Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of WOMEN'S WRESTLING WEEKLY—a rundown of the events which have transpired in the world of women's professional wrestling over the past several days not just with the Superstars on WWE programming, but with Impact Wrestling's Knockouts, Lucha Underground's luchadoras, and even a glimpse at the women on the independent circuit.

Happy Elimination Chamber week, my dears! I'll have our EC wrap at the bottom of this column. You might notice a new format this week; we're going for a new, spicy look going into the future and you, my dears, are my guinea pigs! Huzzah!



The short...

Becky Lynch will NOT calm down, thank you very much, Sasha and Bayley are massive underdogs and Raw most certainly has tag team fever.

The long...

Becky Lynch, still the hottest mofo in this entire company, opened the show by flat-out refusing to apologize to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. She's gone full Stone Cold and she pulled it off in spades during that segment. Her refusal to "calm down" was feminist chicken soup for my soul, and I loved it endlessly.

The tag match to determine which tag team (Boss'N'Hug Connection, Jax & Tamina, or the Riott Squad) would enter the Elimination Chamber first was a lot of fun, and the ending felt like the right choice. What better way to build Sasha and Bayley than by having them last for the long haul? THE ODDS, am I right?

It's a shame WWE hasn't tried as hard as they could have to make Ruby Riott feel like more of a threat to Ronda Rousey. She's an incredible talent with an awesome look and great storytelling skills to boot, but we've been given no reason to believe this match will be anything other than a stepping stone for Rousey. Riott pinned Nikki Cross in a fun NXT throwback, but we missed most of it to see Rousey tell Becky Lynch to man up and apologize. No, really.

Lynch decided to take one for the team and apologized to Trips and Steph in the center of the ring. Rousey came out for their signature staredown, but she was followed by none other than Vince McMahon himself. McMahon declared Becky and her attitude had gotten too big for his tastes, and he refused to allow it to continue, so she was suspended for 60 days. Who'd fight Ronda at Mania, then?

One guess.

I'm not sure why WWE seems to think suspension is the only way to build a Mania main event, but go off, I guess. Maybe some...creativity would be a better way to get people to rally behind Bex even more. But what do I know?

Grade: B+



The short...

Charlotte is playing us all for fools and tag teams make the world go round.

The long...

Charlotte proclaimed that she's always been meant to be in a marquee WrestleMania match, not Becky. Cue the boos, showing just how damn good at her job she is. As much as I want Becky and Ronda to be one on one, I can't help but respect Charlotte's heel hustle.

Fabulous Glow, Fire & Desire and the IIconics battled to ensure they wouldn't be the starters in the Elimination Chamber match. It was fun match that seemed to be a sure thing; there was no reason why Mella and Naomi wouldn't win this thing. Mandy and Sonya took the fall, so they got the distinction of trying to survive for as long as possible. Tag team fever: confirmed AWESOME.

Grade: B-



The short...

STREET FIGHT LET'S GO!!!

The long...

Y'all.

I loved every moment of this free-for-all brawl between two certified badass powerhouses. We've seen them do battle so many times, but I still found new moments of excitement in every vicious strike and kick. Between the steel chair shots, the cable choking and the horrific punches, this match was every bit the violent spectacle I would expect from these two. Valkyrie won with a double stomp through a table.

Scarlett Bordeaux is still... herself. So, there's that. She makes her debut next week. Elsewhere, Allie is still very spooked by the warnings she has been given by Rosemary. I love all of this character work and story-driven stuff. I can't wait to see how it plays out in the ring.

Grade: A-



The short...

Everyone wants a piece of Shayna Baszler.

The long...

Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane and Io Shirai all had opinions on who should get the next shot at the NXT Women's Championship. This girl says: GIVE ME ALL OF THEM!

Taynara Conti had an impressive showing against Aaliyah that ended in a submission victory for the Brazilian despite attempted interference from Vanessa Borne on Aaliyah's behalf. Just as I was about to text a friend and ask what I had just watched, Shayna and her musketeers appeared and just... attacked everyone. Par for the course, I'd say.

I love this whole "merciless bully" act from Shayna. It still feels fresh and fun even after all this time. I'm not exactly sure if I should bother making anything of Borne and Aaliyah's "partnership," but hey, stranger things have happened.

Grade: B



The short...

Tag teams shine, but anyone else would be lucky to be given any time.

The long...

I'll get the Rousey/Riott mess out of the way so that I can move onto the fun stuff. Rousey absolutely buried Riott, and it wasn't fun or engaging or even surprising. It felt like a placeholder, and wasn't even given enough time to feel worthy of a pay-per-view slot. It's Ruby Riott, people. She deserves the world. Becky Lynch made everything better, like, spiritually, by coming out and beating both Rousey and an emerged Charlotte to a pulp with her crutches. It restored some of my wounded soul.

Now, as for the tag match, I really enjoyed it. I feel like it lagged a bit at the beginning, but once it got its bearings, Sasha Banks and Bayley absolutely rocked my world. They showed a ton of grit. I'm also really impressed with Nia Jax and Tamina. Nia is settling back into her heel persona, and she makes Tamina 10x more interesting. Speaking of which, four women eliminating Tamina at the same time was absolute poetry.

Speaking of poetry, how fitting is it that Sasha Banks and Bayley won their first tag team titles in the same chamber that nearly tore them apart last year? What an amazing closing sequence full of callbacks and good, ol'fashioned wrestling magic. I'm very impressed with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville's growth in the ring, on full display here as two seasoned ring workers brought them to one of their best performances yet. The emotion in Beth Phoenix's voice after said it all.

This is a great moment. We have a lot left to do. But this? Remember this. Cheers, ladies.

Grade: A-



This section includes recaps of matches from around the world in various lesser-known independent promotions throughout the week.

Pro-Wrestling: EVE

Match: Martina vs. Jinny
Winner: Martina

STARDOM

Match: Hazuki vs. AZM (High Speed Title match)
Winner: Hazuki

RevPro Wrestling

Match: Zoe Lucas vs. Bea Priestley (RevPro Undisputed British Women's Title match)
Winner: Zoe Lucas


I was torn between this and the chamber match, but in the end the nerd in me who just adores street fights won out! This match was brutal, fun and full of great storytelling moments. Street fights are gifts in that they allow wrestlers who know what they're doing to tell some really interesting stories in the middle of a bloodbath environment. These two badasses truly came to play this week, and it showed. Well done, Impact.


Look at their faces when they won. Wrestling is their whole world, and they put in the work to be the best at it in the company. I can't describe how my heart swelled seeing not only them, but Charlotte and Becky too, steal Elimination Chamber and prove that they were worth every gamble along the way.

So there you have it, the breakdown for the week in women's wrestling. What were some of your favorite and least favorite moments from these women? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!