I think all of the above. Wrestler of the Year is basically WWE's MVP.
I think all of the above. Wrestler of the Year is basically WWE's MVP.
But I don't mean who they've pushed the hardest. I mean who has legitimately earned the audiences approval. Not just one good tag at mania and a couple decent matches that have been beaten into our heads as classics when they were nothing close.
Dont get me wrong. Ronda's fine. I mean Baszler is going to steal a ton of her heat when she debuts but Ronda can hold her own and seems to get what she's supposed to be doing most of the time.
But when's the last time you heard every fan in the building chanting Ronda's name at a Smackdown taping? She's maybe half as over as Becky right now.
Whoever said some of Ronda's matches have been "classics" needs to be tested. If anything, the PPV matches have exceeded expectations and the TV matches have been scattered. The Survivor Series match with Charlotte was easily her best singles match. Nothing she's done would be considered a "classic".
Well since she's been in the business less than a year, they're certainly incredible matches comparatively. No one has ever had a slate of matches this good this quickly. Even Kurt needed a year in development.
Becky - MVP
Ronda - Rookie of the Year
Anyone watch the Storm/Ripley UK title match? There was some potential there but I think they tried to push a 20-25 minute match/story into a 12-15 minute match. Felt a little rushed, but I think they've got some really good potential for the future with those two.
It's either got to tell an incredible story with fantastic in-ring work, or (definitely lowering the bar) have a ton of memorable spots. The Mania match feels like it flirts with each of those qualifiers but doesn't really meet the threshold for either.
I don't have any problems with your definition.
Mine probably broadens out a bit. You could call it a "modern" classic type definition, which to me speaks to matches that I will remember positively for an extended period for a host of possible reasons (in-ring work, story, spectacle, etc).
It's a little pedantic, and classic probably wouldn't have been a term I would have used, but i think her WM match and her Charlotte Flair match both stand solid chances of matches that will be remembered for an extended period.
When I think of classics, the first that come to mind in very recent memory (within the last 18-24 months), I think of LWS with Charlotte and Becky, Styles/Cena at Summerslam, Bate/Dunne from NXT Chicago. The further I make a list, it's going to steer more towards NXT as opposed to main roster. NXT kills the main roster in that regard.
And I would definitely agree that those two Ronda matches stand out in good ways.
Ronda Rousey is hands down the most over female wrestler on the entire roster. If she wasn't, Becky Lynch wouldn't be getting her name chanted on Raw. Becky wouldn't even be getting mentioned outside the wrestling bubble whereas thanks to Ronda she's getting some coverage here and there outside that bubble. It's died off considerably since leading into Survivor Series but at least she's still got a good pop going in the wrestling bubble.
I just have to disagree here. Becky was way over before she ever had any interaction with Ronda. Her interactions with Ronda certainly helped her get even more over.
I think it is important to understand (obviously you do understand, I am saying this as a general statement) the potential differences between being over in the WWE and being popular outside of WWE. Ronda will likely always have more mainstream appeal than Becky, but Becky is arguably (I say arguably because if you think Ronda is more over that is totally fine!!) the most over wrestler right now on the entire roster, male or female. It is more than a "good pop." Becky being insanely over in no way says that Ronda isn't also super over with the crowd, because she certainly is.
Attributing Becky's name chants on Raw to Ronda isn't totally off the mark I guess, and I honestly I've not thought of it that way before, so I'll sit with my thoughts on that
Obviously, at the end of the day we are both arguing something pretty subjective, and both Ronda and Becky are on fire right now so.... I think they both win still?
She wasn't as over as Ronda before the Ronda feud. And even then, I think Rancid was being a little over the top by saying Ronda is maybe half as over as Becky Lynch. Again, as I said 3-4 times, in the wrestling bubble, Becky Lynch is fucking over that's for sure. But so is Ronda. RIGHT NOW, sure, Becky seems to be more popular among fans. But yeah, saying Ronda is maybe half as over as Becky is wild.
I understand you now!
Long story short: We deserve a Becky vs Ronda match at WM because they are both over as fuck, and the chain wrestling that could potentially happen when they are both trying to lock in the arm bar could be baller.
As much as I love Charlotte, I think Becky could pull an even better match out of Ronda. Though, a triple threat wouldn't totally be a bad thing, but (and this is a lot of ifs), if Becky loses to Asuka at TLC, and then wins the women's RR, I fail to see how Charlotte could be shoehorned into a triple threat without looking like she weaseled her way in, which is a story we've experienced at SS and now at TLC.
Yeah I mean the only real way to settle this is to have Lynch vs Rousey at mania.
Obviously.
If Becky AND the WWE can maintain this momentum into WrestleMania I will be shocked!
Ditto.
I was watching Smackdown and when Charlotte said "Change the song" I was like, yes, please. It's starting to become what usually happens to anything organic that wasn't supposed to get over as well as it does. They start overdoing it. So every week now Becky comes out, grabs the mic, does her best impression of Conor McGregor, calls people "dopes" and that she's The Man. It's literally the same promo. Good thing Twitter exists or you'd never hear Becky say really anything new.
Now...with all of that said. I'm enjoying Becky more than ever. But I do fear that the WWE and Becky and the fans might not ride this wave like they are now come Mania. If she can maintain, then we have a real top tier player. There are so many positive directions they could go with her but again, it's the WWE. They have butterfingers when they catch lightning in a bottle.