WrestleMania

The Man is out, and The Queen is in.

In a shocking turn of events, Mr. McMahon removed Becky Lynch from the WrestleMania Raw Women’s Title Match that she earned on the strength of her Royal Rumble Match victory, and Charlotte Flair has been handpicked to take her place. The Chairman’s decision came about after a contentious couple of weeks between Becky and the McMahon family, whose insistence that she obtain medical clearance for her injured knee led to a heated confrontation and an indefinite suspension for the former SmackDown Women’s Champion until she got the green light from WWE’s medical staff.

Doing so wasn’t enough to sway the immovable Mr. McMahon, however, especially after Becky attacked Stephanie McMahon on Raw one night before slapping Triple H on SmackDown LIVE, and The Chairman levied a 60-day suspension against The Man that would carry her past WrestleMania. Moments later, he introduced Charlotte as his pick to challenge Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey at The Showcase of the Immortals, thus nixing one highly-anticipated matchup while setting the stage for a sequel to one of 2018’s most brutal, unexpected contests — a clash in which, coincidentally, Flair was a last-minute replacement for an injured Lynch as well.

Both champion and challenger will likely be hoping for a different result, as that Survivor Series bout ended in a disqualification in Ronda’s favor when a frustrated Flair unleashed an uncomfortable, prolonged attack with a steel chair and Kendo stick. Though Rousey technically escaped with the win, the savage showing revitalized Charlotte in the ensuing months and denied The Baddest Woman on the Planet a truly decisive victory. With no shortage of bad blood between the competitors, The Queen now has an opportunity to serve Rousey her first singles loss, take her championship and finish what she started. Of course, Rousey, with her long memory and vicious Armbar, has an opportunity of her own: To make Charlotte regret ever deciding to challenge her in the first place, let alone twice.

Tune in to WrestleMania to see whether Charlotte can take the Raw Women’s Title from Rousey when The Showcase of the Immortals streams live Sunday, April 7, at 7 ET/4 PT on the award-winning WWE Network!