Becky Lynch instantly became a WWE main eventer for life upon becoming The Man during the summer of 2018. In morphing her character, she also morphed her in-ring style as well.
Upon her call-up from NXT in 2015, we all knew Becky Lynch best as the always smiling, fun loving Irish Lass Kicker with a pension for technical, mat-based offense. But as the saying goes, nice guys (and gals) finish last, and the spunky persona seemed to be keeping Becky overlooked and in the dust for the most part despite being the first ever WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion. However, it was one fateful night at SummerSlam in 2018 that everything changed.
In what was originally scheduled as a one-on-one match vs. then-champion Carmella, Charlotte Flair was added to the match some weeks beforehand to make it a triple threat. Charlotte regained the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and an incensed Becky attacked her best friend after the match. While this was meant to usher in a new hard edged heel character tired of being overshadowed, Becky attacked Charlotte to a roar of cheers.
Fans instantly fell in love with the cockier, brash version of Becky Lynch and fell in love with her even more when she started dubbing herself as “The Man.” All things considered, by early 2019, The Man was rumored to have become the top merchandise seller in WWE and truthfully, it’s not hard to believe either. The WWE Universe continues to be a collective fan of The Man.
The reason why fans have become enamored with Becky Lynch is not just because of the way she changed up her character, but for the change in in-ring style that came along with the transformation. The grittier, brawler-esque way of wrestling has lent itself to some interesting contests. Here are some of her best yet.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Boss n Hug – Raw Sept. 9, 2019
Oh, you thought we were just going to look at Becky Lynch’s singles matches? Oh, no. Not when this match reads like such an instant classic.
Between their work in NXT and the main roster across the course of about six years together, all four women have perfected both their individual in-ring craft by now, as well as their chemistry together. Whenever any combination of these women enter the ring against each other (i.e. one-on-one, two-on-two, three way, four way, tag team, etc.), it instantly produces wrestling magic every time.
The night of Sept. 9 of this year was no different, as far as in-ring work was concerned. The only difference in the atmosphere was that they were wrestling each other inside of the famous Madison Square Garden building. This not only led to an extra excited crowd, but also incentive for every woman to bring their A-game more than they usually do. What transpired was quite possibly the greatest women’s tag team match to ever take place under a WWE stage.
It also quickly earns a spot among the best matches of either Becky Lynch, Bayley, Charlotte Flair or Sasha Banks’ career.
4. vs. Sasha Banks – Raw Women’s Championship – Clash of Champions 2019
This is the most recent contest to happen on this list, but it nonetheless deserves a spot here regardless. After a four month hiatus, Sasha Banks was the talk of the town when she returned onscreen to pick a fight with The Man. Their feud was arguably the hottest on the roster and their match at Clash of Champions was perhaps the most anticipated at the PPV. All things considered, I think they more than lived up to expectations.
Which may be controversial to say given the match ended with a non-finish after Becky got DQ’d, but I feel like even with that finish, the match was thrilling to witness. I speak more in depth on the match in a previous article, but to summarize what makes this match so great, I liken it to matches like Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind from Mind Games or Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin from SummerSlam 2001.
Both are matches that ended without a decisive winner, but thanks to the magnitude of the personalities inside of the ring and their chemistry being so electric together, the match is well regarded as a classic with replay value years after it first aired. I expect that same fate for Banks and Lynch’s latest contest because their chemistry at Clash was just that good and the crowd was that hot to see them wrestle the whole time, even after the DQ.
3. vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey – Winner Take All – WrestleMania 35
This list would truly be incomplete without mentioning the first ever women’s main event in the history of WrestleMania. Not only because it is a great match, but it is a vital milestone in the history of professional wrestling. Not only that, but by defeating The Baddest Woman on the Planet and the prodigal face of the women’s division in the same night, it was then that Becky Lynch truly became “The Man” of the women’s division and the top dog of WWE as a whole.
Every competitor in the women’s division as a whole fought long and hard for women’s wrestling to reach the pinnacle of its success that it reached this year. These three women in particular fought even harder to prove that they belonged in the main event picture at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
The blood and bruises on each participant were visible throughout the match as each woman wailed on each other to produce a hard fought, exciting main event worthy contest. Some miscommunication during the finish has unfortunately overshadowed much of the contest itself, but let it make us forget these three women put on a wrestling clinic in that ring. What matters is that the right woman won and history was made.
2. vs. Natalya – WWE Raw Women’s Championship – SummerSlam 2019
Heading into SummerSlam 2019, expectations were admittedly low for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship match against Natalya. Which is disappointing, but also not a fault to either competitor. Natalya went from not being on television at all to becoming the number one contender in the span of a week and most fans struggled to accept that.
However, the two former SmackDown Women’s Champions dealt with the chips that were given to them and made the most out of it. Not only did they quickly intensify their rivalry over a short month’s time span to produce intrigue, they brought that intensity to their match and arguably produced a show stealer.
The Submission Match stipulation worked in both women’s favor and the intensity helped give the match that big match feel that not only it needed, but to get the crowd invested in ways they struggled to during the week’s of build-up. We also got some engrossing moments and unique spots, most notably the Sharpshooter against the ring post.
In the end, Natalya ultimately tapped out to Becky’s Dis-Arm-Her.
1. vs. Asuka – WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship – Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble was a big night in the career of Becky Lynch. Some may argue that it was bigger than main eventing WrestleMania. If not, then it was truly was a night that WWE shined a bright spotlight onto her as she opened the show facing Asuka for the SmackDown Women’s Championship before winning the Royal Rumble later in the night.
Because of the magnitude of her Rumble win and the ramifications of it in leading Becky to win the first ever women’s main event at WrestleMania, it’s easy to forget just how great her match with Asuka was earlier that night.
We mentioned earlier in the intro that the dichotomy between how Becky wrestled as The Lass Kicker and how she wrestles as The Man is that she focused more on technical offense as the former and brawler wrestling as the latter. This match offered the best of both worlds.
With both women being two of the best technical wrestlers on the roster today, the match was very submission savvy with both women attempting to wear each other down, but thanks to how their feud boiled over in the coming weeks, the match felt like an unadulterated brawl. And an aggressive one at that with some brutal moves to the outside.
Ultimately, Becky lost after tapping out to the SmackDown Women’s Championship, but she’d regain that belt (and another one to boot) months later at Mania.