Charlotte vs. Bayley: Winner and Reaction for WWE Royal Rumble 2017

Charlotte Flair beat Bayley and continued her undefeated streak in pay-per-view title matches Sunday at the Royal Rumble to retain the Raw Women's Championship.

Charlotte delivered Natural Selection on the apron to pick up the win.

WWE shared a replay of the finishing maneuver:

The women's champion ran her PPV record to a perfect 16-0:

Ring Rust Radio's Donald Wood and Straight Shoot's Aubrey Sitterson both praised Charlotte's work:

Charlotte and Bayley have been engaged in a rivalry since the latter made her debut on WWE's main roster, but it didn't come to the forefront until recently.

The Queen found it difficult to shake Sasha Banks, as they traded the Women's Championship on several occasions before Charlotte finally defeated The Boss in an Iron Man match at Roadblock: End of the Line in December to officially end their feud.

Bayley had previously scored some victories over Charlotte, which made her a clear top contender for the title soon after.

The fun-loving Superstar seemingly defeated Charlotte again on Raw several weeks ago to push her main-roster record against Flair to 3-0, but that result was stricken from the record books after Charlotte threatened legal action.

Charlotte then got one up on Bayley again by cheating to beat her in a match that was officiated by her protege, Dana Brooke.

That represented a setback for Bayley, but she received an opportunity to compete for the title in a No. 1 Contender's match against Nia Jax.

Bayley won that match after Banks distracted Jax, which set the stage for a Women's Championship bout between Bayley and Charlotte at the Royal Rumble.

As Charlotte pointed out on Twitter, it wasn't the first time that Bayley was after something she held dear, as they had previously feuded in NXT:

While Bayley didn't beat Charlotte for the title in WWE's developmental brand, she did eventually reach the top of the mountain by beating Sasha at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in August 2015.

Bayley entered the Royal Rumble with a chance to win the biggest prize on the main roster as well, but she was met with some resistance during the buildup toward the pay-per-view.

As WWE Universe shared, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon questioned whether Bayley was special enough to lead the women's division:

That gave Bayley something to prove Sunday, but doing so against the most dominant female competitor in recent WWE history was a tall order.

Charlotte and Bayley maintained the high standard the women's division has set over the past couple of years with an entertaining match, and they both came out of it looking strong.

Bayley was unable to dethrone The Queen, but she appears to be unlikely to stray far from the title scene.

The WWE Universe is behind Bayley, and although she was unsuccessful at the Royal Rumble, it wouldn't be surprising to see her get her crowning moment at WrestleMania in April.

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