'The Man' - Becky Lynch Thread

[SirSam]

Here is an article with a pretty good fan video of it. Nia clocked her bloody hard. No worse than what say Brock did to Braun at the Rumble but still not a good look.

https://lordsofpain.net/update-on-ronda-rousey-vs-becky-lynch-survivor-series-match-fan-video-from-raw/

I really hope this doesn't end with her being stripped of the title. Even though it would be a great story of her fighting back the fan backlash would be immense.

[Cult Icon]

It could wind up being a blessing in disguise for her and WWE, provided what comes next of course. Rousey vs. Becky was a big time match no doubt but as Trips said a few times already neither one of them could really afford to lose now, and WWE's track record of finishing matches in a way to protect everyone involved has a tendency to not work out. Now you can save it till Mania. That's the right place to do the match anyway given Ronda's star power and how hot Becky has gotten, and the match getting postponed now allows you to keep building to that big stage, while also giving you ample time to decide who goes over. In theory, WWE could wind up with an even bigger match than the one they planned for Sunday if they want it. The fear of course is whether WWE does want it or if they're still so set on Ronda vs. Charlotte. It'll be interesting to see what direction they go, because they might really have something in Becky if they play their cards right.

Regardless of how that turns out, I can't imagine how things work out for Nia Jax going forward. My understanding is that this is now the fifth time (at least) she's injured someone, and now she's put one of the bigger matches WWE had going in jeopardy. Obviously it was an accident and the hate she's going to get will go too far (sadly I've heard she's already getting death threats) but I can't see how WWE continues to give her any sort of push. She should at least be taken off the road until she can work safely, and if WWE fired her it honestly wouldn't be something egregious. When shit like this keeps happening, you have to face some sort of consequences.

[SirSam]

It's officially off due to a "broken face" lol

They showed the replay, makes the think that Nia should be the first in line for a Lasskicking when Becky is ready. Book it now for .

I think you are right Cult, in the long term this could be best. I'm not looking forward to the vitriol that is already erupting around the place. You should see the main page comment threads. Not pretty.

It is a chance for the WWE to truly strike while the iron is hot. Over the last few years they seem to have been paralysed by long term plans at the main event level and it hasn't made anyone happy. I'm all for long term planning rather than booking on the fly to create a coherent narrative but when something like this falls out of the sky you just need to roll with it.

[Oliver]

So in the space of three weeks Tamina dropped Zelina in her face and Nia clocked Becky. Both ended in concussions.

[LifeLostInRewind]

I'm just happy they didn't have her drop the belt.

While not intentional, this is a good way to protect Becky from losing to Ronda. Kinda jumps the gun on the Ronda and Charlotte feud that was assumed for Mania, but what can you do?

[Oliver]

Does the uneasy truce with Charlotte hint at where they could be taking this? I know I've said it already, but hear me out:

Raw ended with Sasha and Bayley getting attacked by the women on their own roster. Meanwhile on Smackdown their two friends are showing themselves to be at a truce. So what if - and like I say, I know I've said this - Survivor Series ends (and is main evented by) Ronda vs Charlotte. Baszler, Shafir, and Duke turn up to help Ronda win. Becky comes down to fight alongside Charlotte. And then Bayley and Sasha help the two of them repel the other four.

You turn Becky face, you have Ronda go heel just because of who she's getting help from and against, and then you spin that into a four on four match for somewhere down the line - it could be held off until Mania with a bit of careful booking, or just have it at TLC - personally I see the former rather than the latter.

I just feel like this is going to happen somewhere. I have no proof for it other than Becky not snapping Charlotte's arm on sight on Smackdown. But I think this could work and give them a big Mania match.

[Cult Icon]

I mean...they could've legit do any other match but that one. The WWE has a whole roster of women they could've used to put Ronda over this Sunday. Not all of them would've been good choices but they were there; the only one I don't think WWE couldn't have done was Nia because of how bad it would look for her to go from injuring Becky to getting a title shot. Using Charlotte was definitely short sighted. It's a positive in the sense that I can't imagine they do Charlotte-Ronda over Becky-Ronda at Mania now, but it does take away the option of having Charlotte-Ronda again for the first time if something goes wrong there AND, most importantly, it's a big match being given away with little to no build (and also one that can't be rehearsed long term like Ronda's other big matches supposedly have been). I know people liked the Finn-AJ match from last year that was put together on short notice, but all it wound up being was a good match that didn't do much of anything for either guy, largely cause it was empty calories. This feels like the same; it's a big match put together for the sake of filling a hole, with no thought of how it'll affect things going forward.

[Oliver]

Thing is Cult, if they put anybody else against Ronda - what's the draw? It's hard to see, for example, Ronda vs Mandy Rose being seen as a good replacement for Ronda vs Becky, no?

The only other option would have been Ronda vs Asuka, but again that's a match that could (should) be high profile and not done on short notice.

I'm inclined to think there's a reason why it's Charlotte, and that the reason will work in terms of the longer storyline they're telling with her, Ronda, Becky and any associated act. Which is why I keep coming back to that story above. If you have face NXT Horsewomen who aren't being dippy babyfaces and actually have all these reasons to be together and against everyone else - and heck, you can run Becky being pulled out of the match into the story if you really want, not to mention WWE (kayfabe) forcing Bayley and Sasha to therapy they didn't need and (shoot) spoiling everything they worked for. You can then run them against an entitled ass heel MMA Four Horsewomen who think they should just have the opportunities handed to them - and in turn the NXT Horsewomen can claim they made the revolution in WWE count only to be trampled over by people jumping on their bandwagon and pushing them down the card. Becky's struggles to get to the top come into it...for me it all works so well with these characters and the world WWE has created.

I will seriously love it if they go with that angle on the whole thing.

[Cult Icon]

Obviously that would work. Do I have any faith WWE would tell it the way you would want? Absolutely none. The last compelling story WWE told that wasn't in their "developmental" promotion (prior to this Becky angle of course) was Daniel Bryan's run to Wrestlemania, and that was only after they fell ass backwards into it and had no choice. Hell, according to my sources, this is the promotion that the last two nights had Charlotte and Becky work together and then had them hug after many months of feuding. That's not angle killing stuff and I could very easily just be spoiled from watching other promotions that pay more attention to little things like that, but stuff like that tells me WWE still doesn't quite get it. And until I see it fully played out otherwise I won't believe it.

But forget that. I hear you in that Charlotte vs. Ronda is a more appealing option than anything else on such short notice. But that's the problem with this match of itself; you're giving it away on short notice with no build. This is/was a potential mega match down the line and while WWE will certainly do it again, you only get one shot to do it once. This is one of the things that constantly annoys me when someone like Pen briefs me about what WWE is doing these days. How many big matches have been give away for free on Smackdown, or on events like Charlotte vs. Ronda and Bryan vs. Brock will be, with minimal to no build? This is the same thing WCW used to get killed for all the time back in the day. I get that it's a different era and you no longer need to draw PPV buys (although judging from pictures of WWE attendance these days, I'd say they could use help drawing people to the seats), but you still want matches to feel special. Doing them on a moment's notice or doing them on TV like they've done so many matches makes the actual important matches feel less unique and also makes these matches not as good as they could be. Imagine Bryan vs. Brock with a proper build. Or Charlotte vs. Ronda. Or Finn vs. AJ, which was cool at the time last year but now is just another match that happened and really did nothing for either guy. I'm sure WWE doesn't try that because they themselves have no faith in booking something compelling these days, but still; hot shotting matches isn't the answer either. And that's what they're doing with Charlotte-Ronda. Another match may not be as good or compelling in name value, but I'd rather go with something like Ronda-Mandy Rose or Ronda-Peyton Royce on short notice than a match that could be something on short notice. You're not wasting anything doing those matches with no build. You are doing Ronda and Charlotte, at least in my view.

[Josh]

^ Completely agree. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to it or that I don't think its a good option (maybe even the best option), but they had other options. They could've inserted Ronda into the Survivors Match and been done with it, for one.

And what's maybe most interesting, to me at least, is that when The Network began, there were some of us who believed the WWE might be less likely to hotshot main events over time because, unlike trying to sell fans a big show for $39.99 every month or whatever the cost was (meaning they theoretically had to promote fresh main events 12 months a year and would burn through them), at $9.99/month, they could buy some time and not have as much pressure - especially as attendance figures, from what I understand, were fairly strong for PPV events (for example, if you pick a random PPV from 2014-2017, based on the venue's capacity, they could consistently draw a minimum of 8k in a mid-sized city and 10k in a bigger one). The theory was that we'd see more risk-taking, less reliance on the aging vets like Taker and HHH, and maybe some old concepts brought back, like the KOTR, because they didn't need the audience to purchase every show - they needed the audience to renew their subscription every 12 months and not cancel.

[Oliver]

I mean, I get it, I do - I just think this is WWE in almost desperation mode. Funnily enough, whenever someone gets injured they seem to pull things out of their arse to keep/gain momentum.

It's interesting, to say the least.

Did anybody see. Becky's tweet reply to Ronda's Instagram post (which was along the same lines as her promo on Monday, including calling.a woman two days older than her a Millennial disparagingly)?

Ronnie, TL/DR. When I got my face broke I got up, owned you THEN showed up the next day looking to fight some more. When you got your face broke you hid for a year under your blankie. Your mind is as weak as your jaw, & I’m going to move heaven & earth to come destroy them both.

I love her.

[comfortablynumb]

She also called Nia a bitch. She's on fire in all facets.

[Oliver]

Did you all see the WWE: The Day Of video they did on her this week, as she found out she can't compete at Survivor Series?

https://mobile.twitter.com/WWE/status/1063492677696552960

[Powder]

Definitely not WWE merch, but it's still awesome. I saw this on an ad from FB.

Becky Shirt.jpg

[Pheqes]

I actually bough a "THE MAN" shirt to show support for Becky. She's on fire and I want to do something to let WWE know that she's the best thing they have to offer.