't appeared on TV for over a year - which says so, so much about the state of WWE TV, incidentally - Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley grasped the core of their rivalry and applied it to a quite brilliant professional wrestling match.

If there was one semblance of an actual pro wrestling theme here, Flair and Ripley seized f*ck out of it; the match was worked with a tremendous, animosity-laced competitive edge that informed how great it was. An evenly-structured back-and-forth, it was elevated above "every modern wrestling match you've ever seen" territory through the charged emotion and constant, oscillating sense of parity. This was a super-dramatic and physical bomb-lobber that reached an awesome peak with Charlotte's top-rope Natural Selection.

And yes, she pulled The Face - the dreaded "What more can I do?" face - but for once, the strength of the work warranted it.

Snug, believable work that constantly escalated, this ruled.

Star Rating: ★★★★

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!