'The Man' - Becky Lynch Thread

[Oliver]

It's weird to think that, if she gets to Mania as champion without losing it between now and then for a spell, Becky will have been Raw champion for a year and possibly be on track to have the longest time with the title of anybody when it comes to combined runs. Alexa has something like 398 days with it, if I remember rightly, so Becky would only need to hold it for a month or so post-Mania to surpass that.

Just as a thought - has this run been good for Lynch? I can't say I've registered much that's really grabbed me during it except for the run up to Survivor Series. And that was largely due to Shayna being involved.

[Powder]

Oli, you are a bit off on your stas:

Becky has (as of today) as RWC 275 and SDWC 216 days for a total of 491 days

Bliss: RWC 396, SDWC 109, total of 505

Charlotte: RWC 242, SDWC 189, total of 431

Bayley: RWC 75, SDWC (as of today) 229, total of 304

So Becky only needs 15 more days as RWC to be the Woman with the longest combined runs, and that will clearly happen.

[Oliver]

Ah, I meant Raw specific - so Bliss on 396 while Lynch will be nearly 365 come Mania this year.

Those stats, though, look even better for Lynch - only another two weeks as champion, and I'm sure that will fall before the Rumble too, and she's got the most combined Smackdown/Raw days as women's champion. That's pretty big.

[Powder]

Assuming that Becky holds the title until WM36, that would make her run at 363 days. WM35 was on April 8, 2019, and WM36 will be on April 5, 2020, but we do have a leap year this year which adds a day. So Becky will need 33 days after WM36 to tie Bliss.

BUT, if Rousey comes back, Becky drops the title, but eventually wins it back. If Baszler challenges Becky, Becky retains.

[Team Farrell]

I'd be down for the idea of Becky beating whomever she faces at Mania with the next night being day number 364 and opening with a celebration of one year as a champion, someone new challenges her for the end of the night and beats her for the belt.

Now there's a little twist that Becky couldn't quite make it a year.

It's the same thing they did with Nikki Bella, but it's a nice little twist.

[T.O.]

Only if someone builds me a time machine and does the same to Punk first.

[PEN15v2]

Just as a thought - has this run been good for Lynch? I can't say I've registered much that's really grabbed me during it except for the run up to Survivor Series. And that was largely due to Shayna being involved.

It has, but much like Punk's 434 day title run, it's more the time that matter than the content. Punk's run had the disadvantage of being put in the backseat behind Cena and People Power, but Becky wasn't put in the back seat. She was front and center, but of a very shallow division.

Weird correlation, but there was some entertainment issue or tweet or something about not enough women getting nominated for Golden Globes, or something like that. The problem is that men are currently filming 87% of the movies, so they end up getting about 87% of the nominations. It isn't about exclusing women from being contenders, the problem is not enough women making movies in the first place. And while that can be rooted in sexism, the solution isn't to suddenly say the 13% of women should be 50% overnight. The solution is to hire more women and allow them to make movies until their 13% grows to 50%.

Same in wrestling. This Women's Revolution has been extremely smart for marketing and long term growth, and that triple threat deserved to headline that card at WM. But once you put Becky front and center, you need to have a talent pool to surround her. She doesn't. There's only so much she can do with Charlotte or Alexa on Raw. The talent pool is not deep enough for a run like Becky's to have any substance. When other stars got their crowning WM moments, there was something ready for them to keep their heat going. Austin had McMahon/Foley/Dude Love in an angle that was better than the one with Shawn Michaels. When Austin got through Foley, Kane became the next challenge. Then Undertaker got in the mix. By the end of the year, The Rock was a bonafide main eventer... so Austin was surrounded and working with truly top talent that could have also headlined any show.

Becky had Lacey Evans. Lacey is a great prospect, and benefited from the summer run vs Becky, but it did nothing for the title or the champion. Then there was actual potential with Sasha Banks returning and turning heel. But that feud was short lived before she moved over to SD. Since SummerSlam, Becky was present, but the tag team titles got more focus on Raw. Then there was the Survivor Series stuff which was great, but short lived and forgettable in the end due to the brand supremacy not having any real follow up. This angle with Asuka is a good one, with potential to be great, but it seems pretty clear that Becky will get her victory, and both will separate so a new story can build to WrestleMania.

I've loved Becky's booking since SummerSlam overall, because she was still The Man, while the rest of the division was being elevated in some way. I'll die on my sword defending WWE's booking of Asuka, because they barely had to make any effort to make her the favorite in this match vs Becky. But it was still smart to let her be the tag champ, and get amazing focus. Booking didn't really change, because she was never a loser, but Raw put the spotlight on her and said "remember how crazy this woman can be?" It's all that was needed for fans to buy her as a true threat to the Raw women's title. While the roster is shallow, the tag titles have been helpful in building the main event while actually being midcard titles. Becky didn't need to be on TV every week, but when she'd show up, she was a star. More time was used to bring Asuka to the front of the line just in time for a title defense at the Rumble.

So from here on out, I expect good things for Becky. I honestly am not sure what her story towards Mania will be. I'm guessing Charlotte, and I think we'll see a great angle, despite being played out. But it's still be part of the best part of Becky's run.

[Prime Time]

I saw Becky being interviewed on an MMA thing the other day, and realised it wasn't the first time I'd seen her out in that world. Only then that it occurred to me that she's actually pretty visual for a wrestler and seems to get asked to do stuff. Might actual be as close as anyone to being recognisable outside of the wrestling bubble that they've been able to produce in a long time.

[Oliver]

The Miz would probably be the last one, other than Cena, that I would say you might get some general recognition of. He certainly did, and still does, a lot of press work. And with Miz and Mrs airing I imagine his profile is still getting out there amongst non-wrestling fans.

I seem to recall, very vaguely, that someone once said being a champion is more about the amount of media you can do or are willing to do than actually being champion. Or words to that effect. Or maybe it's just something I say in my head.

Either way, she's certainly getting some good media opportunities to go with being champion. And, if I can for a moment - her look helps with that, largely her ginger hair. It makes her memorable.

[Powder]

So does that mean that Becky will lose to Baszler at Mania? Is Baszler ready for all of that? Can baszler handle all the interviews and promos? I am not so sure. But I think that Becky can walk out of Mania retaining the RWC, and then lose it to baszler over the Summer to see if Baszler can handle the Spotlight and the non-wrestling side for being the top champion.

[Oliver]

I must admit, I don't actually know. How much press work do the NXT folk do? They mill around at Axxess a lot on a yearly basis and make up a lot of the signing opportunities, as far as I understand, but it's not like they are repeatedly out there in local programming trying to get people through the door for their shows. I'm sure there was some stuff around the transition to weekly TV, though.

Equally - Brock and The Fiend aren't out there doing a whole load of press work, for obvious reasons. Might be that they feel they can reign it back from Baszler and let Becky/Charlotte handle that side of things moving forward.

[PEN15v2]

Bayzler vs Becky for the Raw Women's Championship.
Becky looks to be closing in on the win.
Ronda Rousey comes out, interferes, Shayna with the pinfall and title win.
Mainstream build up for Ronda vs Becky sometime down the line.

[Powder]

Sounds great, but that still does not answer he question of: Is Baszler ready and capable of being one of the WWE's top champions? Can she handle the press, the talk show spots, and the media coverage?

And when was the last WWE Wrestlemania 'main event' type of match that ended with a run in/Dusty Finish like you are suggesting?

[PEN15v2]

My point is that Shayna wouldn't need to carry the brand in that way because the Becky/Ronda stuff would be the true focus, with Shayna getting the rub. Make no mistake about it, no matter who ends up as champion, Becky will still be the one doing the mainstream work. She's out there even more than Charlotte. People who are like the Miz, Cena, and Becky are few and far between. So while they get championship runs with that ability in mind, they don't hold those titles hostage. Other people become champion.

EDIT
As for the main event question, it happens. If you're talking strictly the true last match of WM, the Seth Rollins cash in is technically like this. Before that, Miz vs Rock stands out.

[Prime Time]

Guess Lynch has held the belt for more than a year now. Probably won't drop it anytime soon, either.