Sunday, Becky Lynch lost the SmackDown Women’s Championship but retained the Raw Women’s Championship. So, what’s next for The Man?
Becky Lynch is still the Raw Women’s Champion, but that creates a host of new questions. It would seem she’s moving to Raw for the first time since 2016. However, due to the wild card rule she still appeared on SmackDown this week.
At any rate, Raw’s women’s division could use a superstar like Lynch to lead the division full time. The “A Show” hasn’t been utilizing the female talent well since the Superstar Shake-up, and they lost a lot of big names to SmackDown. The brand is in desperate need of a major star to build their storylines around.
Moreover, The Man will have her hands full filling Ronda Rousey shoes as champion. “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” brought her star power, but she arguably decimated the division. She made most of her opponents look weak or ineffective until she lost her first singles match at WrestleMania 35. We’ll ignore the fact that that wasn’t exactly a conclusive win.
In short, Lynch inherited the difficult task of rebuilding the brand’s women’s division. Fortunately, there is no shortage of women who can step up to challenge her. These are five possible challengers for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship.
5. Naomi
Naomi was the unsung hero of the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. She stepped out dressed like the DC Comics character, Bumblebee, complete with afro puffs and got the opening match off to an exciting start. Seriously, she looked great.
In the match, she pulled off a few showstopping spots including a few stiff enziguris and a jaw-dropping split to avoid opponents charging at her with ladders on both sides. Her athleticism and ingenuity were on full display.
Furthermore, she has been on a hot streak since she moved over to Raw, picking up wins over Alexa Bliss and The IIconics. So, if anyone should get a title shot soon, it should be Naomi. The former SmackDown Women’s Champion hasn’t been in a noteworthy feud for the title since 2017.
Notably, Becky and Naomi have been a part of several multi-women matches over the years, but they’ve never had a televised singles match. That’s surprising because they were both a part of the SmackDown Six that helped birth the brand’s women’s division.
Now that they’re both on Raw, a competitive rivalry between the two would be a nice change of pace after Charlotte and Lynch’s now-famous blood feud. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see if Becky could put over Naomi’s innovative offense.
4. Alexa Bliss
Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss go way back. Little Miss Bliss presented the inaugural SmackDown Women’s Champion with her first major test back when she was the Steampunk-inspired Lasskicker.
Lynch never managed to get one up on her and she quietly slid out of the title picture. Bliss’ ascension as the top heel on the brand and 2-time women’s champion effectively halted all the momentum Becky gained after the brand split. She didn’t recover and make a mark as the face of the division until last year, following the emergence of The Man persona.
To date, Alexa Bliss stands as the biggest skeleton in her closet, the one woman she could never best. If we’ve learned anything about The Man since SummerSlam, it’s that she never forgets. It must eat at her that Bliss has handed her some of her most humiliating losses.
Moreover, it had to be hard to watch Alexa achieve things she dreamed of while Lynch could barely make it on tv for a while. That’s what makes this potential feud so interesting. Reuniting them after Becky rose to the top of the company can go in so many different directions.
Alexa Bliss has the most ammunition out of any of the women on Raw to use against her. She has legitimate bragging rights. Bliss stifled her first title reign, and to add insult to injury she already achieved more than Lynch. She was the first woman to become both Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion long before Becky Two Belts went viral.
If The Man wants to prove, once and for all, that she is the best, she has to eventually face Alexa Bliss again.
3. Lacey Evans
Lacey Evans is possibly the easiest pick on this list. After Evans cost Becky Lynch the SmackDown Women’s Championship on Sunday, we all knew this feud was far from over.
It’s a good thing, too, because there is still so much WWE can do with “The Lady” vs. “The Man.” Lacey really came into her own as a character during the build-up to Money in the Bank. Hopefully, their matches will steadily improve, but the promos between them will at least be entertaining for weeks to come.
Unfortunately, the company will probably stall with this feud to hype up Super Showdown, and we won’t see them compete on a big stage again until Stomping Ground. That’s a month from now, which gives them plenty of time to build Evans into a more credible threat.
There’s a good dynamic here and again there is a clear-cut motivation to continue the feud. However, Lacey Evans never beat anyone with any notoriety on the main roster, so it was hard to believe she could realistically dethrone the champion. WWE must do something to give her an edge going forward.
With that said, this feud was better than expected. It’s the right call to keep it going for a few more weeks before a new challenger emerges.
2. Natalya
Believe it or not, there’s a vocal sect of wrestling fans online who think Becky Lynch can’t wrestle. Of course, if you search long enough you can find fans who say that about most top stars. Nonetheless, a technical masterclass between Lynch and Natalya could silence those critics.
For the most part, Becky Lynch got over as an unpredictable and charismatic tweener because of her promos and brawls outside of the ring. If anyone can give her the chance to showcase her in-ring ability for newer fans, it’s Natalya. She would be an ideal opponent for the champion for many reasons. It seemed like WWE was building toward this feud before Lacey Evan defeated her to become the number one contender.
In terms of story, this could be a good way to turn Hart Dungeon alum into a heel again. Because let’s face it, she has been bland as a babyface. In fact, rumor has it she was supposed to turn on Ronda Rousey at some point. There aren’t many antagonists left on Raw, so now would be a good time to revisit those plans.
Even if they don’t, a competitive championship match full of chain wrestling and submission exchanges between the pair could be a lot of fun.
1. Beth Phoenix
Speaking of Natalya, her fellow Diva of Doom, Beth Phoenix, would make a great challenger as well. She and Becky Lynch were recently involved in a back and forth on Twitter.
Before Becky Lynch tagged Seth Rollins and confirmed the two are dating, fans were salivating over a potential feud. The Man’s relationship with, well, The Man may have gone viral, but there’s underlying tension the two women that is worth exploring later.
The Glamazon made a return to the ring back in April and she looked like she had plenty in the tank. She recently worked the European Tour, but it’s unclear if she plans to wrestle anymore soon. It tough to tell, especially now that she joined the commentary team on NXT.
Still, this is a potential dream match in the making. Phoenix towered above her contemporaries during the Divas era, because of her size, strength and amateur wrestling background. It would be a treat to see her take on someone from this era, where work rate is emphasized more in women’s matches.
Immediately, it’s easy to envision this bout as a classic display of strength vs will. It wouldn’t be hard to get the Glam Slam over again, and the rest writes itself so to speak.
Hopefully, WWE really takes the time to invest in Becky Lynch as the Raw Women’s Champion. If they hold on to their respective titles until November, a match against Bayley at Survivor Series could also be in the cards. There are so many possibilities and it’s a great time to give the fans some new matchups.