Becky Lynch Defeats Doudrop, Retains Raw Women's Title at WWE Royal Rumble 2022

Becky Lynch beat Doudrop at the WWE Royal Rumble on Saturday to retain the Raw Women's Championship.

It took a Manhandle Slam from the middle rope to keep the challenger down for the three-count.

Lynch entered the pay-per-view on a tear since making a surprise return at SummerSlam in August, and in order to determine her opponent for Saturday, a Triple Threat match was held on the Jan. 10 edition of Raw.

The bout pitted Doudrop, Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan against each other, as all three Superstars vied for a shot at the gold.

The EST of WWE appeared destined to win the match and the No. 1 contendership, but Big Time Becks left the announce table and broke up her pin attempt, which led to a brawl between them outside the ring.

Doudrop capitalized by hitting Morgan with a Banzai Drop and pinning her to score what was the biggest win of her career to that point.

While the Scot had the size and strength advantage, she had a huge challenge on her hands given what Lynch has accomplished in recent months.

The Man returned in August after more than a year out of action as Belair's surprise opponent for the SmackDown Women's Championship and beat her in seconds after hitting The EST with a cheap shot.

After that, Lynch went on a remarkable run that included a win over Belair and Sasha Banks at Crown Jewel, a win over The EST on a subsequent Raw, a victory over Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series and two successful title defenses against Morgan, including one at Day 1.

While Doudrop is somewhat short on big-match WWE experience compared to Lynch's other recent opponents, she posed a new type of challenge and forced the champion to tap into different areas of her skill set.

The former NXT UK star acquitted herself well at the Rumble and pushed Lynch to the brink, but the titleholder came out on top and kept her hopes of entering WrestleMania 38 as champion alive.

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