WWE Extreme Rules – July 15th 2018

"At Extreme Rules, I'm going to break the arm of the so-called Arm Collector!" Becky Lynch announced with determination at the end of the video promo package for her match with Ronda Rousey. The words were repeated with an echo effect, with a shot of the two women standing nose to nose in the ring.

As soon as the package ended, Becky's music began playing in the arena, drawing a loud ovation from the fans, who were almost universally hoping for her to emerge victorious, despite how unlikely that scenario appeared on face value.

"As you just heard," Clementine began on commentary, "Becky Lynch is determined not only to upset the odds here tonight by getting the victory in this armbar match, she is also setting out to break the arm of Rowdy Ronda Rousey, otherwise known as The Arm Collector."

"And look how fired up Becky Lynch is!" Cole said as the Irishwoman rushed out onto the stage, posing for the fans at the top of the entrance ramp. "Straight fire from the Irish Lasskicker!"

"We've seen this new attitude from Becky ever since she joined Monday Night Raw in the superstar shakeup," Coach said. "Sick of being held back, as she saw it, Becky took her destiny into her own hands and started going on a tear through Raw's women's division. That was until Money in the Bank, where she looked to have the ladder match and the Money in the Bank briefcase won, until Zelina Vega interfered on behalf of Ronda Rousey, and Ronda instead claimed the prize."

Clementine said, "Many times over the past few weeks, I've questioned the wisdom of Becky Lynch wanting to fight Ronda Rousey, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why she's doing it. Becky feels wronged by Rousey and Vega, and she wants revenge."

Now in the ring, Becky posed on the middle turnbuckle in one of the corners, receiving a standing ovation from a large portion of the crowd. In recent months, the fans had really gotten behind her, sick of seeing her being wasted by WWE, as they saw it. It appeared that they had been listened to, with Becky being written into a high profile rivalry with Ronda Rousey.

Bad Reputation hit, drawing some mild boos. Ronda's heel turn was taking, but she couldn't yet be described as hated by the fan base. She walked into the arena with Zelina by her side, carrying the Money in the Bank briefcase and shouting at Ronda to hype her up. By the look on her face, Rousey didn't need any more motivation. She marched towards the ring at such a pace that it was hard for her manager to keep up.

"Look at Ronda Rousey!" Clementine exclaimed loudly. "I've seen people hyped up and ready for matches, but I've never seen anything like this. She looks ready to tear Becky Lynch limb from limb. Zelina Vega said a second arm will be claimed by The Arm Collector here tonight, and I believe her."

Cole said, "A reminder that Rousey already broke Bayley's arm a month ago, and we've not seen her since. There's no telling when we'll see Bayley again."

"A further reminder," Coach said as Ronda and Zelina entered the ring. "This is an armbar match. The only way to win is by making your opponent tap to an armbar, and that means there's a big X factor at ringside in the form of Zelina Vega, in the corner of Ronda Rousey."

With the competitors standing in opposite corners, cold, hard expressions on their faces, Jojo was ready to make her announcement. Unusually for a non-title match, she had waited until after the entrances. There was a specific reason why that was the case.

"The following contest is an armbar match! The only way to win is by making the opponent submit to an armbar! Introducing first, from Dublin, Ireland, Becky Lynch!"

As the crowd cheered, Becky was shown still glaring across the ring at Ronda, not willing to take her eyes off her to pose for the crowd.

"And her opponent..."

The fans booed when Zelina snatched the microphone from Jojo. "Get out of here," Vega ordered the ring announcer, who reluctantly complied. Once she was the centre of attention, Zelina took over the announcement. "Introducing, the most dominant woman ever to appear in WWE, Ms Money in the Bank, The Arm Collector, Rowdy Ronda Rousey!"

"What an introduction," Clementine enthused as Ronda finished her limbering up by slapping each of her shoulders in turn.

After Zelina left the ring, the referee motioned for the two competitors to come forward from their corners and called for the bell to be sounded.

Neither woman was reckless enough to rush in. Instead, they walked forward and locked up.

Despite having slight disadvantages in height and strength, Becky was able to use her technical ability to score the first takedown. Right away, she grabbed Ronda's arm, looking for an armbar.

"Oh! Lynch looking for it already!" Cole exclaimed.

Ronda frantically kicked Becky several times, fighting her off.

The first exchange set the tone for opening portion of the match. Not many people had probably expected to see a technical wrestling exhibition, but that was what they got. All kinds of throws and grapples were used by both women, in attempts to transition into an armbar. Even some of Ronda's moves got positive reactions as she proved herself once more to be no slouch in the ring, regardless of the fact that she was inexperienced.

Becky ran and hit the ropes, intending to hit some kind of move on Ronda, who was in the process of getting up.

Seeing the danger developing, Zelina reached up and hit Becky in the back with the briefcase that she insisted on holding onto at all times.

The blow with the briefcase was enough to stop Becky attacking Ronda, but it did her no physical harm. She snapped around to face Zelina, who immediately looked terrified, knowing that she had screwed up.

"No disqualification to call there," Clementine reminded everyone. "The only way to win is by armbar submission. But Vega might just have... Yes, Becky is going after her!"

With the fans cheering her on, Becky jumped through the ropes and started sprinting after Zelina, who was no slouch. As they ran around the ring, Ronda also made her way to the outside, hoping to cut Becky off and retake the advantage.

Instead, after Zelina scooted past Ronda, Becky used her significant momentum to run right through Rousey, knocking her down with a stiff clothesline. In celebration, she wasted a moment to shout, "Come on!" at the crowd, encouraging them to get behind her, indicating again just how fired up she was.

The fans responded with an enthusiastic cheer, but Becky would have been better served by paying attention to the two women she was essentially competing against. Zelina had dropped the briefcase and climbed up on the ring apron. As Lynch turned around, Vega jumped into the air and hit her with a hurricanrana, sending her face first into the nearby ring steps.

"Come on, this is two against one!" Cole protested.

"Becky Lynch is the one who asked for this match, and agreed to the stipulation," Clementine reminded everyone. "Sometimes in life you make stupid decisions, and those stupid decisions cost you. This stupid decision could cost Becky a broken arm."

The unfair odds had given Ronda the upper hand, and she dominated the next five minutes of the match with some hard-hitting offense.

"This is all very impressive, but Rousey should be doing more to go after the arm," Coach opined. "She's not going to win this one with a three count, no matter what she does.

Zelina was shown shouting instructions from ringside, remonstrating that Becky's arm should be being worked on.

"You called it, Coach," Clementine said. "Vega is telling Rousey exactly what you just said: go after the arm."

Ronda listened to her manager, immediately switching her focus to attacking Becky's right arm with strike attacks and submission holds over the next few minutes, not that a submission would have been valid even if it had happened.

Seeing their favourite in the match struggling, the fans started chanting "Becky!" in an attempt to will her back into the match.

The chanting seemed to anger Ronda, who broke the hold she had on Becky and stormed across the ring towards the side of the arena where most of the noise was coming from. "Shut the hell up!" she raged. "I'm going to snap her arm, and you're going to watch me do it!"

"Rousey really laying into the fans here," Clementine said. "She needs to stop letting them get into her head, though."

Again, Zelina was on the same wavelength as the commentary team. She was up on the apron, pointing two fingers and her own eyes, the message coming across perfectly clearly. "Focus! Get back on her!" she ordered, pointing at Becky.

Rousey walked back across the ring and bent down to pick Lynch up.

That was the moment that Becky sprang into action, grabbing Ronda's arm, taking her totally by surprise, and pulling her down to the mat.

"There it is! The Dis-arm-her!" Cole cried as the fans went crazy.

"It's locked in! This could be it!" Coach added.

Clementine called, "Ronda Rousey screaming in pain! She's trying to reach the ropes! She's so near, yet so far away! Can she get there?"

Frantic, Zelina was screeching at Ronda not to tap out, desperately urging her to get to the ropes.

Selling pain from the finishing move as best she could, Ronda crawled slowly towards the ropes, then grabbed the bottom one. The referee immediately called for a break.

Although there could have been no disqualification for ignoring the referee's orders, Lynch showed the good sportsmanship to release the hold.

"Lynch broke the hold, but has the damage been done?" Cole asked.

Ronda got up, holding her right arm, pain written all over her face. She turned around and stumbled back towards the middle of the ring, where Becky was poised and waiting for her.

"Bexploder! Here it comes!" Clementine called as Lynch setup her other finishing move. She was able to connect with it, drawing another loud cheer.

"Rousey's down, and in big trouble!" Cole shouted. "Becky signalling that it's over! And she's going for it again..."

"The Dis-arm-her! This time right in the middle of the ring!" Coach called as Becky locked it in for the second time. The crowd were roaring their anticipation of a tap out.

However, neither the fans nor Becky Lynch had bargained on further involvement from Vega.

Zelina had spotted the fact that the way Becky had to sit on Rousey's back to wrench back on the move left her in prime position to be attacked herself. Vega ran across the ring and connected with a spike hurracanrana. As before, the referee was looking right at the interference, but could do nothing about it other than angrily yell at Zelina to get out of the ring.

With the crowd booing angrily, Zelina scooted under the bottom rope, leaving Becky face down on the mat.

Ronda saw the situation and it seemed to revitalise her. She leapt up and rushed over to Becky, then grabbed hold of her right arm. Wasting no time on ceremony, Ronda dropped to the mat, flipping Becky over and locking her in an armbar in one fluid motion. There was an audible groan throughout the arena.

"It's over with!" Clementine exclaimed. Anyone who was familiar with her work on NXT knew not to second guess her when that line came out.

Sure enough, Becky tapped out almost immediately, valuing preserving her arm over staying in the match. The fans booed angrily, discontented by another big match loss for Lynch.

Ronda, however, was not done. Even though the bell had sounded and her music was playing, she kept the armbar locked in, only one thing on her mind. Becky was howling in agony and continuing to tap out against Ronda's leg.

"Rousey's trying to break the arm!" Coach exclaimed. "Becky already tapped, but Ronda's not letting go!"

The referee got involved, forcibly separating Ronda from Becky. He could clearly be understood, telling Rousey that if she touched Lynch again he would strip her of the victory she had just earned.

Zelina entered the ring and eyed Becky, who rolled out on the other side, holding her elbow, face scrunched up in agony. Vega seemed satisfied with what she saw.

"The referee broke it up, but what is the damage?" Cole asked. "Has The Arm Collector claimed her second victim?"

"I think that picture gives you your answer," Clementine said as Becky was shown kneeling on the floor, still clutching her elbow. She looked very distressed.

In the ring, Zelina raised Ronda's hand in victory and held up two fingers, indicating the second arm claimed by her client. Boos rained down on them. Beating Becky, doing it in an underhanded way and then potentially injuring her had considerably furthered Ronda's growth as a heel.

"Rousey's run of destruction continues!" Coach proclaimed.

Cole began to bring the segment to a close. "First Bayley, now Becky Lynch. Both have fallen victim of the most devastating armbar in the business. Ronda Rousey, victorious here at Extreme Rules!"

Clementine had the final word. "Who's going to be the next victim of The Arm Collector?"