The most heated match on the entire PPV card saw Becky Lynch defend her Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks. After weeks of intensification, two of the Four Horsewomen from NXT settled their differences in one of the most anticipated matches in months.
A focused and determined Lynch took the fight to Banks, catching her with a double ax handle on the arena floor. Back in the ring, Banks seized control of the bout, capitalizing on an opening and stomping away at her opponent. A kick to the spine further stunned the champion as dueling chants broke out.
A Meteora by The Boss earned her a two-count. She tried for another later, but The Man delivered a midair dropkick to the midsection to shut her down.
The champion fired up and fought her way back into the match, dropping Banks with a suplex. The challenger, though, halted her momentum with a Banks Statement. Lynch fought out and delivered a Bexploder suplex. A leg drop followed, but another Meteora by Banks earned the challenger another near-fall.
Frustration set in, though, and Banks let out a primal scream. She channeled that frustration into two running knees in the corner and tried for another Banks Statement. Lynch countered into the Disarm-her. Banks rolled her up for two, and Lynch reapplied the submission. An alert Banks fought to the ropes.
The Man launched herself off the top rope with a missile dropkick for a two-count, as the first hints of Lynch's frustration manifested themselves.
Banks delivered two straight backstabbers out of the corner and applied the Banks Statement. Lynch fought through the pain and rolled Banks up, but the ropes forced a break. Banks again targeted the left arm of her opponent and introduced a steel chair into the proceedings.
The challenger used the chair and delivered a shining wizard but was still unable to put Lynch away.
Lynch wrestled the chair away from Banks and swung it, accidentally blasting the official. She followed with a shot to Banks, who bailed out of the ring and into the stands. Champion and challenger brawled through the Spectrum Center stands, where Lynch applied the Disarm-her.
The fight continued for several minutes before returning to the squared circle. At ringside, Banks drove Lynch into the barricade as Corey Graves revealed that the match had been officially called off. Cole followed by announcing Banks had been awarded the win via disqualification.
The Man wore Banks out with a steel chair and then used the weapon to apply the Disarm-her. The Boss screamed in agony as officials arrived to break things up.
Banks defeated Lynch via disqualification
This was the first match on this entire show that felt like a PPV-worthy bout. The heat was there, the crowd was hot and the work from the competitors was phenomenal. Yes, the finish was silly, but it allows the feud to continue into another month, where it is likely to culminate inside the unforgiving confines of Hell in a Cell.
Lynch reminding fans that she is a badass who lives to fight was exactly what her character needed. She had yet to really pay Banks back for the attack that sparked this rivalry, so it was necessary that she match fire with fire in order to maintain the evenness of the program to this point.
This program still ends with Banks winning the gold, but why end a good thing prematurely?
