WWE: Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey Set The Standard For 2019

Sasha Banks and Ronda Rousey were destined to have a match for the ages at the WWE Royal Rumble Pay Per View tonight, and both women more than delivered in performances that cement the two as among the best wrestlers in the company.

The WWE Royal Rumble card this year featured four highly-anticipated title matches, but perhaps no single match felt as likely to steal the show from either Rumble match than Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey.

For years, Banks has been regarded as one of the best women’s wrestlers in WWE history and one of the best wrestlers in the entire world. Rousey, however, is a newcomer on the block. And despite having great matches at WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, Survivor Series, and TLC (among others), Rousey still had to prove to the WWE Universe that she belongs as the Raw Women’s Champion.

While Rousey is capable of having a good match with anyone on the roster, a match against Banks had a chance to be next-level, especially on a stage as big as the Rumble. When it was all said and done, Banks vs. Rousey more than met expectations, and, as many fans predicted, it was indeed a show-stealing match that will live on as one of the most important matches of either’s careers.

Rousey wanted to face Sasha all along, because she knows as well as anyone that a match with “The Legit Boss” can be the best of a wrestler’s career. Though Ronda will have more great matches in the bag, including at WrestleMania 35, this hard-hitting encounter with Banks has been the best of the bunch thus far.

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Violent matches on the WWE main roster feel special, and this match was brutal. Rousey’s power, Banks’s technical ability, and both women’s selling and submission helped tell a special story. Banks had to dig deep to take Ronda to the brink, but she had the crowd on the edge of her seat as she nearly pulled off the victory with the Bank Statement, using Rousey’s own gear against her in an effort to choke the Raw Women’s Champion out.

Despite having strong matches with Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and more, Rousey came into this match with some fans who still doubted her in-ring ability. By the end of this battle with Banks, hopefully those detractors have quieted, because she more than brought it against Banks, who tends to bring out another superstar’s “A” game.

That’s exactly what we witnessed at WWE Royal Rumble. Rousey, as expected, eventually prevailed with “Piper’s Pit”, but it took everything she had to get past Banks.

WWE fans have been hoping for Sasha to get a chance to shine in a big spot, because her talent has always been there, it’s just that she hasn’t been given these kinds of high-profile opportunities recently. There’s no doubt that WWE has faith in her to deliver, though, and they had to have been pleased by what they saw tonight.

Banks was at her best in the ring and as a character. Her tears of frustration matched up so well with her pride. She defiantly flashed the “Four Horsewomen” sign at Rousey, showing that the war between both factions has just begun and that Sasha isn’t done with Ronda, despite the fact that she barely came up short tonight.

The WWE Universe was blown away by the match between Sasha and Ronda, and at a time where matches are put under a microscope, it is lovely to see virtually everyone singing the praises of a match that was built on selling and submission moves that made you scared while on the edge of your seat. (Those armbars!)

At the center of it all was Banks, who reminded the WWE Universe why she is one of the best in the world today as a wrestler and a character. She heeled it up, using the armbar and sending a message to Ronda post-match that the story here has just begun. Banks may not have captured the Raw Women’s Championship, but by helping Ronda produce a match for the ages, she once again showed why she’s a living legend.

Along with Ronda, Sasha set the standard for how great Pay Per View championship matches should be, in terms of both build and final execution.