I had two blog ideas ready to go but based on what happened at SummerSlam and Smackdown tonight, I've got some things to say on a specific topic. I'm talking about Becky Lynch! I didn't want to jump to conclusions from the aftermath of their match and waited until tonight to see how Becky would react to what happened. To my utter disgust, my feelings on what WWE would do with the situation was right. It's very akin to the Roman Reigns situation, which I will get into at another time.
I'll start with SummerSlam. Leading up to SummerSlam, Becky Lynch defeated Smackdown Women's Champion at the time, Carmella, to earn herself a Title match at SummerSlam. For weeks, fans were gearing up for a one on one contest between Carmella and Becky, with the hopes of Becky winning the Championship. Barely two weeks out, Charlotte Flair made her return to Smackdown. Smackdown General Manager Paige set up a match between Carmella and Charlotte, in which if Charlotte won, she would be added to the SummerSlam Title match, making it a Triple Threat. Of course, Charlotte won that match and got added to the Title match, to the dismay of Champion Carmella, and especially Becky Lynch.
At SummerSlam two nights ago, the match was going great. It looked like Becky was closing in on the win when she locked Carmella in the "Dis-arm Her." Out of nowhere, Charlotte nailed Becky with Natural Selection and pinned her best friend to become the new Smackdown Women's Champion. It was a tough loss for Becky, who really thought it was her time. They both hugged after the match but then Becky did something out of character by attacking the new Champion. She certainly made a statement with her actions! If the intention was to make Becky a heel, I'd say WWE failed miserably, as the fans in the arena cheered wildly for what Becky did. If anything, Becky became an even bigger babyface. I wanted to wait until tonight's Smackdown to see where they would go with this.
Even though technically Charlotte didn't do anything wrong, fans felt Becky was cheated. First of all, in my opinion, Charlotte should never have been added to the match. Although I wasn't happy about it, I moved on. I love Charlotte as much as the next fan but it seems to me that she gets chance after chance with the Women's Championship, no matter what brand she's on. Meanwhile, Becky always seems to get screwed. Fans are really behind Becky and want her to succeed. After the beating she gave Charlotte at SummerSlam to the fans approval, I made my peace with what happened because I figured it would lead to a singles program between the two, which it has.
Much to my dismay, WWE is spinning this story to their narrative, much like they are trying to do with the Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman story. Becky came out on Smackdown tonight and started to deliver a great promo, with the fans audibly behind her. Or course, they just had to try to portray her as the heel in this thing. The problem is, even though she started talking about how she felt the fans gave up on her, they still cheered for her. Charlotte then appeared and bolted to the ring to fight with Becky. Even during the scuffle, fans erupted with cheers every time Becky was in control, whereas they kind of booed a little when Charlotte was. I don't understand these unwritten rules where WWE wants to condition us to act a certain way. This was totally the wrong way to go about this. Again, if the intention is to make Becky a heel, it's not working. People want to cheer Becky. She's relatable, she's a great wrestler, and a great role model. I enjoy her having a mean streak like this but if anything, her character is more along the lines of Stone Cold Steve Austin in a way.
I think they are blowing an opportunity to portray Becky as even more popular than ever, as well as bringing Charlotte back to her best work, as a heel. First of all, I wouldn't have had Becky start to run down the fans. Everything she said before that was true, though, and the fans were loving it. If anything, it would have been smart to have Charlotte come out and act all smug, not holding any sympathy for Becky, and rubbing her face in the fact that she was Champion. Instead of acting upset, Charlotte should have called Becky jealous and say that was why Becky attacked her. She's not mad at Becky, but feels sorry for her. Charlotte is at her best when playing a heel. She's a Flair after all, the dirtiest player in the game. So far, they're batting 1000 trying to garner heel heat for Becky. It's not going to work!
I'm so aggravated that this is the approach WWE is trying to take. They're trying to ignore the fact that everything Becky does is getting cheered and will do their damnedest to make sure she comes off as a heel. If you want to look at the perfect heel, look how WWE is portraying Tomasso Ciampa. That is a great heel! He might even be the best heel in the company right now. Whereas some heels still get cheered from time to time, Ciampa gets exactly no cheers whatsoever. It portrays Johnny Gargano as an even better underdog babyface because of how effective Ciampa is as a heel. I'd say Samoa Joe is doing a damn good job as a heel. I like Becky getting more aggressive and I'm definitely open to her being heel in the future, but now is not the time. Hopefully, they change the narrative towards what the fans are clamoring for, turning it into Charlotte being the heel with Becky finally getting redemption, perhaps at the Evolution PPV. In my opinion, that would be ideal.
After witnessing what Becky Lynch did, I related it to the recent struggles between Bayley and Sasha Banks on Raw. Uncharacteristically, Bayley viciously attacked Sasha because she was tired of her crap and always playing second fiddle. Even before they reunited in the story, this did not turn Bayley heel. She got a huge reaction for the beat down she gave Sasha, which is exactly what happened when Becky did the same to Charlotte. Now is the time to pull the trigger on a babyface Championship run with Becky. Becky is likely to get involved in Carmella's Title rematch with Charlotte at Hell In a Cell next month. If Becky should fall short at Evolution, I'd continue the chase until Becky finally wins the Title. Charlotte could then go on to win the Royal Rumble and potentially face Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania next year. I understand that's the big money match and I understand Charlotte's value. However, right now in the Smackdown women's division, it should be Becky's time. The bottom line is, Becky is not a heel, nor should she be forced to portray one currently.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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