Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James: Winner, Reaction for WWE Elimination Chamber 2017
On the heels of Mickie James costing her the SmackDown Women's Championship, Becky Lynch got retribution against her rival by beating her Sunday night at Elimination Chamber.
As Lynch tried to lock in the Dis-Arm-Her, James countered with a pinning attempt. Lynch reversed that and rolled James up for the three-count. The WWE shared Lynch's post-match celebration:
Bleacher Report's Chris Mueller enjoyed the match:
The Irish Lass Kicker was engaged in a lengthy feud with Alexa Bliss over the SmackDown women's title that eventually saw James get involved.
After Bliss fairly defeated Becky in a tables match at TLC to win the belt for the first time, Mickie injected herself into the rivalry and helped Alexa retain on multiple occasions.
It wasn't initially known that the 37-year-old veteran was the culprit since a masked Superstar known as La Luchadora was the one who stood between Lynch and becoming a two-time titleholder.
James was finally exposed as the one under the mask, however, after preventing Becky from exiting during a steel cage match and thus cementing another successful championship defense for Bliss.
While it marked the return of Mickie to a WWE main roster ring for the first time since 2010, her true return to the company came at NXT TakeOver: Toronto in November.
She challenged Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship at that event, and although she fell short, she turned in a fantastic performance that made it clear she was still capable of competing with the best female wrestlers in the world.
When it came time to explain her actions, James accused Lynch of not remembering or respecting what she accomplished to pave the way for the women's revolution in WWE.
As seen in the following tweet courtesy of WWE Universe, Mickie set out to teach Becky a lesson at Elimination Chamber:
Never one to back down from a war of words, though, Lynch responded with some of her signature "straight fire."
Becky suggested that James' departure from WWE several years earlier was a result of her not wanting to deal with the competition any longer:
Regardless of who was right, it was clear entering the pay-per-view that both Superstars had deeply rooted issues with one another that needed to be solved in the ring.
In addition to that, the match took on a great deal of importance due to potential positioning for a SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania.
It isn't yet known who will receive a title opportunity on the Grandest Stage of Them All, but it is safe to assume that Lynch is in the driver's seat following her victory at Elimination Chamber.
Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player above (warning: some language NSFW).
