Becky Lynch Won’t Turn Heel, But She Will Be Cutthroat In Her Quest For Gold

Most people thought the stage was set for Becky Lynch to triumphantly take the title off of Carmella at SummerSlam after she defeated the rambunctious Princess of Staten Island on SmackDown Live last week. That is, of course, until Charlotte Flair returned and wiggled her way into the SmackDown Women’s Championship match.

As Sasha Banks and Bayley have shown us throughout 2018, as well as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in both the Royal Rumble and Gauntlet Match, it isn’t easy being friends when you are fighting for the same prize.

Becky Lynch noted on last night’s episode of SmackDown Live that she hasn’t even received an opportunity at the SmackDown Women’s Championship in over a year, when she fought in a Six-Pack Challenge at WrestleMania 33. And yes, Becky lost that match.

Month after month, Becky did everything right, only to be overlooked in the grand scheme of things. She fought valiantly for her spot on SmackDown Live, but her efforts yielded nothing in return.

That all changed this summer, when Becky caught the attention of SmackDown Live GM Paige, who has, in kayfabe, been a more competent leader for the SmackDown Women’s Division. Becky ran through heel after heel on the SmackDown roster, showing a renewed focused after her slip-up against Mandy Rose. The likes of Sonya Deville, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and Rose proved to be no match for Lynch, whose quickness, astute grappling, and hard strikes took the division by a storm.

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Lynch did everything a wrestler could do to earn a title opportunity, and she made it count last week on SmackDown Live when she defeated Carmella. The same Carmella who flukily beat Charlotte Flair at Backlash, and cheated her way to multiple wins over Asuka. But Carmella couldn’t best Becky, as the Lass Kicker dominated a James Ellsworth-less Mella.

It seemed like it would be inevitable for Becky to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam in a singles match against Carmella, whom she so roundly defeated the preceding week.

Yet after Charlotte Flair returned to SmackDown Live and immediately made the match a Triple Threat by defeating Carmella in a much more tightly-contested matchup, Becky’s future victory seems harder to foresee.

Furthermore, Becky didn’t exactly hide her frustrations at what developed. Before Charlotte’s match against Carmella, Becky made it pretty clear to Renee Young that she wasn’t happy about this. The common complaint against Charlotte, who used to boast about her genetic superiority on Monday Night Raw, is that she’s handed things as Ric Flair’s daughter. A title opportunity on her first night back from surgery? Detractors will point to this as another example of favoritism for Charlotte, and there were undertones of this in Becky’s promo.

But in fairness to Charlotte, all she did was take advantage of an opportunity that was presented to her. She’s won every major title in WWE, and she did exactly what Becky did to earn a title opportunity. No, she didn’t beat the sheer number of opponents that Becky did, but I’m sure Paige would argue that Charlotte earned her shot at the title.

As Charlotte’s friend, Becky surely understands this on some level. But as someone who has been absolutely dying for a sniff of championship gold, Becky has to be livid underneath the surface. She looked beyond pissed that Charlotte pulled off the victory via the Figure Eight, as she looked at the monitor backstage with an expression that “Angry Miz Girl” would be proud of.

To be quite honest with you, Becky had every right to be angry in that moment. Charlotte didn’t put in the effort Becky did this summer to earn that championship match, and, again, the narrative that Charlotte has it easier is there.

Clearly, friction exists between Becky and Charlotte despite their mutual respect. And lest we forget, Becky defeated Charlotte in a one-on-one match just about a month ago. It was a clear-as-day submission victory for Becky, who has defeated Charlotte in each of their encounters on SmackDown Live. So if Becky feels she’s more deserving of a title opportunity and is upset that Flair has crashed the party, who can blame her?

These feelings of frustration have led some fans to wonder if Becky could finally turn heel. She’s been burned so many times in her career, and the rug has been pulled out from her so many times in her career.

However, I don’t see that being the case at all. Becky knows that while Charlotte values her as a friend (she had her back last night!), she values the championship even more. This realization will allow Becky to assimilate all the feelings that have been dwelling inside of her for the past several months, and they will combine into one, focused thought:

Championships above everything else.

Last night, Samoa Joe lit into AJ Styles for putting the WWE Championship above his family, but Becky must have something similar to that one-track mentality if she is to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. No, she doesn’t have to betray everything she stands for or turn heel by taking the easy way out to get Charlotte out of the picture. But she does have to throw her friendship by the wayside and treat her friendship with Charlotte the same way that Reigns and Rollins threat their friendship.

It’s every woman for herself.

Although Charlotte has been added into the mix at SummerSlam, Becky remains the favorite. Again, Becky has the best resume of the three of them. She’s defeated both of these women in their most recent encounters, and she’s done so quite convincingly via submission victories. Her winning streak is worth praising, and few wrestlers are delivering in the ring and on the mic as well as she is.

From a non-kayfabe perspective, the crowd is more invested in Lynch than anyone, save for maybe Rollins. The adulation she receives from the crowd is both heart-warming and magnetic, as they have responded to each of her realistic promos with the vigor that is associated with top-tier babyfaces. Lynch always gives shoutouts to those fans in her backstage promos, too, so I would not expect her to betray her good-natured character anytime soon.

I do, however, expect Lynch to be more cutthroat. This is no time to play nice, and this is no time to make special favors for friends. Charlotte has made it quite clear that she’s willing to get ahead to take the same opportunities Lynch has, and she isn’t afraid of the blowback. Lynch has to be just as willing to go right for the jugular if she wants to out-compete the hyper-aggressive Flair.

We’re in for a story that could grip SmackDown Live for months to come and peak with an intense battle at the Evolution Pay Per View. While Asuka’s possible inclusion can’t be discounted, the fact of the matter is that this is about Becky vs. Charlotte.

This is about the next step in Becky’s evolution as a well-respected wrestling machine. Even if she is upset by Charlotte or Carmella at SummerSlam, her case for the SmackDown Women’s Championship will not disappear any time soon, especially if she finally takes full advantage of the fire that burns inside of her.