To point out, the last time we saw Becky Lynch in a ring in any capacity was May 11, 2020, or 467 days before her return at SummerSlam Saturday. However, the last time The Man competed in the ring was April 4, 2020, versus Shayna Bazsler. That was 504 days ago before her appearance in Las Vegas at “The Biggest Party of the Summer.” Without question, her appearance was of great anticipation for many wrestling fans all over, myself included.
The Return
At present, I am not exactly sure if the 51,326 WWE fans in Allegiant Stadium knew that The Boss, Sasha Banks, was not going to compete. Nonetheless, they play a video package for the Belair vs. Banks contest, only for ring announcer Greg Hamilton to declare that Banks was unable to compete. Given that Banks was out, the SmackDown women’s champ Bianca Belair, the EST of WWE, needed a challenger. Hamilton told the crowd that her opponent would be…Carmella.
You could hear the silence (do not know if that’s possible) in Allegiant Stadium. The crowd wanted to cash out their chips and head home until it happened: Becky Lynch. Once her music hit, the crowd went from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds.
I’m back. pic.twitter.com/dlKraRFC2p
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) August 22, 2021
Lynch quickly took care of Carmella by tossing her between the ropes, attacking her in the process.
So as for a new opponent, Lynch sought to be the replacement, and the champion Belair accepted. This match, if we dare call it one, lasted 20 seconds. All in all, Lynch hit Belair with a forearm and a uranage suplex. Belair went from facing Banks, then Carmella, and getting squashed by Lynch.
The Man is Back…But
To begin with, Lynch was not reportedly supposed to return to WWE until October of this year. Her return had to be accelerated due to the Banks’ absence. To repeat, this was not the plan. While it was great to see Lynch, her return came at the sacrifice of the EST of WWE, the champ. Her reign was over in a flash, and it did not seem right to myself and others who watched the “match.”
Bianca Belair deserves better than her squash, and she deserved better than the booking as champion, even. Same opponents, week after week, and she kept getting over despite that
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 22, 2021
The first thing to remember here is that neither superstar booked themselves in this situation. As stated previously, The Man was a needed return. However, to have her beat Belair in under 30 seconds was wrong. Having Belair lose in that fashion undermined her reign as she has only defended against two people before Lynch. She fought Carmella and Bayley, both former champions.
Firstly, I hope Banks is ok. Meanwhile, this match was important to Belair and her previous 132 days as champ. A Lynch vs. Belair match sounds great on paper, but not like what we saw at SummerSlam. Hopefully, WWE will give us a proper match between these two.
Follow Beyond Women’s Sports all year for more from the WWE. Wrestling fans can follow LaDarius Brown on Twitter @ladarius_brown.
