Hello, Diva fans! I’m going to be filling in for Eleri on Superstars/Main Event duty for the time being. Unfortunately, in the shuffle, we missed out on last week’s Main Event, which featured a great match between Brie Bella and Sasha Banks. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.
This week, Brie returns to Main Event, this time squaring off with the B of the fractured Team PCB, Becky Lynch. Can Becky rebound from Paige‘s betrayal with a win? Let’s watch:
Becky has Divas Champion Charlotte by her side, of course, while Brie’s flanked by Nikki and Alicia Fox.
At the start of the match they tie up, Brie backing Becky into the ropes. She backs off, and they circle again. This time, Brie breaks the tie-up with a kick, catching Becky in a side headlock. She tries to whip her to the mat, but Becky reverses it, locking in an armbar. Though Brie gets to her feet quickly, Becky maintains hold of her arm, twisting it. Brie fights out, nailing Becky with a a few forearms.
Brie sends Becky into the corner, but she catches herself on the ropes, launching over a charging Brie and taking her down with a series of armdrags, eventually locking in another armbar. Brie gets to her feet slowly, backing Becky in the corner and slamming her head against the turnbuckle until she’s freed. Becky dodges Brie’s next attack and catches a follow-up kick, dropping her to the mat.
Becky hits Brie with three consecutive legdrops and covers her for the pin. Brie kicks out and exits the ring, seeking a quick time out. When she’s ready, Brie climbs onto the ring apron and fends off Becky with a shoulder to the midsection. She slips through the ropes and climbs to the second turnbuckle, but Becky quickly joins her up there for a superplex attempt. Before she can hit it, though, Brie fights her off, dropping her throat-first onto the top rope.
Becky crawls across the ring and Brie follows, hitting her with a dropkick. She attempts a pin, but it’s not enough. Becky backs into another corner, where Brie lays into her with a few stomps as we head to a commercial break.
When we return, Becky’s powering out of a submission hold. She runs the ropes, but is met with a double axe handle from Brie on the return. Brie goes for another pin, but Becky kicks out. Brie gets Becky into a kneeled position and hits her with a barrage of kicks to the chest before running the ropes and hitting a dropkick. She then props her up against the ropes and nails her with a running knee strike. Another pin attempt by Brie, another kickout by Becky.
Brie locks in a headlock on Becky, but it’s not long before Becky gets to her feet. She tries to fight her way out of the hold, but Brie lands a knee to the midsection and slams her to the mat, maintaining control. She taunts Charlotte with the “loser” sign, bringing her up onto the ring apron. Brie ignores her, going for another pin on Becky. She earns another near fall.
Brie then captures Becky in a chinlock, but she doesn’t hold it for long, Becky furiously fighting out. She lands a few uppercuts on Brie before both Divas charge at each other, hitting tandem clotheslines. They’re both down!
They get to their feet at the same time, but Becky takes control, blocking Brie’s blows and delivering forearms of her own. She then takes Brie down with clotheslines, a dropkick, a springboard kick to the chest and a heel kick to the face. She covers Brie for the pin, but she kicks out. Becky then pulls Brie to her feet and hoists her up, but Brie slips free, kneeing Becky in the midsection. Her whip to the corner is reversed, but Brie fends off Becky with a back elbow, climbing to the second rope and hitting a missile dropkick. Brie goes for the pin, but Becky narrowly kicks out.
Becky’s on her feet quickly, catching Brie’s boot when she goes for a kick. She suplexes Brie and goes for a pin on her own, but Brie kicks out. Becky grabs hold of Brie, but out of nowhere, Brie knocks her hands away and attempts a Bella Buster. Becky slips out of it and captures Brie’s arm! She locks in an armbar, taking Brie to the mat. Brie struggles to the ropes, eventually catching her boot on the bottom rope to force a break.
Becky’s reluctant to let go of the hold, arguing with the referee. Charlotte has some words for him too, and this distracts him, allowing Nikki to sneak up onto the ring apron and yank Becky to the mat by her hair. This gives Brie enough of an opening to hit the Bella Buster and pin Becky for the win.
Thoughts: This was a fun little match, especially since it featured two women that have been on the sidelines, more or less, during the Diva Revolution. They’ve been in matches, sure, but they haven’t been the focus at all, so it’s nice to see them get some ring time and show what they can do. It wasn’t groundbreaking stuff, especially compared to the singles matches Becky put on in NXT, but I enjoyed it.
It’s cool to see Brie get a win too, and I appreciate any time the WWE remembers to book Team Bella as heels. Having Nikki interfere allows Becky to maintain some of her mojo, though it wouldn’t really have surprised me if Brie beat her cleanly. Becky just hasn’t been booked all that strongly in the past few months. It’s a shame, but I expected it, since the WWE has been focused on pushing Charlotte and keeping Becky as her right hand. Maybe one day Becky will get the spotlight…
I hope the Diva feuds continue to splinter off, because that will create more opportunities for the Beckys and the Bries of the division. Even if their matches are “relegated” to SmackDown or Main Event, we’ll at least have some sort of story being booked for these women. Team Bella will need something to do, since it looks like Charlotte and Paige are pairing off and Team B.A.D. have set their sights on Natalya. As a whole, things look a bit uncertain, but I like it, in a weird way. Hell, when you become accustomed to predictable booking, even a bit of uncertainty can feel like suspense.
