It's widely expected that the main event match of this year's WrestleMania will be a women's match for the first time in WWE history.
Becky Lynch is currently facing Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at The Showcase of the Immortals, but Charlotte Flair is expected to soon be added to make this match a triple threat.
This match has been rumoured to happen for several months now, but the pieces are finally being put together now as WWE enters WrestleMania season. Some people have made bold claims about the reason why the women's division is finally receiving the main event spot at 'Mania.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, via NoDQ, Jim Ross commented on the women's main event for WrestleMania 35.
The WWE Hall of Famer made a strong claim about Rousey, stating she's on Brock Lesnar appeals when it comes to the WWE audience, and that she is the reason why a women's match is main eventing WrestleMania this year.
Catalyst Rousey
He said: “Let me be honest about it. We all know who the catalyst of this whole thing is, right? Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey’s presence, her image, what she means to the mass appeal audience is unsurpassed on the roster with the exception of maybe [Brock] Lesnar.
"The two most over people you can count on to sell pay-per-views in a big way is a hot angle involving Lesnar and/or a hot angle involving Rousey.
"I think Rousey’s there to help these other girls get over and get established because we know that Rousey’s not gonna be around forever and I don’t have a problem with that.”
“If Ronda Rousey’s not on the roster – and you can quote me on this damn statement – if Ronda Rousey’s not on the roster, there’s not a chance in hell a female headlines WrestleMania and closes the show.”
Undermining Lynch vs Flair
Ross did mention how all three women are very talented in the ring, but to pin the reason why they're main eventing WrestleMania solely on Rousey is undermining just how talented Lynch and Flair really are.
One of the hottest storylines in the WWE last year was created last summer when Lynch turned heel on Flair at SummerSlam, and it did not involve Rousey at all. It was the highlight of the show.
WWE intended Becky to be the heel in this feud, and for Charlotte to be the face. However, due to the incredible crowd reactions The Irish Lass Kicker was receiving, they had to flip the script. The Man was born.
Every week, WWE fans were looking forward to seeing what Lynch had to say next on Flair. This carried on into Evolution, where Lynch and Flair's Last Man Standing match was regarded by many as the best WWE match of 2018. Again, it was the highlight of the show.
Even before she started her Survivor Series feud with Rousey, The Man was getting the biggest reactions by the crowd in WWE, on the same levels as Roman Reigns, potentially even bigger as it was the fan's way of going against the WWE establishment.
Charlotte, on the other hand, was the perfect adversary for her as, although her in-ring work is excellent and she's very much earned her spot, she's viewed by many fans as hand-picked by WWE due to her father being WWE legend Ric Flair.
Therefore, to suggest WWE is only booking a women's main event at WrestleMania due to Rousey's appeal is undervaluing the work of Lynch and Flair. If anything, scheduling the match was WWE's way of hiding their under-par booking for Rousey at the backend of 2018.