Becky Lynch Has The Roots Of An Antihero, And They Explain Everything

Becky Lynch wasn’t born to be a champion. She fought to be a champion. Charlotte Flair used to walk around Raw, proclaiming to be “genetically superior” to every single woman on the roster. These two wrestlers were always meant to fight bloody battles, given the differences in their backgrounds. And it is Charlotte’s failure to understand Becky’s past that has caused Becky to be the antihero, and Charlotte to lose a chance to be the hero of her own story.

In isolation, Becky Lynch’s actions at SummerSlam would seem to be unforgivable. I mean, how can you justify betraying your best friend? How can you, good conscience, punch your friend in the face after they beat you fair and square?

Normally, we would think of someone who turns against their best friend in this way to be a cold-hearted snake or a psychopath. Becky is neither of these. The fact that the crowd remained in her corner throughout her beatdown of Charlotte at SummerSlam wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t the crowd being bloodthirsty. And it wasn’t even about the crowd steadfastly supporting a wrestler they’ve always loved.

No, the crowd stays behind Becky and truly believes her actions were justified, because they understand her roots.

I want to take you back to Becky’s best promo as the SmackDown Women’s Champion. This wasn’t the first time Becky cut a great promo in her wrestling career, but it was the first time I said, “You can make this woman one of your biggest stars.”

It was on the contract signing between Becky and Alexa Bliss for No Mercy.

During this promo, Becky explained essentially everything you need to know:

"“You’re right, Alexa. I wasn’t born to be a champion. I was born to live in a small house by the side of the road in Dublin. I was born to work a job I didn’t like and barely make ends meet. You’re right, I was not born to be a champion. But I watched far too much TV and I listened when they told me that if I believed in myself, I could be anything that I wanted to be! And I wanted to be champion. I wanted to be champion realll badddd. That’s right, Alexa. I wasn’t born to be champion, but just like every other superstar that has walked down that aisle, I have put my heart and my soul into this so that I can raise THIS above my head. No, no Alexa, I was NOT born to be a champion, but I want this. And I want this a whole lot more than you do. And if you think you are going to take this from me at No Mercy, I will rip your head off. I was not born to be a champion. I fought to be a champion.”"

To this day, Becky has not forgotten this moment or this mantra.

Because of this, Becky values the championship more than anything else. After dropping the title to Alexa at TLC 2016 and being cheated out of the championship by Alexa (and Mickie James) time after time, she never received another clear shot at the title until this summer against Carmella.

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

Becky earned her spot by defeating every single heel available on the SmackDown Live roster. She ran through Absolution after an upset loss to Mandy Rose, she destroyed the IIconics, and she embarrassed the champion herself to earn that opportunity.

While, yes, Charlotte did defeat Carmella to avenge a previous loss at Backlash, she didn’t defeat all those other opponents. And yeah, she could have beaten them, but that’s not the point. The point is that Becky climbed the ladder for months after being robbed of opportunities for years.

And Charlotte? She just had to talk to Paige and get a title match shortly after returning from surgery.

This is why the fans understood Becky’s actions at SummerSlam, especially in the context of the match’s finish. Becky had Carmella primed to tap to the Dis-Arm-Her, but Charlotte stole the match away with Natural Selection. You know, the finisher based around the fact that she sees herself as being genetically superior…

Charlotte stole a title win from Becky after stealing the spotlight from Becky by working her way into the match. Now, there’s no reason to blame Charlotte, because she only did what any motivated, determined person would do. Charlotte is here to win championships, and that’s what she did. But at the same time, she can’t be upset or pretend that she doesn’t understand why Becky did what she did.

Apparently, though, Charlotte doesn’t understand. Because she never has.

To Charlotte, title opportunities are easy to come by. She’s won seven titles in her career, whereas Becky has won just one. To Becky, championships mean everything. To Charlotte, they are great, but they are also just another accolade. Championships are personal to Becky, but they’re just another “Straight A report card” to Flair.

Remember when Charlotte and Becky had a backstage segment together on the go-home show before SummerSlam? Charlotte wished Becky “good luck” before their match, and Becky responded, “it has nothing to do with luck.”

That was the first indication that Charlotte didn’t quite understand how much this means to Becky. Because to Becky, luck doesn’t even remotely enter the equation; she has fought so hard for this that she’s way past the point of luck meaning anything. It’s an empty word.

The second indication was when Charlotte made her first entrance after SummerSlam, as she interrupted Becky’s promo railing against her. Charlotte came out with the title and asked Becky, “All for this?”

And thank God, Becky called her out for that one.

“This” means so much more to Becky than Charlotte could ever know.

Becky is an antihero because she remembers where she came from, and after years of being held back by her best friend, by SmackDown management, and by people who were willing to cheat, Becky is finally taking matters into her own hands. Regardless of who she may hurt in the process.

This is inspiring, because Becky is a strong woman antihero, which WWE has been wholeheartedly lacking in its history. The likes of Lita have displayed these traits, but Becky is poised to be a much more explicit version of this character. Having this type of antihero in the woman’s division is refreshing, as most of the women in WWE are portrayed as mean girls or overly sweet to a fault.

Becky Lynch is here to break that mold, and here’s to hoping WWE is willing to put all the chips on the table with a wrestler who is capable of creating a relatable character with this many layers that allow her to be portrayed as a nuanced, lass-kicking antihero.