While Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley is a match made for the marquees, the build-up to their fated WrestleMania 40 match for the WWE Women’s World Championship has been less than ideal. Things have picked up in recent months, but the two women have only had tense staredowns and the occasional exchange of sharp words. Tonight, that all changed, as Ripley and Lynch threw hands, and Dominik Mysterio was caught in the crossfire.

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The beginning of Lynch and Ripley’s segment echoed the same sentiments some Superstars in the men’s division may have: that Ripley has not been a fighting champion, and that her inactivity has disrespected the title she holds. There was some content about Ripley’s particularly saucy social media posts, but those comments paled in comparison to what immediately followed.

Ripley invoked Lynch’s daughter, and Lynch responded with tears in her eyes and a sob in her throat. She brought up her father, who unfortunately passed in March 2021, and how, out of all of her professional and personal accomplishments, he would be most proud of her life as a mother. Lynch reminded Ripley that her daughter — and her WWE Women’s World Championship — may be a joke to her, but they were not a joke to Lynch. Then, hands flew, Lynch absolutely leveled Mysterio, and the two women became entangled in a nasty brawl that had Lynch jumped off of the steel steps and directly onto Ripley and Mysterio.

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This segment had the whole package. Regardless of what you think of Lynch, her promo tonight echoes a lot of what the WWE Universe sees in Chad Gable: an honest babyface who values hard work and family over superficial appearances and vanity. You couldn’t make a better recipe for a babyface who is meant to connect with the WWE Universe. It’s even more impressive when Lynch can work these identifiable features into her words, and still come off as the scrappy and gritty girl we all know and love her for. Her disposition did not become soggy with melodramatic emotion: she was emotional, yes, but she still had that fire burning underneath her that makes every word she says just a bit more aggressive, a bit more violent, and a bit more determined. There’s a reason she used to be called “straight fire.”

There is no love lost here on “Mami!” Where Lynch encapsulated the relatable babyface that is built for the WWE Universe to rally around, Ripley played up the egotistical heel beautifully. Her casual disrespect to the expected workhorse nature of a champion, the way she disrespects the family unit, and implied preference to social media likes instead of in-ring glory is the antithesis to Lynch’s diligent babyface persona. Ripley was made to be the bad guy, and every word she utters intentionally turns the WWE Universe against her. “Mami” is an evil genius.

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We need to talk about the way that Lynch absolutely leveled Mysterio. Have you ever seen someone get punched in the throat so hard, their whole hairstyle starts to lift from their head? Lynch immediately followed it up with an even more audacious move when she jumped onto Mysterio and Ripley like a flying squirrel. It took several men and Mysterio himself to stop Lynch and Ripley from killing each other it. The whole unraveling of this segment was awesome. Lynch’s scrappy nature is one of my personal favorite aspects of her, and the way she continues to fight even after being thrown into the ringpost is one of the strongest indications that she is still “The Man.” This whole segment is exactly what was needed to spice up Lynch and Ripley’s stagnant feud. When given enough time, Lynch and Ripley can shine in ways that justify their marquee WrestleMania match.

Written by Angeline Phu