After weeks and weeks of besting the Women’s Champion, Charlotte, Natalya finally gets her first opportunity at the Women’s Championship. Will the woman who competed in the first and last Divas Championship matches add this new title to her legacy? How will Ric Flair and Bret Hart play into this match? How many times will Ric Flair woo? Let’s watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzx1vE54Pc8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-PCSvBXdGA
Later in the night, Stephanie and brother Shane McMahon awaited the decision of who would run RAW from Vince McMahon.
Thoughts: I’ll start with the RAW decision, I kinda figured this would be the case since both Stephanie and Shane are cornerstones of WWE programming as of late. Her reaAs we saw throughout the show, Stephanie’s change of heart has been off putting to many a superstar, but has the Billion Dollar Princess changed her ways, or is she simply biding her time? I can’t tell, but she her have to be nice will entertaining to watch as well.
Concerning the Women’s title match, I must be honest, this was the weaker of the series of matches these women have had. But with that being said, it still was thrilling and entertaining. Where the other two matches were about the phenomenal in-ring talent taking center stage, this match demonstrated a master class of psychology and face/heel dynamics.
First, let me get to how awesome it was to see these entrances. With this being the first Women’s title match on a PPV of this new era, it felt so much more important of title match from the ones from last year. The pre-match, in-ring intros, the commentators having their undivided attention to the action were some key things that needed to take place for this epic encounter. The entrance of Bret Hart was heartwarming and provided Nattie with another foil to make this more personal. Her Bret-inspired attire was a great touch as well. So before the match even started, the crowd was engaged and invested, the only place to go is up.
Charlotte’s work in this match was just great to see. Like I mentioned earlier, the focus of the match seemed to be more on character work than in-ring. Her telling Bret Hart to “watch and learn” was a great touch. Her fast cowering at any point of a Sharpshooter was great act of cowardice. She also had a great strategy, cutting off Nattie at every turn and exploiting the weakness of a worked leg.
Nattie plays the role of a great technician perfectly. The selling, the decision-making, and the way she can make the crowd rise when she gathers offense is truly a sight to behold. Also, Nattie did a hurricanrana. Holy shit.
The finish. Wow. I can honestly say I did not see that coming. It’s no secret that I worship the ground Nattie walks and was really hoping to to write about a title win. But I have a feeling that the powers-that-be are going to give Nattie more of a shot at a full story for the title. There were some things of note for this match. The referee was Charles Robinson, also known as “Lil Naitch”. Maybe more will unfold about the “Chicago Screwjob”.
I loved the stereo Sharpshooters as well. It gives you the idea that this is not over. And when these two work, you hope it never ends. It feels so good to see a PPV match further a story, create a new chapter as opposed to the random one-offs of the past. First PPV of the New Era, success.
