Opinion: Pros and Cons of Ronda Rousey vs Becky Lynch
The women having the most momentum coming out of WWE Evolution were rightfully the two top Women's Champions on both the brands, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey. While Rousey's momentum comes indirectly in the form of mainstream eyes on the product, it was Lynch's Last Woman Standing match that tore the house down on Sunday and is being widely touted to be the greatest women's match in WWE ever.
With Survivor Series rapidly approaching amidst all the other shows WWE has been doing this year, it was a no-brainer that WWE would use the same Smackdown vs. RAW approach to build to the mega-event in November like it has done for the past several years. And so, Monday night on RAW, WWE finally announced it's first big match for the event i.e. the RAW Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey vs. the Smackdown Women's Champion, Becky Lynch.
With all factors considered, Lynch vs Rousey is by far the biggest match up their disposal currently most deserving of such a grand stage. But no great thing comes without some drawbacks. In this article, we look at some of the biggest pros of this match and try to dissect the setbacks of the idea.
Pros:
As mentioned earlier, Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey is the biggest match that WWE currently has at its disposal. While Rousey brings a legitimate star power to this mega-clash, Lynch would work as the heart and soul of the build.
Since her "heel turn" at Summerslam this year, Lynch is without a doubt, the MVP of WWE (across all brands; male and female rosters combined). Her new personality coupled with the trust WWE management has shown towards her has made her the most engaging performer on the roster and the biggest success story of 2018.
On the other hand, there's nothing to say about Rousey's seamless transition from UFC to WWE in such a short span of time, that has not already been said. Her sheer presence in the ring makes for must-see television. And so, both the competitors will have something to compliment each other, with Rousey bringing the biggest main-event level match with her and Lynch making it the best story outside and in the ring, and probably giving Rousey her best wrestling match to date. No possible combination of the men's world champions (including Brock Lesnar) will be deserving more of the main-event slot than Rousey vs Lynch.
Cons
Like with anything else in life, nothing can be too good to be true, and the same case goes for this clash of the women's champions. Lynch and Rousey both are carrying a ton of momentum coming out of their respective matches at Evolution and having them collide guarantees a loser.
Neither woman can afford a loss to the other one at this point since Rousey is too big and new to lose and Lynch's revival has only just begun. With all things said, Lynch will probably end up on the losing side and that will be detrimental to the overall character she's playing since her entire shtick is based on being "THE Champ" and "The Man". While a loss to Ronda Rousey should not be taken as a setback, it will hurt Lynch's overall appeal since bragging about how good she is, is her only character. Hence, she will not be seen as someone on the level of RAW women and hence, in turn, hurt the entire Smackdown women's division.
On the other hand, this will possibly do more damage to Rousey than it will do for Lynch. Evidently, Becky Balboa is a nuclear babyface to the fans right now. She is the most popular star in the company period, no matter how much WWE paints her in the negative light. While being one of the best rivalries all year, a program with Lynch has done more damage than benefit to Charlotte Flair in the long run, who finds herself at the disposal of fan's anger towards the authorities, despite being a babyface. And there's no reason to believe that this will not happen with Rousey as well. If the current plans are to be believed, Rousey vs Flair is set to be the main event of Wrestlemania and one can imagine even now how fans will react to that match if Rousey gets in a program with Lynch right now.
Like all other matches, Rousey vs Lynch too has its pros and cons. WWE will, however, need to be extremely careful with the build since even a single misstep may result in long-run damage to Rousey, while fans continue to hail Lynch as the biggest thing going in WWE today.