Becky Lynch will win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's titles at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday. Image courtesy of WWE
Becky Lynch will win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's titles at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday. Image courtesy of WWE
Becky Lynch will win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's titles at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday. Image courtesy of WWE
Becky Lynch will win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's titles at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday. Image courtesy of WWE

Becky Lynch beats Ronda Rousey but with the wrong finish: WWE WrestleMania 35 takeaways


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WrestleMania 35 saw seven championships change hand, the show last almost five-and-a-half hours, and see history and controversy made at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Here are some of the talking points.

Ronda Rousey, left, and Charlotte Flair are two of the women, along with Becky Lynch, competing in the first women's main event at a WrestleMania. Image courtesy of WWE
Ronda Rousey, left, and Charlotte Flair are two of the women, along with Becky Lynch, competing in the first women's main event at a WrestleMania. Image courtesy of WWE

Lynch wins but the wrong way

History was made as women closed a WrestleMania for the first time and the match largely delivered as Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair put everything they had into it.

Good intensity, some believable nearfalls and really exciting action.

The right person won as well in Lynch. She has garnered real interest in the division with her actions since attempting to turn heel last summer.

The only issue was the manner of the victory. It should have been convincing with Lynch tapping out Rousey after a long struggle as she looked to put her disarmer submission on her opponent.

Instead, we got an unconvincingly roll up pinfall that looked design to protect Rousey, who had never lost in the WWE before Sunday, more then get Lynch over.

This should have been the WWE going all in on Lynch and making clear she, at least on the night, was the clear winner.

Instead, it was initially unclear who won, Rousey was actually the one standing tall as she protested, and it took a few seconds for people to realise Lynch had won as she was given both championships that had been on the line.

It was the right conclusion just executed badly. But Lynch deserves her chance to be the centre of attention and to be the one celebrating as the show closed.

Seth Rollins is looking to create more history in the WWE on Friday at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia. Image courtesy of WWE
Seth Rollins is looking to create more history in the WWE on Friday at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia. Image courtesy of WWE

Rollins and Kingston are deserved champions

Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston both won WWE world titles in New Jersey.

Rollins won in less then three minutes against Brock Lesnar to take the WWE Universal title after surviving a pre-match beatdown from his opponent.

Lesnar has been, apart from one two-month reign, champion for two years and the Raw brand has been hurt by having a part-timer carrying the show’s main championship.

Rollins will add excitement and unpredictability to having the belt and it was the right move.

Kingston completed his rise from being simply a tag team competitor as recently as early February to becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion as he cleanly beat Daniel Bryan.

He may not have a long reign, given him being in the main event scene was never the plan and only happened because Mustafa got injured before Elimination Chamber.

But WWE knew they were on to something with Kingston and have pulled the trigger.

It should make for a fun few months on SmackDown, but it would not be a surprise if Bryan has the title back around his waist by August.

But Kingston will always have WrestleMania 35 and he can long celebrate that.

Professional wrestlers are athletic but does that mean that professional wrestling is a sport? Courtesy WWE
Professional wrestlers are athletic but does that mean that professional wrestling is a sport? Courtesy WWE

Surprises on the night

Many of the results were as expected but there were a few surprises.

Shane McMahon getting the win over The Miz was an upset, given Miz had been expected to get the big win to kick start his face turn.

But this is the start of their feud and he can get the win back later.

Peyton Royce and Billie Kay being the victors to become new champions in the Women’s Tag Team match was also surprising given it had appeared that the division was being built around Sasha Banks and Bayley.

But Banks and Bayley can now chase the belts and it should be a fun spring rivalry.

Full WrestleMania 35 results:

Main show

  • Seth Rollins beat Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship
  • AJ Styles defeated Randy Orton in a singles match
  • The Usos retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championships in a Fatal Four-way against The Bar, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, and Aleister Black and Ricochet
  • Shane McMahon beat The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match
  • Peyton Royce and Billie Kay won the Women's Tag Championships against Sasha Banks and Bayley, Beth Phoenix and Natalya, and Nia Jax and Tamina
  • Kofi Kingston won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan
  • Samoa Joe retained the US Championship against Rey Mysterio
  • Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre in a singles match
  • Triple H beat Batista in a No Holds Barred match
  • Baron Corbin defeated Kurt Angle
  • Finn Balor won the Intercontinental Championship against Bobby Lashley
  • Becky Lynch won both the Raw and SmackDown Women's championships against Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat

Pre-show

  • Tony Nese beat Buddy Murphy to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
  • Carmella won a Women's Battle Royal
  • Braun Strowman won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
  • Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder won the Raw Tag Team Titles against The Revival
MATCH INFO

First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs

Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets

Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13

 

THE BIO

Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude

Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
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  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Lexus LX700h specs

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On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Euro 2020

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Turkey 

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, 
Georgia/Kosovo/Belarus/North Macedonia

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, 
Scotland/Israel/Norway/Serbia

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, 
N.Ireland/Bosnia/Slovakia/Ireland

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, 
Iceland/Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary

Match info

Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace

Man of the match: Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace)

BlacKkKlansman

Director: Spike Lee

Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver 

Five stars