Charlotte defeats Bayley to retain RAW Women's Championship
Charlotte defeated Bayley to retain the RAW Women’s Championship in the Royal Rumble opening match. Charlotte won when she hit the Natural selection on Bayley on the apron, the hardest part of the ring.
#NATURALSELECTION on the APRON!! @MsCharlotteWWE goes to 16-0, defeating @ItsBayleyWWE at #RoyalRumble! pic.twitter.com/eNUanL0kSc
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017
With Charlotte’s win, she now extends her Pay-Per-View Championship match undefeated streak to 16-0.
16-0 at the PPV's.... @MsCharlotteWWE #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/kjl6euyYUL
— Riz (@johncenaAm) January 30, 2017
The match was a hard-hitting affair, with Bayley getting a lot of offence in. However, the match was not without a bundle of botches. Regardless, the crowd was very supportive of The Hugger. Bayley even had a spot paying tribute to “The Macho Man” Randy Savage
TOP ROPE ELBOW from @ItsBayleyWWE!!
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
ONE TWO NOOOO!!!#RoyalRumble #OoooYeah pic.twitter.com/RfBLEgVc24
With Bayley’s loss to clean Charlotte, it would be interesting to see if she continues a feud with Charlotte. Had Charlotte won with a dusty finish, Bayley would have had a storyline reason to get a rematch, perhaps at Fastlane.
The issue that the RAW women’s division has is the lack of depth or utilisation of talent. Emmalina is being held back for reasons unknown, Sasha Banks lost to Nia Jax at the Rumble, and Paige and Summer Rae are injured. As a result, WWE just may end up continuing the Bayley-Charlotte feud until Fastlane.
The rumoured RAW Women’s Championship match at Wrestlemania is a fatal-4-way between Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Nia Jax.