Charlotte Flair defended the WWE Raw Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble against Bayley. Did The Huggable One end Charlotte’s pay-per-view win streak?
After winning back the gold at Survivor Series against Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair defended the gold against Bayley at the Royal Rumble.
Since coming up to the main roster from NXT, the female Flair has yet to be defeated at a pay-per-view, while Bayley has yet to capture her first championship since her long reign in NXT as NXT Women’s Champion.
Did Bayley and The Hugger Section celebrate her first title win on the main roster or did the Queen of the Women’s Division retain the gold once more on PPV?
Bayley hit the stage first, as only Bayley could.
#RoyalRumble kicks off with the #RAW Women's Championship, as @ItsBayleyWWE tries to end @MsCharlotteWWE's 15-0 PPV win streak! pic.twitter.com/75ktWl61b2
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017
As usual, the champ looked flawless in her entrance.
15-0 at WWE PPV matches!!
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
The #RAW Women's Champion @MsCharlotteWWE heads to the ring. #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/9B4cq2IIwH
The challenger got off to a nice start in the early going with a couple maneuvers, including utilizing the second rope to gain the advantage early on in the match.
.@ItsBayleyWWE bounces the Champ off of the ropes and to the floor. #RoyalRumble @MsCharlotteWWE pic.twitter.com/BTHjLNboNp
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
The Huggable One followed it up with a beautiful cross-body out on the floor onto the champion really got the challenger some nice momentum.
A big @ItsBayleyWWE cross-body crushes @MsCharlotteWWE on the floor. #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/5F31Cc75Dm
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
After a solid start, the champ began to take the match over. Charlotte slowed the pace down a bit and thoroughly began to dominate the bout. Whenever Bayley looked to grab the momentum back, Charlotte shut it down swiftly and quickly.
.@MsCharlotteWWE drives the head of @ItsBayleyWWE repeatedly into the mat. #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/iZii296oEt
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
For a bit, Charlotte looked like her Hall of Fame father with his legendary chops to the challenger.
WOOO! ... WOOO! ... WOOO! .... WOOOOOO!!@ItsBayleyWWE @MsCharlotteWWE #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/odUxR7NOcq
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
But, Bayley earned this opportunity. She wasn’t going to go quietly.
Springboard cross-body by @ItsBayleyWWE gets a roar from the #HuggersSection! #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/WLGQ7XG2P1
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
The challenger nailed her tribute to Macho Man Randy Savage with a huge elbow drop from the top rope (that appeared to clip Charlotte in the mouth) that got a two-count.
TOP ROPE ELBOW from @ItsBayleyWWE!!
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
ONE TWO NOOOO!!!#RoyalRumble #OoooYeah pic.twitter.com/RfBLEgVc24
A short time later, Charlotte was able to lock in the Figure Eight, but Bayley countered and rolled on her stomach to reverse the pressure. The champion was able to revert back into the Figure Eight, but got caught using the ropes for leverage, so the hold was broken after a 5-count.
.@MsCharlotteWWE's moonsault BLOCKED with the knees!!!
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 30, 2017
ONE TWO NOOOO!!! #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/Jz7riuVMM2
With the match going back-and-forth and not nearing an end by any means, Charlotte hit Natural Selection out of seemingly nowhere on Bayley … on the ring apron.
#NATURALSELECTION on the APRON!! @MsCharlotteWWE goes to 16-0, defeating @ItsBayleyWWE at #RoyalRumble! pic.twitter.com/eNUanL0kSc
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017
Charlotte got back into the ring and picked up the 1-2-3 to retain the gold against Bayley.
"@MsCharlotteWWE could be Women's Champion FOREVER!" - @WWEGraves #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/qsJXGrpKrp
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017
Charlotte moves to 16-0 on pay-per-views since she was called up from NXT. The champ is still here.