Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

[9.0] "In my opinion, this is the match that really jump started the fan's desire to see better women's wrestling in WWE. They were called up two months later. This is an outstanding match that tells a classic story. This is a lot like Rocky vs. Apollo Creed in the original movie. If nothing else Sasha carried herself like Apollo. At the time I really wasn't sure who would win during the match. I always recommend this match for people unfamiliar with women's wrestling."

[9.0] "Probably the best singles match in Becky Lynch's career outside her feud with Charlotte Flair. Sasha just continually proves why she was the best women's wrestler in WWE at the time as everything she did came off natural. The arm work was incredible from Sasha & Becky was selling it greatly most of the time."

[10.0] "An absolutely tremendous match. It really saved the show from being a disaster.The reason I say it was perfect the limb work and physcology stood out for me and they wanted to destroy each other .****1/2"

[8.0] "Very good match, it's a nonstop back and forth. The match is really evenly balanced the whole time, and that adds a lot to it. I really liked that they allow themselves to play around with pin combinations and submissions, and it works perfectly. I think Becky does a great job honestly, the NXT women's division is amazing."

[8.0] "Really awesome match here, kinda surprised in some ways, mone is great here that's one of her best performances I've seen from her, Becky as well, good match truly had a blast with it. ****+"

[10.0] "In my opinion the best women's hell in a cell match of all time. I don't think we'll ever reach this level of brutality again in the women's division. Just wow."

[8.0] "[4, 25 Stars] It was really intense, the audience was really noisy, and frankly I had a great time. (****, 25)."

[10.0] "my first ever wrestling match that i ever watched in my entire life, so nostalgic, also, the match is very good"

[10.0] "Ten years later, this match remains remarkable. It is so focused, so tight, not wasting a single moment and producing something truly memorable in barely fifteen minutes. For Lynch, the results would be transformative, launching the babyface run that ultimately, would lead her to a career-defining chapter and more as "The Man." That journey doesn't start here exactly, but it certainly accelerates. For Banks, this reign would conclude with a more famous bout in Brooklyn, but this remains a near-personal best in my view. She is extraordinary here, steering the ship at a best in the world level and seldom even veering away from Lynch's injured arm. With a smidge more space, I think this climbs even higher but as is, an instant classic that possesses qualities it had no real right to. Simply masterful. ****3/4"

[8.0] "Such an essential match for the two women, all the while being an incredible match. Becky embraces her new character, to finally break out on her own, to try and take down one of the best wrestlers in the world in Sasha Banks. The roles are defined early with Becky trying to outclass Banks on the mat with rolls ups, and Sasha responding by pulling her down to the mat by her hair. I would say Sasha is the real star of the show here, a constant and focused heel performance that shines through her arm work on Becky. Whether its using Becky's taunt in the ropes or the fantastic straightjacket choke with Becky's arms, which tells the story of the match itself with Banks being the mountain Lynch has to climb only to continuously get cut down until she overcomes it by powering her up and dropping her down, Sasha takes on a vindictive role to put down the any attempt of a comeback from Lynch. Becky's role however cannot be understated, delivering an incredible underdog performance and eventually rallying the crowd behind her, all the way to getting them to sing her song, alongside a standing ovation, at the end of the match. While its not the perfect match, its gets quite close too being that. ****1/4"

[10.0] "This is an outstanding match between 2 of the Horsewomen. A very important and a star making performance by Becky, showing that she can have singles epics just like the other 3. Sasha did her magic here and Becky was ready for it. A very underrated classic by both women."

[8.0] "A great match between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. For the time, this must've stood out as something awesome just because the women's wrestling had been rough for so long in WWE. By today's standards, it's not quite as impressive, but it's still really good. Great selling on the arm by Becky, and some great action and reversals throughout."

[10.0] "One of the more underrated matches in both Becky and Sashas match catalogue and oh my goodness how am I just watching this match for the first time today? ! ? ! This match showed what kind of performer Becky could be in the future if all went well for her in terms of how she would be booked on the main roster once she got the call. What a beautiful technical display this was since both of their finishers require the use of the arm. B and G Nxt you will always be famous 4.75/5. Fantastic match"

[7.0] "A very solid match. About what you would expect from these two, even at that point in time. Glad Sasha went over with her good submission move. ***1/2"

[5.0] "NXT commentary is god awful like any good WWE commentary these days. The crowds are also awful to an extent because of them trying to get their own chants over, the usual annoying ones. And this match is worse to me than their Hell In A Cell 2019 match. But these two still mesh well together so this is a solid match."

[9.0] "Great match from Sasha and Becky. NXT womens title on the line, Becky breakout performance looked excellent. They had good chemistry, it was technical. They both had good moments in this match."

[8.0] "I like these two a lot, and boy did they deliver. Becky more steps up in showing her strength and ability in ring, while beefing up Sasha and putting her title run over appropriately. Would like to revisit this bout another time."

[10.0] "THIS WAS GREAT MATCH probably the best sasha nxt title defense i enjoyed watching this match soooo much, great spots, but becky didnt had a chance to win"

[10.0] "I think because this is pre-breakout Becky this match might have gone under some people's radar. It still holds up years later as what WWE could do with women and what Becky and Sasha could do individually as stars."

[8.0] "A very good match, some nice moves from both wrestlers. By far the match of the evening, it's a shame the soft underbelly from before was so long. (4*)"

[8.0] "Cool match that showed Becky can hang with the other horsewomen, which I didn't see as much of in the fatal 4 way. Banks is great per usual and I can see why there was hype around Becky early in her career now."

[9.0] "This is a match that will be remembered not for what happened between the ropes but for what it meant for these 2 women especially for Becky Lynch. The story of this match revolved around Becky Lynch trying to prove that she is as good as other 3 in 4hw and oh boy she did it in a spectacular fashion. At that time, this was one of the best women's matches and it still is. Becky gave her career best performance as of 2015 and Sasha was at her usual best. The crowd giving a standing ovation to Becky after the match is an amazing moment. [4.5/5]"

[6.0] "Honestly don't expect the high ratings for this one, I thought it was okay. Okay offense with Becky having a hot comeback, nothing special in my eyes"

[7.0] "Definitely the breakout match for Becky Lynch and while it was good, I wouldn't quite consider it an all-time classic or anything."

[8.0] "The presentation for this match was fantastic, then we got to the match and it was fantastic as well. Both women had the same gameplan of targeting each other's arms, but Sasha after sending Becky's arm into the apron had a great heat segment, where she just violently targeted the arm of Becky. Becky's selling and her sequential comeback in this match were great. Their sequences and technical work in this match were strong and Becky was really able to get the crowd behind her in this. The ending was logical with Sasha hitting an armbar off of the top rope and then locking in the bank statement for the win.****1/4"

[8.0] "This was a great match between these two women that were in the "rising star" stage of their careers. Sasha did her best, but Becky Lynch was the true star of the match where she evolved as a wrestler and made her presence felt in the strongest and clear way possible. Her moves and her work ethic has changed a lot here looking back at her initial days. The ovation she had post-match sums up most of the inmates' opinions on Lynch. Her career-defining match is this and it was really great. Had some moves been more refined and smoother, this could've gone down as an instant classic. 4.25 out of 5 stars!"

[9.0] "This is exactly what I always want to see in the women's division, a classic old school match with technique, without the need to be doing crazy spots, this is a very well executed match, with a fair time and excellent timing, here Becky Lynch showed me her worth as a fighter and that Sasha Banks is an elite girl. [* * * * 1/2]"

[6.0] "Okay I think i found the one for most overrated Match in NXT History. Compared to the following matches Sasha had with Bayley, this sucked"

[7.0] "One of the most overrated matches ever. It did a lot for Becky, but wasn't nearly as good as 9.00. The submission game was good, but otherwise it wasn't very interesting."

[8.0] "Solid back and forth with both storytelling with arms. Crowd was really into it which is a plus. ***3/4"

[10.0] "A FANTASTIC MATCH, nearly perfect. Becky and Sasha(for me) have the best in ring Chemistry out of the 4hw, these two just knows how to work with eachother, how to build tension, how to sell, how to make themselfes and eachother look great.Amazing technichal sequence, becky showed here why she is one of the best wrestlers in the womens division, and how her technical skills are also one of the best, sasha looked like a star as usual, showing she is also one of the best of the wm division.Great in ring psychology, sasha attacked becky's arm with blood on her eyes, she played the perfect vicious heel here, her executions and selling were SUPERB.Becky sold perfectly all the arm attacks, she executed every single offence with precision, she looked PERFECT here, both in execution and selling, loved when she turned the tables and focused on sasha's arm. the big spots were amazing, great missile dropkick, amazing apron arm wringer, great top rope single knee armbreaker into the bank statement, fantastic suplex into dis-arm-her counter, great single arm suplex counter, outstanding suplex combos by becky, great ring post attack on sasha, everything was spot on.the only botch this match had still looked decent. Match rating: 4.75 stars my favorite womens match in wwe, and IMO better than sasha vs bayley at brooklyn."

[10.0] "This match to me is on the same levels as Charlotte Vs Rhea from MITB 2021. Char Vs Rhea started off as a hot contest, the crowd was on fire but for Becky Lynch, by the end of the charlotte and Rhea match the crowd was in the palm of their hands. This is the same level being that even at the beginning of this match the crowd was mainly Chanting for or against Sasha not a lot for Becky. By the end of the match, Becky Lynch had the crowd behind her. This match to me is also more technically finished/polished than the much more infamous takeover Brooklyn Sasha and Bayley match. A true hidden gem."

[7.0] "Good match. Sasha's gameplan was to apply as much damage to Becky's limbs as possible, and she did her job great here constantly destroying her left arm with various creative attacks. It's just sad that Becky wasn't selling it properly, so the significance of Sasha's work throughout the whole match was almost unnoticable. However, Sasha made her way to the top rope and plunged Becky from the turnbackle down to the ring with Banks Statement, thereby taking the win. It could have been much better if Becky had sold everything Sasha did to her arm properly. [* * * œ]"

[7.0] "A very good , hard hitting match with good heel work from Sasha and Becky showing some great... Fire (sorry) , i do think that the arm selling wasn't good and didn't fit the high octane action."

[8.0] "The match that unveiled Becky Lynch as a future top female star. This wasn't part of a grand scheme by creative though (despite what WWE might tell to), merely a filler feud in the bigger Sasha/Bayley storyline that year that no one thought Becky could win. But for filler, this certainly overdelivered. Becky outwrestles Sasha from the offset, utilising an array of pinning manoeuvres before attacking the arm of Sasha Banks, knowing she has made her tap out to the Dis-Arm-Her before. Banks is more than willing to play the submissions game, relentlessly going after Becky's arm with the demeanour and facial expressions to compliment her natural cockiness. There's a tangible sense of anguish when watching Sasha hyperextend her opponent's arm by just standing on it. Despite continuous submission attempts however, the plucky underdog refuses to quit, showing some infectious determination and strength to take back the momentum of the match. Lynch hits a barrage of Suplexes, a nice transition into her patented finisher and even catches the champion's Suicide Dive before slamming her into the steel steps. But Banks is still able to catch the challenger by surprise and makes her tap to the Bank Statement. Around this time Sasha was improving by leaps and bounds, but I still find this match acting more as a defining moment for Becky Lynch: the crowd embraced her heartfelt performance afterwards with loud cheers and absolute respect. A fantastic way of looking strong in defeat. ****1/4"

[9.0] "There is a bit of history behind this match with Sasha Banks being the one to convince Becky to be a bit darker, get rid of the irish gimmick. The Becky and Sasha fell out due to their goals for the title. As good a reason as any to have this match. I loved Becky out-matching Sasha to start the match. Unrelenting with the submission work, overwhelming Sasha and forcing her to switch up her game plan. Which then transitioned into Sasha targeting the arm when she slammed Becky? s arm into the apron. There is something so natural about Sasha being a total sadist in the way she tortures Becky in the match. Sasha standing on the hyperextended arm which is bent behind Becky? s back and her use of various submission holds. And she added so much swagger to the match as well, which gives it that much of an edge. Becky responds by going after the arm herself, to set up the dis-armer and does a good job of it - I liked her nifty arm trapped suplex that she did. The finish let the rest of the match down though as Becky fluffed the dive catch spot and the ? thrown into the stairs? spot was totally useless as Sasha won right after anyway. Oh well. A great match that could? ve been better with a good finish. Alas. ****1/4"

[9.0] "A forgotten gem of NXT. This match was awesome and proved that both women were stars in the making. While Becky's selling may not have been the best it was still solid in my opinion. This was truly the beginning of something special for the NXT women's division! (****1/2)"

[7.0] "Sasha's work on top was good, but Becky's selling was very inconsistent. The lack of any real near falls or drama in the finishing stretch, also prevents me from finding this great."

[9.0] "This was the match that made everybody realize that "huh Sasha Banks is pretty fucking awesome". This was a psychology based match which is exactly the kind of shit I love. Becky worked the arm to set up the Disarmer and Banks countered with her own arm work. Becky had some really cool innovative moves targeting the arm but this was Sasha Bank's match as she was just VICIOUS working over Becky Lynch's arm. Definitely Lynch's best match (so far). ****1/2"

[7.0] "Satisfactory match. They told a good story by working each other's arms , but BeckyŽs selling was very bad. The match lack of big moves and near falls."

[7.0] "Great character-work from both, especially Sasha, and the sells of both wrestlers working each other's arms were top-class. Also very well-paced, with a couple of good moments. Unfortunately, there's nothing that really stands out as a tremendous spot... the few places where there could have been standout moments were kind of sloppy and botched, which killed the momentum a bit. Still a really solid, fun match that told a good story."

[7.0] "This had the potential of being one of my favorite women's matches with the intensity shown between both women, but there's two big flaws that took away from the match. First is the selling; both women targeted each other's arms, but that never really stopped them or slowed them down from continuing to hit their spots. Second was the finish; it just seemed like it was time for them to wrap it up, and so the Bank Statement was slapped on without any real meaning or purpose to everything else in the match."

[8.0] "Solid showing from both women here, and a star-making performance for Becky Lynch no doubt. Had great dueling arm-work throughout, with some really brutal looking submissions and limb-bending. Loved the dynamic here Sasha working on top, as she tortured Becky and treated her as if she really was not on her level. On the other hand, Becky would pull out some impressive counters displaying her strength and her ability to prove she was indeed a worthy contender. Sasha in the end was the better woman, but Becky earned the respect of the crowd, which had mostly been behind Sasha, which made for a real feel-good moment after the match. Great stuff. ****"

[10.0] "This was one of my favourite NXT Women's division matches ever because it did so much with what little spotlight it got. What I expected was a match to get Sasha Banks on the Takeover card that I would forget a few weeks later, what I got instead was anything but that. The plucky underdog in Becky Lynch determined to prove herself against the overconfident champion in Sasha Banks, who herself was hitting her stride as a heel, a fantastic match that I find myself revisiting often. It was a star-making performance from Lynch, who was put over harder in defeat than she would ever have been in victory. 4. 5/5."

[6.0] "I was honestly disappointed by this one. Sasha was excellent as usual, and put in 10 minutes of great heel work on Becky's arm, but Becky's selling was very inconsistent and flat out bad. Luckily Becky has gotten better since then, but this isn't a great match imo, just an ok one."

[9.0] "A fantastic match without a doubt, but overrated by some people. I've seen some people suggest this was better than Sasha's incredible bouts with Bayley at Brooklyn and Respect? Eh? I'm sorry, but I don't see that at all. In fact I would even rate the Fatal Four Way at Takeover Rival three months previous, and maybe even Bayley Vs Asuka at Takeover Brooklyn II, above this. Compared to the matches I've mentioned, this didn't have the same emotion or feeling to it, besides the post match moment with the crowd showing their respect to Becky of course. This was just a very, very good technical wrestling match, but nothing that would make it a match of the year contender or anything. In addition, there were some notable notable botches near the end that I felt took away from it a little. I agree with Mr. Meltzer on this one. ****"

[10.0] "This was a star making night for Becky that also debuted her steampunk look, Sasha looked like a badass champion at the end and there were no flaws for this match as a whole. ****1/4 stars."

[10.0] "Best women's match as far as ring work. Becky Lynch's coming out party and the two of them showing once again that the women can do pro graps just as good if not better than the men."

[10.0] "My god. All I can say is fucking amazing. My rating/standards are not based off of the typical divas match you'd see from wwe. This match is proof that women can steal the show and they damn well did"

[10.0] "Nothing I can say will justify how good of a match these two women put on! MOTYC definitely and definitely goes down as one of the best women's matches of all time! A must watch for any wrestling fan!"