WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Star Ratings For All 10 Matches
7. Asuka Vs. Becky Lynch - SmackDown Women's Title Match
The character work early was outstanding.
This was palpably, brilliantly, a meeting between two over stars with distinct, engaging, complementary characters. Asuka, renewed with despicable charisma, aimed pithy, arrogant kicks in Becky’s face. Becky, defiant, shrugged them off with a knowing smile. She fed off the disrespect, just as she has used institutional disrespect to define her ‘The Man’ character—before unleashing her inner fire in the form of a brutal suplex to the barricade.
The physical work, on Becky’s side, was slightly less impressive, at least throughout the first act. Unlike Asuka’s lethal spinning back first, a kick aimed at Asuka, intended to miss, never looked likely to hit. It’s rare that you can accuse Lynch of running through the motions, but she also squandered a unique, turnbuckle-assisted variation on the Disarm Her with a timid application. It’s strange; a character defined by next-level confidence sometimes takes a while to settle her nerves on the big occasion.
When she did, the match eventually reached its potential.
With adrenaline surging after a wild, untethered slap battle, Asuka and Becky plunged the gearstick forward. Channelling no less a warrior than Tomohiro Ishii, Becky clung to the ropes in defiance before both women powered one another to the mat, never breaking the illusion of a struggle, to exchange mirror submission holds. Shockingly, Asuka tapped Becky out with a Cattle Mutilation variation in which she applied all pressure to the neck.
Layered storytelling, or diluting the mixture? This remains to be seen.
Star Rating: ****