This past episode of Friday Night Smackdown saw the official return of The Man Becky Lynch to the Smackdown brand. After a polarizing win against The EST of WWE Bianca Belair at SummerSlam, The Man made her highly anticipated first full appearance as the new Smackdown Women's Champion. Marking a new era on Smackdown, The EST clapped right back at her her haters, the SummerSlam loss, and her wannabe replacements in the WWE Title conversations. Much to the chagrin of Bianca Belair fans and Becky Lynch's disinterest in competing on Friday, the segment would unfold with a four way elimination match for the number one contender for Becky Lynch's newly gained Smackdown Women's Championship.
The WWE Universe would be treated to an all around very good four way elimination match between some incredibly talented women in WWE. Bianca Belair versus Zelina Vega versus Carmella versus Liv Morgan. The winner gets a title shot! And as you may have guessed it from the title of this piece, Bianca Belair won the day, the match, and the number one contender shot to potentially reclaim her Smackdown Women's Championship Title that she won against Sasha Banks at Wrestlemania 36. Now I have several thoughts on this segment, and while not all will be agreed with, I do hope for some open minds and some much needed positivity in the IWC…
After watching the segment I saw several things that I was very happy with as a Pro Wrestler, Writer, and fan. I loved seeing several different types of characters playing off of each other in this match, which I think lends extra credibility to the depth and potential of the Smackdown Women's Division currently in WWE. Zelina Vega was everything you'd want from a modern day quintessential heel. She can talk the talk and back it up while also selling for others as a heel should. Carmella excelling at getting heat while playing the annoying eye candy heel role is excellent as she can do that and can actually wrestle. And of course Liv Morgan who continuously evolves her character as a dragging-the-line tweener which speaks to her versatility as a performer. Becky Lynch's feigned disinterest was classic and every bit the heel tactic you'd expect from her heel turn adding more for Bianca Belair to react to as the wronged baby face.
Overall, the ladies performed extremely well. As I've said in Fightful articles prior, when you have multiple people involved in one match timing becomes that much more important. One missed queue can alter the entire match experience for both the wrestlers and the WWE Universe. In this four way elimination match these ladies really did a great job on utilizing not only their individual gimmicks and old school story-telling, they also excelled in their timing and execution therein. The facial expressions. The intent behind their moves. In ring action and story-telling with character work. The match had it all in what to expect for an "impromptu" T.V. written four way elimination match.
Thinking back over each woman's WWE character, and their current T.V. roles in recent weeks, and the recent WWE shakeups, as well as the fall out from SummerSlam, I felt there were only two possible outcomes: either have Bianca Belair win like they did, or have it dramatically stolen from her. Going forward I don't necessarily expect Bianca Belair to win her rematch against Becky Lynch right away. I think that if they do, then it was a waste having Belair lose her Smackdown Women's Championship at SummerSlam in less than 30 seconds. If you are going to lose that fast then I think there has to be a good reason and to make it mean something. Like a good book where the main character goes to hell and back with purpose that makes you keep turning the pages so you can find out how it ends.
In my opinion, if Bianca Belair wins the title back right away then I think that that shocking less than 30 second loss would be a waste and does nothing for Lynch or Belair or the Smackdown Women's Division. Instead of a great storyline it would become more of an insult. So I'm hoping we see a drawn out six month minimum storyline that will also help build up not only Bianca Belair with Becky Lynch, but also another character like Liv Morgan who is primed for a push and really bumped so well which did great business for everyone throughout the four way elimination match in my opinion. With this I would give Morgan some of her creepy vibe back and give her more Paul Heyman written vignettes.
I would continue adding heat to Charlotte Flair as the Raw Women's Champion which continues to build Nikki A.S.H as the ultimate underdog baby face and Rhea Ripley the beast of a monster that she is. There's tons of room for WWE to build upon Becky Lynch versus Bianca Belair while also utilizing the WWE Universe to simultaneously build up several other stars so they are ready to transition into the forefront. I.E Naomi, Liv Morgan, Nikki A.S.H, and more. Ready for when one storyline ends and another would have already seamlessly been started making the flow effortless and immensely enjoyable.
I'm very excited to see The Man Becky Lynch and The EST of WWE Bianca Belair raising hell on Smackdown! Don't miss Friday Night Smackdown as the aftermath from SummerSlam continues to unfold and WWE Superstars fight their way to WWE championship gold. The former Smackdown Women's Champion, The EST of WWE Bianca Belair defeated four women in one night earning her the much-deserved chance to exact some vengeance on The Man Becky Lynch and reclaim her Smackdown Women's Title! Stay tuned…
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