Minutes to Bell Time

Becky Lynch defeats Asuka

Raw February 10: Raw Championship

Asuka locked in an arm ringer and then a side headlock during the opening moments of the match. Becky pushed her off and then Asuka took her down with a shoulder tackle. On the next exchange, Becky got an arm ringer of her own, but Asuka took her back to the side headlock. Becky countered that and put Asuka in a side headlock on the mat. Kairi Sane jumped up on the apron to provide a distraction. Just prior to the commercial break, Asuka hit Becky with a hip attack sending her to the outside.

Back from commercial, Asuka still had the advantage, but Becky fought back with a number of strikes and a flying forearm. Asuka caught a knee to Becky’s face. Becky sent Asuka to the outside with a dropkick. Lynch came off the apron with a double axe handle, but Kairi Sane pushed Asuka out of the way and took the blow herself. Back in the ring, Asuka countered Becky’s top rope move again and moments later Asuka sent Becky into the post. Becky evaded another hip attack from Asuka and then put her in the dis-arm-her. This time, Becky dropped Asuka on the apron before sending Raw to commercial.

Asuka welcomed us back from the commercial break with a superplex to Lynch, a running kick to the face, and then she locked her into an arm-bar. Becky countered the arm-bar with a one-arm deadlift powerbomb. Lynch next went for a second rope legdrop, but Asuka positioned herself and put Becky right into the Asuka-lock. Things got really fast after this as both women went for pinfall attempts. Becky won with the ura-nage.

After the match, Shayna Baszler attacked Becky. Baszler bit Becky on the back of the neck and had a mouth full of blood. Weird post-match to a really great contest.

Match Ratings

Six dimensions combine to make up the overall rating. Matches score ratings of 1-10 only if the match lasts for a minimum of 5 minutes.

  1. Match Quality– Was the match well wrestled or sloppy?
  2. Audience Engagement– Did the live audience care about the match?
  3. Competitiveness– Was the match competitive or one-sided?
  4. Stakes – Did the match matter?
  5. Finish– Did the match end in a satisfying manner?
  6. Performance: (1) Poor (2) Below Average (3) Average (4) Above Average (5) Excellent
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