WWE Raw: In defense of Shayna Baszler biting Becky Lynch’s neck

No, no, no, I’m not defending the act of biting another person in the neck, especially on live television. I can’t support cannibalism, but I do support WWE ensuring that Shayna Baszler debuts on Raw against Becky Lynch in the biggest, most memorable way possible.

Last night on WWE Raw, right after Becky Lynch successfully defended her Women’s Championship against Asuka, Shayna Baszler finally made her long awaited return to the show for the first time since last fall’s NXT invasion. Granted, it was not quite the way that any of us expected her to come at The Man’s neck.

The Queen of Spades did so by … well, going for The Man’s neck. No, not as in the slang term. Quite literally, she went at the champ’s neck by biting into it like a vampire until blood poured out all over the ring. It is a move that seems to have divided the WWE Universe, with the popular opinion from most fans seemingly being that they hated it.

If you are one of those who liked the segment, then congratulations! You’re on the right side of history!

If you hated it and thought it was dumb, then read one – we need to have a word.

Obviously, I’m being facetious when I suggest there’s a right and wrong way to enjoy this segment or that you’re wrong for not liking it. Wrestling, like most arts, is subjective. But with wrestling being subjective, I feel the need to defend why this segment was worth enjoying.

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It’s more than just the fact I love when goofy mess like this happens in wrestling (because wrestling, in itself, is a goofy mess). More importantly, I feel like this was a genuinely brilliant, creative way to re-debut Baszler to the Raw audience (assuming she’s here for the long haul this time).

Yes, it was random as all hell. She’s never bitten anyone in the neck before in NXT, but on that point, much of the Raw audience has not seen her work in NXT (after all, it’s only been on TV for four months now), and newer fans may not have seen Baszler work on Monday nights leading to Survivor Series.

I’m not suggesting that the unfamiliarity of mainstream fans should justify repackaging the former NXT Women’s Champion as a vampire, but WWE needed to sell Baszler as a threat immediately to those newer fans. If Baszler is truly Lynch’s next title challenger (preferably at WrestleMania), then an impression needed to be made to make Baszler look like the scary heel she spent months being in NXT, and just a general impression to make her memorable.

Letting Baszler pull off her Hannibal Lecter impression should do the trick.

Was it goofy? Yes. Did it look like something more akin to something you’d see between Angelus and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Yes. But did it grab our attention, for new and old fans, and get us talking profusely about it? Yes. And did it make us terrified of Shayna Baszler?

Well, personally, I was already terrified of Shayna Baszler before this happened, but this notched my fear levels up to 11.

All things considered, not only did the segment work, it set Baszler up to be Raw’s top heel and the potential challenger worthy of beating Lynch for her belt when the time is right.