WWE SmackDown Grades: Team Cohesion Building Between The Miz And Shane McMahon

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4. Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce

Becky Lynch’s focus is solely on regaining the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble against Asuka.  However, her focus would intersect with another superstar that would give The Man a challenge heading into the big event.

Lynch and Asuka opened up the show in a face-to-face encounter, but they would soon be interrupted by The IIconics.  This led to Lynch calling out Peyton Royce for a match, which took place immediately after.  For a last minute type of match, this turned out quite well and got a fair amount of time to shine.

It started out as if The Man would win quickly, but Royce managed to get back in it and control Lynch for a while.  However, there was no stopping Lynch in the end and she made Royce tap out to the dis-arm-her with Asuka watching ringside.  The Empress Of Tomorrow then tried to prove a point that anything Lynch could do, she could do better by forcing Billie Kay into a match with her.

Asuka dominated Kay and would make her tap out to the Asuka lock, not after trying to tap her out with Lynch’s dis-arm-her.  It was a statement night for both Lynch and Asuka in preparation for their huge SmackDown Women’s Championship match coming up.  In terms of just Lynch vs. Royce, it was a pretty good match from start to finish.

Nobody thought Royce would get the win, but even in a match that was a foregone conclusion, it still went well.

Final Grade: B