Minutes to Bell Time

Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair

Minutes to Bell Time

Monday Night Raw January 27:

Charlotte came out to declare her opponent for WrestleMania, but she said that she “was still thinking about it.” Asuka came out and challenged her to a match.

The match started with a strong collar and elbow tie up until Charlotte got in several chops, a hip toss, and a kick to Asuka’s face. Charlotte would go to work on Asuka’s legs, but Charlotte failed to lock in the figure four as Asuka sent her into the top turnbuckle. Climbing the ropes, Asuka connected with a dropkick from the top rope. After the dropkick Asuka put Charlotte in an Octopus, but Flair escaped.

With Asuka on the top turnbuckle, Charlotte climbed to the top and Asuka pushed her to the floor sending Raw back to commercial. During commercial, we found out that USA Network will have a Harry Potter Marathon all day on Saturday (fun). Back from commercial, Asuka hit a bulldog for a count of two. Charlotte evaded another top rope drop kick and connected with a boot to Asuka’s face for a near fall. From the top rope, Charlotte missed a moonsault and Asuka locked in a submission and then transitioned to a triangle.

With Charlotte going for natural selection, Asuka countered and nearly beat Charlotte. Running the ropes, Charlotte hit  spear for two and then locked in the figure four. When Charlotte bridged into the Figure Eight, Kairi Sane hit the Insane Elbow from the top to give Charlotte a disqualification victory. The finish was disappointing, but the match quality was well above average.

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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