When Becky Lynch defeated Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35, she was crowned the franchise of the WWE women’s division.
Admittedly, ever since Becky Lynch’s reign began back in April, not every feud has been a home run. Her feud with Lacey Evans was a letdown, even in understanding what WWE was trying to accomplish with Evans. The goal was to give Evans the big rub that comes with working with Becky Lynch. On the other hand, the feud that she had with Sasha Banks showed what made Becky Lynch take the main event spot at WrestleMania 35.
Before fans know it, WrestleMania 36 will be here. We can’t know for sure if Becky Lynch will be the WWE Women’s Champion by then. It would be difficult to envision a scenario where she is not the champion. It is too early to determine if Lynch can repeat as a WrestleMania main eventer, but what is certain is that fans will be interested in seeing wherever Becky Lynch is on the WrestleMania 36 card.
Here is a look at five possible opponents for Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 36
Note: I only mention wrestlers who are active wrestlers. As of this writing, we do not know if Ronda Rousey will return in time for WrestleMania.
Shayna Baszler
WWE struck gold with Shayna Baszler. Her reign as NXT Women’s Champion has gone on for a long time. She is the most credible women’s wrestler on any WWE brand. On the latest episode of RAW, a small sample of a feud between Baszler and Lynch confirmed what fans have been wanting; a feud with two of the hottest wrestlers in WWE.
The way to develop this into a WrestleMania match is having Shayna Baszler enter the Royal Rumble and dominate the competition. She needs to have double digit eliminations and leave the Royal Rumble as the self-proclaimed “baddest woman on the planet.”
Baszler announces who she will face at WrestleMania 36 on the next episode of Monday Night RAW and announces that she wants to face Becky Lynch. Lynch can walk down to the ring and state that Baszler isn’t in her league. Baszler can let Lynch know that this match isn’t just for the WWE Women’s Championship. This won’t just be a title for title match and this won’t be to avenge the loss of her friend Ronda Rousey from Mania 35, but this match will determine who the baddest women in WWE is.
Baszler should win the match and win Lynch’s title by beating her in the middle of the ring. From there, the RAW after WrestleMania could open up with Baszler forfeiting the NXT Women’s Championship before becoming a permanent staple of RAW, while Becky Lynch can become a hero chasing revenge against Baszler.
Bayley
The wrestling villain is only as strong as the hero that she goes against. Bayley’s character turn is missing a rival. WWE is doing everything they can in order to push Bayley in her new role, but her character is still missing a feud for her to show her own character traits in order to get her to be booed. Her alignment with Sasha Banks is an attempt to garner a louder negative fan reaction. Yet, fans still struggle to find a reason to hate or boo Bayley.
A match with the biggest fan favorite in the women’s division is the right match to strengthen both characters. Bayley can become increasing jealous of the perks that Lynch has received while believing that in order to become the top woman in WWE, she has to end the “The Man”.
The feud would have to begin at Survivor Series with Bayley winning the Triple Threat match with Lynch and Baszler, despite Lynch getting the loudest reactions during the match. Bayley can become increasingly angered of the attention Baszler and Lynch are receiving and how they overlook her in the build-up.
The part that will push WWE to tell an intriguing story would be, The Royal Rumble winner gets a shot at the WWE Women’s Champion. When the 30th entrant is supposed to enter the ring, the camera pans backstage where Bayley is standing over the woman who was supposed to be in that spot. Bayley enters the Royal Rumble, she eliminates the final three wrestlers herself to win the Royal Rumble.
On SmackDown, she shows up stating her intent to challenge Becky Lynch in a title for title match at WrestleMania 36.
Charlotte Flair
This feud is the easiest story to tell. Lynch and Flair have years of history together. From their feuds on NXT, RAW, and SmackDown, when they’re in the ring, the chemistry is there. For this match to matter, Charlotte Flair doesn’t need to be the winner of the Women’s Royal Rumble. That is one of the great aspects of this rivalry; it doesn’t need much satisfy fans.
With both wrestlers being on RAW, the feud needs to start there. After the winner of the Royal Rumble decides to face Bayley at WrestleMania 36, this leaves Lynch without an opponent. On the RAW after the Royal Rumble, Lynch can be in the ring and state that she doesn’t have an opponent for the Royal Rumble, but still wants a fight.
This leads Flair to come down to the ring and state that both her and Lynch could have main evented WrestleMania 35 without Ronda Rousey. Flair has to look Lynch is the eye and remind Lynch that she never pinned or submitted Flair at WrestleMania. Flair wants the match to be one on one at WrestleMania 36.
Lynch and Flair could be the women’s equivalent of the Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock rivalry. The two women bring the best out of each other in the ring and on the microphone. WrestleMania 36 would be another chapter to a great rivalry.
Natalya
Natalya has done everything in WWE. It can be argued that she is the greatest women’s wrestler of all time in WWE. Her career has spanned over a decade in WWE. She has never quite reached the level of a consistent main event talent. She was fortunate enough to represent WWE in the first WWE women’s wrestling match in Saudi Arabia. That is a tremendous accomplishment for Nattie to add to her list of achievements.
The one thing that Nattie has not accomplished, is winning a Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. Whether fans believe it is good taste of not, the story of Nattie, who last year lost her father, who has never had that “WrestleMania moment” and who has been passed over for a decade, is a storyline that WWE would love to tell.
The Royal Rumble is the right place for this journey to begin. Nattie goes into the Royal Rumble as the underdog. She enters the Royal Rumble as the 5th entrant and wins the Royal Rumble. Nattie can develop more nuances to the “the underdog that never quits” character. She can dedicate the match to her father, Jim Neidhart, as a way to gain sympathy from the crowd. WWE does their best work when telling the story of the underdog who overcomes all odds to become champion.
When Nattie wins the title from Becky at WrestleMania, it gives Nattie the WrestleMania moment that has always alluded her. The shot of Becky handing Nattie the belt and raising an emotional Nattie’s hand in the middle of the ring is the moment that encapsulates the decade long journey of Nattie.
Bianca Belair
A feud between Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch would be everything that the Lynch and Lacey Evans should have been. A young up and coming wrestler with every tool for a bright future, getting the rub from an established vet, at the biggest WWE show of the year.
With each brand invading the other to build towards Survivor Series, that is the perfect time to light the spark for this feud. On SmackDown when the NXT Women’s wrestlers attack the SmackDown women’s wrestlers The two women do not have to say a word to each other, Belair and Lynch need to meet eye to eye in the middle of that chaos. The moment needs to be long enough to tell the story of what their feud could be, but short enough to where fans can’t wait to see more.
Lynch cuts a promo after Survivor Series, mentioning how one NXT wrestler reminded her of her when she was in NXT: Bianca Belair. The next night on NXT, Belair can stand in the middle of the ring and cut the promo of her life, stating that she heard what Lynch said, and Belair is ready whenever Lynch is.
Imagine that the winner of the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View months later can face Lynch at WrestleMania 36. Belair will be the last entrant in the match, and pull off an impossible upset by pinning an established wrestler like Alexa Bliss or Sasha Banks to face Lynch at WrestleMania 36.
Lynch can make Belair a star at WrestleMania. Belair doesn’t need to win the match, but she simply needs to show that she can hang with the best women’s wrestler in WWE.