The energy following this past Monday’s Raw was electric. You could feel it through your television, on Social Media, and if you were in attendance, throughout the Sprint Center in Kansas City. The invasion of the Smackdown women’s division – lead by “The Man” Becky Lynch – created one of the best invasion attacks of the past decade in the WWE, highlighted by the bloodied fierce visage of Becky Lynch. For months, Lynch had turned a poorly received heel turn into the character change she so desperately needed and has emerged as arguably the WWE’s most consistent and biggest star. But by Tuesday, the news was out – following a seemingly errant punch from Raw Superstar Nia Jax in the melee, Becky Lynch now had a “broken face” and severe concussion and was now out indefinitely. What this meant was that the epic showdown with Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey was off the table. But following last night’s Survivor Series, it would almost appear that this injury to Becky Lynch may have been a blessing in disguise for multiple women – and the women’s division as a whole. While they lost their main event in Ronda vs Becky, the paths of several women were ultimately changed for the better, and has arguably made the women’s division the most exciting part of the WWE these days.
NIA JAX
The perpetrator of the punch that “broke the face” of Becky Lynch, Jax became a target all week for Lynch fans, calling for her demotion back to NXT or, worse, her firing, for such a blatant misstep resulting in the loss of the women’s division’s biggest organic star of the past decade. But according to several backstage reports, Jax and Lynch made peace backstage, which is probably why the WWE has pushed Nia Jax to mention the injury – and WWE showing the exact moment in happened in slow motion replay on Smackdown Live and again at Survivor Series. Jax is referring to herself as “The Facebreaker”, and has taken to Social Media to taunt Becky Lynch.
https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1062738524347289601
And on Sunday night, she was met with a chorus of boos every time she entered the ring. The timing couldn’t have been better – Jax had recently turned heel again, joining her cousin Tamina Snuka in a new powerhouse tandem. With the new heat on Jax for injuring Becky Lynch, Nia Jax has emerged as Raw’s biggest heel. And while most of that may be looked at as “X-Pac” heat (as in genuine dislike), it’s made Nia an magnet of scorn from the WWE Universe and fans will now be chomping at the bit to see ANYONE get the better of Jax – especially a potential showdown with a returning Becky Lynch at some point (perhaps at January’s Royal Rumble in the Rumble itself). Having Nia Jax be the sole survivor and winner for Team Raw on Sunday night –
https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1064328540198363136
CHARLOTTE FLAIR
While Becky Lynch emerged from her heel turn on Charlotte Flair as the biggest anti-hero since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was terrorizing the Attitude Era, Charlotte Flair – the supposedly sympathetic friend who was betrayed – became the brunt of the fans’ disdain for turning Lynch heel instead of Flair (despite the heel turn creating the best character of Becky Lynch we’ve seen yet in the WWE). No matter how evil Becky Lynch got, or how good Charlotte acted, the fans were just not buying it. But with Becky out of action for Survivor Series, Lynch picked her long time rival (and on-again/off-again best friend) as her successor for the match. And instead of going for a victory for the Blue Brand, Charlotte went for blood. Charlotte got herself disqualified following an outstanding match between both women, instead turning to kendo sticks, chairs and other methods to dismantle Rousey, turning back into the sinister Flair that had dominated both brands at one point. The return of the vicious Queen was greeted with thunderous applause from the Los Angeles audience, who seemed to project their hunger for Becky’s retribution onto Charlotte in her attacks on the former UFC Champion. Charlotte has been welcomed back into the fold as a favorite once again, this time as a ferocious wildling instead of a prim and proper Queen.
https://twitter.com/GIFSkull/status/1064351906212892672
RONDA ROUSEY & THE FOUR HORSEWOMEN
Ronda proved a lot of doubters with her big match with Charlotte at Survivor Series, but now that she’s been the systematic target of both Becky Lynch and now Charlotte Flair, it seems all too fitting that the long anticipated War of the Horsewomen is now coming sooner than later. In recent Social Media messages towards Becky Lynch earlier this week, Rousey even brought up the fact that it was time for the “Four Horsewomen vs. The Faux Horsewomen”. Now that two of the NXT Horsewomen have left their marks on Rousey, it’s only a matter of time before Rousey starts to bring in some reinforcements – NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and their other two partners in the MMA Horsewomen, Jessamin Duke and Marina Shafir, who also got involved at Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: War Games II.
BECKY LYNCH
Although the timing is terrible – Becky Lynch has seen her star rise at an astronomical rate the past few weeks, even more than how hot she was before the Ronda Rousey match was first announced – the injury and time off will only make the appetite for a Ronda vs Becky showdown escalate. People were ready for the match on Sunday – but now people are hungry for it. She now has a mortal enemy in Nia Jax – as they two have bickered on Twitter since about the blow – and has created a nemesis in Ronda Rousey. When she’s finally cleared from her concussion and broken facial bones issues, her return ovation will be thunderous and her next opponent will feel an unbridled wrath of Austin level magnitudes. And with recent reports suggesting that now the potential WrestleMania 35 main event will shift to Ronda vs Becky, one can almost picture the Irish Lasskicker returning at the Rumble, going rough shot through the entire field and winning it, just to declare her intent to face Rousey for the Raw title in New York City (assuming Lynch is stripped of her title during her injury time). This is but a pause on the epic tale of Becky Lynch, “The Man”. We’ve yet to see the best out of this entire storyline and it’s only open up a bold new landscape for not only Becky Lynch, but the WWE’s women’s divisions.
https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1064210838444261383
