At WWE's Biggest Party of the Summer, wrestling fans were in for quite a few huge surprises. Not only was the audience in Allegiant Stadium shocked to see the return of Becky Lynch, but none could predict what would come next. Within 27 seconds, Bianca Belair's 133-day reign as SmackDown Women's Champion came to a screeching halt.
Leading up to her shock loss to Lynch, Belair was booked as a dominant champion. During her reign as champ, the EST of WWE defeated the best female talent on the SmackDown roster, including the wrestler who has held the SmackDown Women's Title longer than anyone else, Bayley. Since main-eventing Night One of WrestleMania 37, Belair stood tall as the standard-bearer of the blue brand's women's division. That all changed when The Man came around.
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Was Ring Rust An Issue For Becky Lynch?
SummerSlam 2021 featured the shocking return to the ring of Becky Lynch who last competed at WrestleMania 36 where she successfully defended the Raw Women's Title against Shayna Baszler. Lynch made her exit from WWE TV on the Raw after the 2020 Money In The Bank pay-per-view. Before leaving for an extended period, The Man announced her pregnancy and relinquished her championship to Asuka who was Ms. Money In The Bank.
Considering her long absence from in-ring competition, it'd be fair to question whether ring rust played a factor in Lynch's encounter with Belair being so short. After all, before SummerSlam, Lynch hadn't competed in a WWE ring since March 2020. Perhaps a longer match would expose the ring rust of The Man, and that was something WWE didn't want to happen.
Were The Surprises At SummerSlam A Reaction To AEW?
The night before SummerSlam, AEW pulled off an iconic moment by introducing CM Punk on the second episode of Rampage. This may or may not be a response to AEW's move, but WWE pulled off a few shockers of their own for arguably their second-biggest PPV of the year. WWE shocked and delighted wrestling fans when they reintroduced Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar into the equation. However, many fans weren't so delighted with how Lynch's comeback ended up.
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Not only was it shocking to see Lynch return, but it was just as shocking to see her dispatch of the EST of WWE in a mere 27 seconds to receive a fourth reign with the SmackDown Women's Championship. This move was certainly a headline grabber. And considering that AEW might bring aboard wrestlers like Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, and Bray Wyatt, WWE could be prepping for another war.
Make Becky Lynch Look As Strong As Possible
Despite the criticism coming from Saturday's impromptu match, The Man certainly looked strong by easily defeating one of the most dominant women wrestlers on any roster. Before SummerSlam, Bianca Belair hadn't lost a one-on-one match since the 12/18/2020 episode of SmackDown where she fell to Bayley. During her reign as SmackDown Women's Champion, Belair ran through the women's division, even stepping inside Hell in a Cell to defeat Bayley in a nearly 20-minute match.
Bianca Belair beat the best WWE had to offer, but Becky Lynch was just that much better in Paradise, Nevada, on August 21, 2021. Belair may have the number of wrestlers like Carmella and Zelina Vega, but WWE made sure to tell fans that she's no match to The Man. Considering how strongly Belair was booked prior to the squash match, it made Lynch appear to be on another level. This was akin to Undertaker squashing John Cena at WrestleMania 34 or Goldberg annihilating The Fiend at Super ShowDown 2020. And much like Goldberg's quick win over Bray Wyatt, Lynch's victory came with much controversy. However, both Cena and Wyatt were squashed in less than three minutes, whereas Belair was squashed in less than 30 seconds. On the other hand, Daniel Bryan was able to rebound from his 18-second loss to Sheamus at WrestleMania 28 and became an even bigger star than the wrestler who squashed him, but time will only tell if Bianca can pull herself up from a burial.
Why, WWE, Why?
Despite all the fun matches and surprising returns that happened at SummerSlam, many fans are still asking why did WWE need to bury Bianca Belair. WWE could have gone another route to surprise fans with a Becky Lynch return/win without harming the reputation of WWE's EST.
Carmella was initially announced as the replacement opponent for Belair's scheduled match against Sasha Banks. Instead of Lynch disposing of Carmella like a piece of trash and requesting a one-on-one match, WWE could have booked a triple threat match. This way, both Carmella and Belair wouldn't be made to look like chumps in comparison to The Man. The Princess of Staten Island could also take the pinfall loss, which would have protected the EST of WWE from looking weak. If Becky's ring rust is a factor, she'd still have two other women who could help carry her through the match. To mask the potential rust, Lynch could have been taken out early on, only to come back and win the match.
The card for SummerSlam was stacked, but that's still no excuse as to why the SmackDown Women's Title match was so brutally short. WWE booked 10 matches for the main card (11 if you include the pre-show) and opted to give the women of SmackDown the least amount of ring time. During this short time, WWE left fans with a lasting memory that has certainly put more than just a dent in the armor of the EST of WWE.
NEXT: SummerSlam 2021: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
