Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: MoneyintheBank, wwe

WWE Money in the Bank: Flair vs. Ripley In True Royal Brutality

Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair continued their run logging feud at WWE's Money in the Bank's fourth match of the night.  With her Raw Women's Championship on the line, Rhea entered the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, first much to the delight of the live crowd.  Nursing an injury to the left knee from her rival, Rhea was at a slight disadvantage to Flair, but it seemed like the blonde bombshell would not be able to keep the crowd out of her head.

In fact, Flair reacted more negatively to the crowd than she did for the woman standing in her way of the title belt.  The differences in the demeanor of the two women's wrestling styles were jarring, with Rhea staying cool under pressure and Flair responding to every action with a flurry of rage.  It was clear that Flair and Rhea weren't used to being in the position of having an opponent be a physical match, and they channeled their frustrations into power moves galore.

Despite the Texas Money in the Bank crowd chanting "We Want Becky," the wrestlers attempted to continue without letting the crowd determine their attitudes in the match.  Rhea definitely did better in this regard, as many times Flair was taken out of her element by responding in kind to the live crowd.  What would normally work unless fewer contenders only took the women out for a moment before they quickly recovered and continued the big moves that they started out the fight with.

Most impressive was Rhea Ripley lifting a struggling Flair into the air with her iron will alone before slamming her into the center of the rin.  So far, the strategy of the women was to simply out-muscle the other until one would be too tired to kick out of a four-count.  In the biggest move of the entire Money in the Bank event so far, Flair climbed to the top turnbuckle before flying into the body of Rhea, who stood dazed outside the square circle.  Again and again, however, Rhea was able to recover and respond to Flair with her own devastating hits.

The match nearly ended as Rhea went for a Riptide but was surprisingly countered by Flair, who twisted out of the move and almost pin the current reigning champion.  Not even the sneaky moves of Flair putting her feet on the ropes when attempting to pin Rhea was enough to end the match, and the savvy ref was able to stop the count just in time.  Even after landing a beautifully executed Natural Selection against Rhea, Flair still couldn't end the fight.

The loudest pop of the Money in the Bank crowd was for the two women, who were willing to put their bodies on the line for the title belt.  Fed up with the pace of the match, Flair crushed Rhea's injured knee between the ring and the metal stairs.  Finally, Flair caught Rhea in her devastating Figure Four and forced the current reigning to lose her title in an unceremonious tap out.

Flair finished the match with a statement; there is a throne at WWE, and Charlotte Flair is the queen for a reason.

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