The Incredible Women's Rivalry Nobody Talks About

There are a number of iconic rivalries between female WWE Superstars. Back in the mid-1980s, at the dawn of the company’s national expansion, The Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter caught fire as a generational clash. A decade later, Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano raised the bar for in-ring action in women’s wrestling in a mainstream, US-based promotion. Trish Stratus vs. Lita and later Mickie James captured the imagination of fans, and in many ways set the stage for the modern Women’s Revolution. In recent years, Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, Banks vs. Bayley, and other feuds have taken center stage. But what about Banks vs. Lynch? The two have delivered classics in developmental and on the main roster alike, and it’s a pairing that deserves more attention.

Sasha Banks Vs. Becky Lynch Started In NXT

Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch have each played critical roles in WWE elevating its women’s roster in recent years. They’re each a part of the so-called “Four Horsewomen” with Charlotte Flair and Bayley—a quartet of talents who thrived wrestling in different permutations in NXT and have gone on to, for better and for worse, anchor the women's division on the main roster.

All four Horsewomen were involved in a Fatal Fourway at NXT TakeOver: Rival, in a match that saw Banks win her first title in WWE. From there, The Boss successfully defended that title against Lynch in a show-stealing encounter at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable. The latter match saw the two really shine, with an interesting dynamic of Lynch being the bigger, stronger babyface who twisted Banks into brutal submission holds before the champ ultimately got the tap out with her Banks Statement. The match wound up overshadowed by a comparably great match between Banks and Bayley at the following TakeOver, which featured the feel good moment of Bayley winning her first title.

Becky Lynch And Sasha Banks Had A Great Hell In A Cell Match

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks crossed paths a number of times on the main roster, including them both challenging Charlotte Flair in a strong Triple Threat encounter at WrestleMania 32. They took their rivalry to the next level in 2019, when a short, but intense feud culminated inside Hell in a Cell.

Related: Becky Lynch’s Latest Run As Raw Women’s Champion Has Been GreatThe duo all but undeniably had the match of the night. It was quite arguably the greatest women’s Hell in a Cell Match of all time, but again faced the limiting factor of being overshadowed by Banks vs. Bayley. Their Hell in a Cell match was the other contender for the GOAT crown one year later, and paid off a longer, richer story, this time with the satisfaction of seeing babyface Banks end Bayley’s long title reign.

Sasha Banks And Becky Lynch Are “Total Package” Performers

A part of what has made the rivalry between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks as good as it is comes down to both performers being well-rounded, top-tier talents. They can both speak well on the mic, both sell genuine intensity, and both deliver when the bell rings.

While most of the clashes between Banks and Lynch have seen The Boss play the heel to The Man as the babyface, they also made it work for a three-way feud that also involved Bianca Belair this past fall, with Lynch as a heel and Banks in a tweener role. Their ability to adapt and work according the situation has contributed to their chemistry together.

Becky Lynch Vs. Sasha Banks Hasn’t Been Over-Exposed

Despite the overarching success of women’s wrestling in WWE in the past six-plus years, one of the complaints that tends come around on a recurring basis that the company books the same opponents against each other too much, until even the most invested fans are tired of them. For as great as the chemistry was between Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks in 2016 and Flair and Becky Lynch from 2018 to 2019, there was little denying WWE ran their programs into the ground with too many iterations.

While Lynch and Banks have feuded on multiple occasions, each iteration has tended to wrap up after one or two PPV or TakeOver matches. Fans can celebrate the good moments of other rivalries, but the good memories are tempered by the subsequent boredom of redundant booking. The Boss vs. The Man, by contrast, has remained fresh.

There’s no shortage of great women’s rivalries, particularly in recent WWE history. On account of match quality in NXT and on the main roster alike, the formidable and complementary talents of the individual performers, and the degree to which WWE hasn’t over-exposed their rivalry, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks belongs in the conversation of the best feuds between female WWE Superstars.