'The Man' - Becky Lynch Thread

[Oliver]

Just your bog standard bisexual Englishman trying to get by over here.

[T.O.]

Trying to get bi, you mean.

[PEN15v2]

Natalya is dependable. She doesn't have to be exciting or outstanding the way the top draws are. She just needs to deliver what she's asked to, and in the ring she does. I can't believe anyone goes to a show to see Natalya, but I also can't say that if Natalya is booked that I care less. She's solid in a way most germane wrestlers are not.

[Oliver]

Thing is, dependable is OK in a low level context, right? If I'm going in to watch, oh I don't know, let's say Roadblock, and the women's title match is Becky vs Natalya, it's fine. I don't expect WWE to give me a high end, top tier match on a throwaway show.

But at SummerSlam, I expect more - I don't know if that's wrong of me or what. We've gone from Becky vs Charlotte vs Ronda - the three biggest and best female characters WWE have had in the past couple of years - at the #1 show to Becky vs Natalya at the #2 show in the year. That's a huge step down in terms of the level of the match itself. I'm not especially pleased that the Smackdown bout is Bayley vs Ember, for that matter, but it is what it is and I think Ember has a lot of untapped potential to deliver on if she gets a chance.

Natalya just seems to keep getting this circuit. And, like, I'm fine with it because WWE can go to the Natalya well and rely on getting something OK in the ring out of it - something Becky certainly needs after the bed was shat in with Lacey. But it's not got any of the intrigue or excitement I would want from a match on this card.

I don't want to get conspiracy-ish about it, but it's almost like they're setting the two title matches up to only 'whelm' the audience as they're booking a third match they think is twice as important as either of them and they want it to pop - again, fine in theory, but I'd rather see them make the title matches have something going for them.

[LifeLostInRewind]

Well, who else could they have fought against Becky given that Ronda and Sasha Banks aren't around right now?

[Oliver]

Well, for a starter, why not give Becky the match with Trish?

Why not do a Charlotte vs Becky rematch?

Why not use someone like Carmella or Asuka from Smackdown who aren't doing anything but have an in built cache of credit from previous title runs? We've accepted that the Wild Card rule basically means the roster division means jack shit.

More than anything, why not spend the last few months actively building up someone on the roster instead of giving Natalya only her second win on Raw this year to put her in the title match?

Look, that Raw women's roster is paper thin - no Ronda, no Sasha, no Ruby, no Nia. Lacey's a busted flush in the main event right now, Alexa I think WWE are starting to lose trust in, Tamina's shit. Dana, Sarah Logan, and Alicia Fox barely get any screen time.

So you're left with Nikki Cross, Natalya, or Naomi. Pick one, three months in advance, and have them wrestling and winning on Raw every week. I could get a buzz about Becky vs Natalya if I had any feeling that the latter was a legitimate threat, but one Raw win, in that #1 contender match, since March is an incredibly bad job of building her up.

By the way, of those three names, I'm pretty sure Nikki Cross has the most Raw wins of any of them this year. Naomi has two since she was drafted, both at the end of April, Nikki Cross has three since just the start of June, not to mention a handful on Smackdown too.

Ultimately, just make it seem like getting that match was due to a dominant run of matches, you know. A world where Natalya states in May that she's tired of the hot new thing coming in and being given opportunities, so she's going to prove she deserves a title shot, and then goes on a two month winning streak where she's in the ring every week beating someone is a much better one where she's a safe pair of hands and also happens to be from where the show is being held.

[LK3185]

I also think Alicia Fox is pretty much in retirement

[Oliver]

That's a shame, if so - always thought she was underrated (although initially not ready for the position WWE put her in, I admit) and quite wanted to see her get a run in NXT during the earlier days.

[LifeLostInRewind]

They put Becky Lynch (who I assume is a face) on the same team as Charlotte (who is billed as a heel) so is Becky being billed as a heel in this feud? She did attack Fit Finley and Nattie last week at the performance center unprovoked, but I don't really know?

[Oliver]

They put Becky Lynch (who I assume is a face) on the same team as Charlotte (who is billed as a heel) so is Becky being billed as a heel in this feud? She did attack Fit Finley and Nattie last week at the performance center unprovoked, but I don't really know?

I think they're leaning a little bit into what they know the reaction will be this weekend with it - the moment they announce Natalya as being from Canada in Toronto she'll get cheers. We're not likely to get a Punk/Cena style crowd reaction here, but I think WWE is being quite clever in letting the lines be a bit blurry on Becky's side without actually making her a 'heel' - and especially by having Charlotte take a walk they keep their natural tensions going.

[Prime Time]

Lynch vs Kairi Sane advertised for RAW.

[PEN15v2]

Very nice

[Oliver]

That's the kind of match I think Becky needs to have. She'll likely win, but she gets a really strong in ring opponent to go toe to toe with.

[Prime Time]

So, Lynch vs Asuka at the Rumble, then....

[Powder]

Becky obviously wins, gets her victory that she has been talking about for months, and then goes onto Mania to either face Rousey or Baszler.