WrestleMania 32 isn’t exactly one of the highest-regarded shows in the event’s history, but one bright spot on the night was the match for the WWE Women’s Championship, pitting then-Divas Champion Charlotte Flair against her fellow members of the Four Horsewomen, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. By the end of the night, Flair would trade in the butterfly belt for the newly-revealed women’s title to help solidify a new era of women’s wrestling. Though she may have become the new champion after retaining the status of the old belt, she owed a lot to Banks and Lynch for help getting her there with an incredible match.
Before the women walked down the ramp at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, their match was hyped up with a video package highlighting their roles in the “Women’s Revolution,” which kicked into overdrive with their callups to the main roster from “WWE NXT.” Notably, the fourth member of the Horsewomen, Bayley, wasn’t called up at the time, as she remained in “NXT” to hold things down for another year after the departure of the other three women.
After Flair successfully retained the Divas title at the 2016 Royal Rumble against Lynch, the future “Man” and Banks would duke it out twice to determine the number one contender to Flair’s title at WrestleMania. Lynch and Banks’ first match ended in a double pin, and the second a no contest after interference by Flair, leading to “The Queen” being scheduled to defend her gold in a triple threat again both women on the “Grandest Stage of Them All.”
At WrestleMania 32, Flair, Banks, and Lynch, all competing in their first-ever WrestleMania, the women would go on to have a just over-16 minute banger, which would end up being one of the best of the night.
Horsewomen take ‘Mania
The women kept up a fast pace and did an excellent job of keeping one woman out of the mix to focus on one-on-one action, at least until the final act of the match. It was Flair and Lynch to lock up first, but Banks was not far behind. They traded quick pins to attempt and wrap up the match early, but that wasn’t to be.
Flair and Lynch took one another out of the ring to focus on Banks, who held her own, until Flair tripped her up and sent her back-first into the ring apron. Lynch and Flair traded offense, with Lynch dodging the figure four to lock in her own Dis-Arm-Her. Ric Flair, who was at ringside, briefly distracted the referee, but Lynch had the hold cinched in until Banks broke it up. Banks also broke up another figure four on Lynch, this time with a big frog splash from the top.
Lynch hit a Manhandle Slam to Flair, but Banks broke that up, too. Banks hit a suicide dive to Flair and took her out, and Lynch followed up with one of her own, but took out Ric instead. Flair hit the moonsault from the top rope to the outside, taking out both challengers, then hit them with a double Natural Selection, but they both kicked out.
All three women traded their signature submission holds, including Banks with her Bank Statement. Flair hit a spear on Banks and Lynch tried to capitalize, but all competitors ended up fighting in the corner until Lynch hit a Becksploder to Flair from the top rope. In the end, Flair broke up a Bank Statement on Lynch, and got Lynch in the figure eight as Ric kept Banks out of the ring, causing Lynch to tap, and Flair to make history with the WWE Women’s Championship.
Match Reception & Fallout
Flair, Banks, and Lynch’s match for the Divas title-turned-WWE Women’s Championship was one of the highest rated matches of WrestleMania 32, the event which featured the likes of Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose in a no holds barred street fight, the Undertaker defeating Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match, and Roman Reigns defeating Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. The event overall was rated one of the worst of the year by the end of 2016, earning the accolade of “Worst MajorWrestling Show” in the year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.
Dave Meltzer of the Observer gave the women’s triple threat match a four star rating, ranking second of the night only to the four and a quarter star rating of the seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship that was ultimately won by Zack Ryder. Fans on Cagematch have rated the women’s match a 8.49 out of 10, based on 572 lifetime votes. Back in 2016, the match held a 8.6 rating.
All three women would go on to have incredible careers where they have all racked up gold and accolades, but in the immediate weeks and months following WrestleMania 32, Flair remained at the height of the division. She was presented the new championship formally the next night on “WWE Raw,” where she started a feud with in-ring veteran Natalya. Flair successfully defended her title against Natalya three times, and at Extreme Rules that year, would break away from her father.
Banks and Flair would go one-on-one again, when the title had been renamed to the Raw Women’s Championship, after Banks made Flair tap out during a tag team match at Battleground. On “Raw” the next night, Banks defeated Flair to capture main roster gold for the first time.
Read the full article here
