Main event worthy

SmackDown Women’s championship Triple Threat match

The Man’s a heel, and in becoming one, she helped The EST become an even bigger babyface. The Boss is just The Boss. Together, they’re the biggest women’s match Saudi Arabia’s ever seen.

The Road to Crown Jewel

Bianca Belair looked to have Becky Lynch right where she wanted her at Extreme Rules - which is to say, in a position to pin her and take back the SmackDown Women’s championship Lynch took from her in a matter of seconds when The Man returned at SummerSlam. That was when another Horsewoman from Bianca’s past came back, triggering a disqualification or no contest (much to the dismay of the best live blogger in the game, WWE doesn’t always like to announce these things).

Since then, things have understandably been contentious between all three. But even though that tension has led to some matches, we still don’t have a clear picture of who has the upper hand heading into Thursday’s match at Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh.

Sasha beat Bianca thanks to assist from Becky.

Belair made the most definitive statement, but it was during a contract signing. And it was a couple weeks ago. Still bad af though.

Then Banks picked up a win over the champ, with a little help from WrestleMania 36 opponent.

And that’s without even getting into how many shots these ladies have landed on one another during the numerous bouts they’ve had with Raw Women’s champion Charlotte Flair over the past month!

What to watch for

Hopefully, WWE will actually let this one go through to a decision. Triple Threats are basically no disqualification affairs, so while I wouldn’t count on it being clean, there’s reason to hope Claire will be able to type “X wins by pinfall/submission on Y” in the Crown Jewel live blog.

It’s also worth noting again that this is the first time a Saudi show has a had a women’s match that wasn’t straight filler (and yes, this week’s Queen’s Crown Final is filler). Is that impressive enough to land it last on the card? Lynch thinks so. She told SI’s Justin Barrasso:

“It would be very powerful if we headline the show. This is the biggest match you can have in pro wrestling right now, regardless of gender.”

That’s a bit of promotional hyperbole, but it’s not completely off-base. And if Brock Lesnar wants to get on a plane early, well... WWE’s love of making history makes me wonder.

But wherever it goes on the card, this one is big. Hopefully in terms of inspiring a few women in the KSA to do more than their country’s laws tell them they should. And definitely in terms of entertaining wrestling fans around the globe.