WWE has a good problem heading into Evolution. They have two matches worthy of being the main event.
It gives the company the choice to close its first all-women’s pay-per-view on Oct. 28 with either Raw women’s champion Ronda Rousey facing Nikki Bella or Charlotte Flair looking to regain the SmackDown women’s title from Becky Lynch in the first last-woman-standing match on the main roster.
The feud between Flair and Lynch has arguably been WWE’s best with the Irish Lass Kicker turning on her best friend at SummerSlam and the intensity increasing since. On the other side, the Bellas attacked Rousey last week on Raw and the heat between them was turned up quickly on social media and with a strong promo between the two this week.
The segment brought a dose of reality into the storyline, was Rousey’s best and most comfortable promo and pushed her in the direction of being more of the polarizing figure that helped make her an enormous draw in the UFC.
Nikki called out Rousey for not breaking down the doors she had and how WWE’s women’s revolution wouldn’t have started without her and her sister Brie. She is not wrong. Remember, the GiveDivasAChance hashtag started trending worldwide when the Bellas took on Emma and Paige in 2015.
With that, Rousey’s whole expression changed and she appeared to bring forward some real emotion. She talked of being a trailblazer in Strikeforce and the UFC. She went on to say the only door Nikki knocked down was “to John Cena’s bedroom, and he eventually threw you out of that exact same door.”
Rousey tapped into a perception of Nikki that is likely out there and the real-life fact that Cena and her broke off their engagement. The line got a big reaction from the crowd and certainly made the feud more personal.
What Rousey said made for great TV, headlines and heat for the feud, but there were some who felt she crossed a line, especially with Evolution striving to promote women as strong, independent and courageous.
While it is understandable to contrast the Divas era to today, Rousey’s statement places Nikki in a light where she needed a man to get ahead and used sex as a way to do so. WWE should be moving beyond storylines like that, whether it’s for Evolution or not.
Even without the Cena line, WWE has heat between some of its biggest mainstream stars. The Bellas’ large fans base — 17.7 million combined followers on Instagram and Twitter — probably don’t like Rousey (15.1 million combined followers) dismissing Nikki’s accomplishments and that’s a good thing. It gives Rousey’s character greater depth and even makes it believable Nikki could win the championship in some underhanded way so the heat can be turned up a little more for the rematch.
But even with that said, Flair and Lynch should go on last. The match, the wrestlers and what it represents is everything Evolution stands for. The women’s division has evolved from what Bella vs. Rousey would be — a returning star taking on a star who made her name elsewhere.
Flair and Lynch made their name in WWE, helped push the revolution forward as members of wrestling’s Four Horsewomen and are in the middle of an amazingly rich, detailed and emotional story that rivals anything the men are doing. All you had to do was listen to the reaction they received on SmackDown 1000. Also, Lynch dissing Edge the way she did to see shows how comfortable she is in her new heel role.
Wasn’t what Flair and Lynch are creating the point of the revolution, to give women the same opportunities as the men, to let them show off their personalities, athleticism and physicality. What better way to live up to that then with two of your best wrestlers telling a great story in a historic match.
Flair and Lynch should be rewarded for their stellar work. If not, than what’s the point. Let them main event Evolution.
