Becky Lynch Becomes SmackDown Women's Champion at Hell in a Cell

It took two years, but Becky Lynch is yet again SmackDown Women's Champion.While we didn't get the [...]

By Jeremy Snodgrass

It took two years, but Becky Lynch is yet again SmackDown Women's Champion.

While we didn't get the double turn that was rumored, Lynch did pin Charlotte Flair to the glee of San Antonio's AT&T Center. The match was a little shorter than expected—given their build-up has been some of WWE's best work—but the contest was still a blast to watch.

After the match, a dejected Flair hung around to congratulate the newly crowned Lynch, but The Lass Kicker wanted no part of the sportsmanship. She walked out, leaving Flair alone with her thoughts.

Since SummerSlam Lynch and Flair have had WWE's best story. However, deciphering who was playing hero and who was playing villain has been a complicated exercise. Since her heel turn in Brooklyn, Lynch galvanized her fanbase and they refused to boo her. Despite WWE using several tactics to make Lynch look evil, she ended up looking more like Stone Cold Steve Austin. WWE kept Charlotte a babyface during the HIAC build, despite most arenas being reluctant to treat her as such.

During an appearance on the Chasing Glory podcast, Lynch discussed the process of WWE constructing her heel turn.

"Uh, that was creative...that was creative and I can't say I'm mad at them. It came from creative and it came from the top down. Vince wanted a different side of me and to see different layers, so we're peeling them like an onion," said Lynch.

However the moment Lynch smacked Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam her popularity saw a massive uptick. The next week on SmackDown, Lynch cut a heel promo that hinged on her insulting the fan base. But no matter how spiteful she was, the fans still cheered.

"Well we tried that and the crowd were like 'ah come on now Becky....you know that we were there with you the whole time.' And I'm like 'yeah look I'm going through some stuff. I'm trying to figure it out, I'm trying to figure it out lads.' And that was a thing and I remember saying 'well you know when Charlotte....when Charlotte won you all stood up and you cheered and you all chanted didn't you?' And I remember the crowd being like 'yeah we did.' and I was like 'yeah, come on now lads, get it together!" I just feel like it's hard for me to say "it's your fault, it's on you guys' because the whole time they have been cheering for me, they've supported me, they've put me in the position to win sometimes you know and even when we talk about the first ever Smackdown Women's Champion, the crowd wanted me to be the Champion so they dictate a lot," she said.

Given her fruitful relationship with the crowd, it didn't make sense for Lynch to become adversarial. So now, it looks like she and WWE will lean into fans glowing opinion of the SmackDown Women's Champion.

"So I think it just doesn't make sense that I would talk about how bad and how wrong they are because they've obviously made their voices heard and supported me the whole time," she said.

While we're used to the simple dichotomy of Hero vs. Villain. Lynch says her beef with Charlotte isn't about anything other than her success.

"So at the end, that's what it comes down to. It's not about them, it's not about Charlotte, it's not about whatever.... It's about me taking what I want," she said.

[H/T r/squaredcircle/u/FuzzyWuzzyMooMoo]

0comments
Start the Conversation

of