I was hesitant to write this due to doubts on the validity and credibility of the reports, but it has since swirled around enough that I’ll cover it, especially since our own Mike Rickard posted about it.
Becky Lynch is set to make a major announcement tonight on Raw, just days after she broke the record for the longest reigning Raw Women’s Championship reign, cumulatively, in just one reign. The first woman to win the main event of WrestleMania has seen a meteoric rise where she’s everywhere, even set to be in an upcoming Marvel feature, and is the crossover moneymaking woman WWE has been trying to have for a long-time. It’s no secret that I’ve been a big fan of Becky Lynch since her NXT days and have been outspoken that she is by far the biggest full-time star on the roster. Losing her certainly hurts in the short term, but longterm it could be for the better.
Engaged to former WWE Champion Seth Rollins, the report is that Becky Lynch is pregnant and will be vacating the championship, which Asuka will then use her Money in the Bank briefcase to take the belt. The ratings have tanked since WrestleMania, which Becky hasn’t appeared since, and I do think there’s a correlation but Vince McMahon can’t keep relying on the safe bets. She should’ve lost to Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania to establish Baszler, and she should’ve lost at Hell in a Cell last year to Sasha Banks. You can’t really change that now, but Vince McMahon builds his best stars under pressure. If Becky Lynch is pregnant, then I am more than happy for not one, but two of my favorite wrestlers.
But I also think this’ll be for the betterment. I say that because she’s 33 and has acting roles coming her way. She wasn’t going to be full-time anyway soon and I don’t want them putting all of the eggs in her basket and realize “we have no women’s stars without Becky.”
I think you ran into the same issue with Becky you run into with Charlotte. She’s beaten everybody and so nobody else can gain steam. The difference is Becky is such a big money maker, it’s far more justifiable, and Becky’s wins have been super fluke and sheer luck. So it’s not like she dominated people. But at the end of the day, we’ll call a spade a spade there. She should’ve lost to Sasha and Shayna.
Now is where you’re regretting regularly jobbing Asuka and Sasha to Charlotte any time they get any steam. Hopefully if Becks is pregnant, Asuka winning MITB is them rocket strapping her. It’s come to that point they may not have another choice. I love Asuka, I have for awhile, and the Kabuki Warriors have been the best thing on WWE television entertainment wise for a grip. I think she’s an excellet choice.
Is she Becky? No. Nobody’s going to be Becky level for women for a long time. It was a perfect storm But if you build a bunch of women instead of just two it’ll carry the division so much farther in general. Asuka is a great selection to be the cornerstone. She can go. She has charisma in spades. She is a viral meme every other week. She has strong ratings, crowd response and merchandise numbers. A stronger division as a whole is better than a top heavy division. It’s not the women’s division getting all of the talk and money. It’s just Becky Lynch.
They’ve had too many women just dominate the division for so long that building up others is a far better strategy. Asuka’s ability to have a great match with anybody and the pure entertainment value she brings is a unique one that screams superstar, the booking just needs to coincide with it.
PSE will have more on the story as it’s available.
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