By Glenn Schouw
Johannesburg — The WWE’s Elimination Chamber takes place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Independent’s Glenn Schouw takes a peek at Women Power at the event. Becky Lynch, ‘The Man’ defending her Raw title against Hall of Famer Lita, will be the show-stopper.
Women on billboards is a first in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Only the WWE could pull this off with Becky Lynch and Lita featured.
However, being close on a billboard is the closest they can be due to the building animosity between Raw champion Lynch and challenger Lita.
How is @AmyDumas truly feeling about facing @BeckyLynchWWE for the #WWERaw #WomensTitle this Saturday at #WWEChamber?
🎥 @WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/0fBvXDW28M
This was fuelled further by Lita’s line in an interview that her luggage will be heavier when she departs from Saudi, referring to Lynch’s championship belt.
Fortunately, all the billboards are out of reach for Lynch and Lita, as the thought of smashing one or more of them on their rival’s head would have crossed their minds. Blood would have flowed and this wouldn't have been in the storyline.
Already there are strong rumours that both will deviate from the script written for their Raw championship contest at the Elimination Chamber event on Saturday, 7pm SA time.This could lead to the risk of serious injuries going up 100%, which is too high for the majority of WWE wrestlers.
Lynch is p**sed that Lita signed to fight her as she had always regarded the Hall of Famer as her idol. They were even close friends years back with Lita playing a major role in opening the WWE door for the young Lynch.
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Many in the industry at the time didn’t see Lynch as being good enough to make her mark. Her one-way airline ticket had already been booked. However, Lita said there was something special in Lynch – the ticket was cancelled.
And did the now 35-year Lynch prove those doubters wrong! This must still be giving them sleepless nights as they wouldn’t have invested money on Lynch despite Lita’s faith in Becks.
Lynch’s net worth is $6 million and her contact has her earning $3.1m annually. She has been unbeaten for three years. Her charisma, athleticism, skills and trademark moves makes her one of the WWE’s most recognisable and highest paid wrestlers.
‘Big Time’ Becks as she now calls herself – though millions of fans still recognise her as ‘The Man’ – is intent on ending Lita’s aim for more bonus fights for the WWE. She has no option after Lita dismissed her pleas not to take her on. Lita’s attitude also angered Lynch.
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So what hope has the now 46-year-old Lita, who last fought a singles match in 2012, got of pulling off a shock win against Lynch? Not impossible in WWE, but Lynch is in her prime. It makes no sense even to the script writers.
However, you can take it as a gimme it will not be a walk in the park for Lynch against the former four-time WWE champion.Lita, who fought in the Royal Rumble, can look to boxing great George Foreman in overcoming the odds.
Big George, also then 46, knocked out Michael Moorer with one punch in the final round to become the oldest pugilist to win a world title.
Lita will look for that one moment, just like Foreman did, to take Lynch by surprise. She did that at a recent meet and greet at Raw (there was no fight scheduled). A verbal exchange got heated and a fight broke out.
The Queen of Extreme is BACK in action! #Lita #WWEChamber #WWERaw @AmyDumas pic.twitter.com/Sd6mJGU5pF
Lita had the last laugh with two of her trademark moves leaving Lynch prone on the canvas. It was total humiliation for Lynch in front of her beloved fans.
Lita will be motivated, as apart from protecting her Hall of Fame status, a win or a great performance will have WWE chief Vince McMahon wanting to extend her comeback to more than just this bout as she is a big drawcard.
A video released earlier this week shows Lita running on beaches in California with serious intent and torturing herself with kettlebell exercises.
"The success I'm after is walking away as a champion."
— WWE (@WWE) February 14, 2022
Get an exclusive look at Lita's intense preparation for her dream showdown with @BeckyLynchWWE at #WWEChamber! @AmyDumas pic.twitter.com/qSyGPfkVuW
Lita remains convinced that Lynch has recently lost focus, believing everything is about her in the WWE. This will count in her favour, as will having mentored Lynch. She knows her weaknesses and how her mind works during a contest.
However, when Lynch enters the ring, she will be aware of one thing. The way her career can keep an upward momentum to summit the WWE Mount Everest is to conquer the past – Lita.
There are other two women’s fights at this event which sets up the path to WrestleMania 38 in April: Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair vs Doudrop vs Nikki A.S.H. vs Alexa Bliss.
Five female Superstars will battle inside the career-altering Elimination Chamber for the right to challenge the Raw Women’s Champion at WrestleMania.
Belair, Ripley and Nikki are all former Women’s Champions while Doudrop and Morgan have also recently challenged The Man for the Raw Women’s Title and have come within an eyelash of unseating the champion in the most-recent Monday night Raw.
Alexa Bliss has been revealed as the final participant in the Women’s Elimination Chamber match.
Of course, whether the winner will challenge Lynch on The Grandest Stage of Them All (Wrestle Mania) is contingent on whether Big Time Becks can overcome Lita.
Ronda Rousey and Naomi vs Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville:
Deville has shown disdain for the two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion and has tried everything to make Naomi’s life a living hell.
However, Rousey recently emerged on SmackDown to announce that she would be challenging Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Title at WrestleMania.
Although The Queen defeated Naomi in the recent SmackDown Women’s Title Match, Deville continued to taunt Naomi, which turned into a 2-on-1 attack by The Queen and Deville.
This brought The Baddest Woman on the Planet to Naomi’s rescue. Rousey sent Flair packing and nearly overpowered Deville again with another arm lock-up – ultimately making the tag team match-up for WWE Elimination Chamber official.
The full line-up for Elimination Chamber
WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (Champion) vs Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins vs Austin Theory vs Riddle vs AJ Styles
Elimination Chamber match: Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair vs Doudrop vs Nikki A.S.H. vs Alexa Bliss
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (C) vs. Goldberg
Raw Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (C) vs. Lita
Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
Women’s Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey and Naomi vs Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (C) vs The Viking Raiders; Rey Mysterio vs The Miz.
The WWE Elimination Chamber will be shown live on SuperSport DStv Channel 128 at 7pm on Saturday and streaming live on WWE Network.
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