At Summerslam, one of WWE’s top performer’s men or women returned in The Man Becky Lynch. And as previously written, her return was botched. Now reports are coming out that she has turned heel. And if that is the case, then if we replay the entire scenario over again from Summerslam, and we look at it from a WWE perspective where Lynch won the Smackdown Women’s Championship over Bianca Belair, then Lynch was the heel and Belair was the sympathetic babyface.
However, if history has shown us anything with this company, turning your top babyface heel without having a top babyface is a terrible decision. Just look what happened when Stone Cold Steve Austin turned heel back in 2001 without a top babyface in the waiting. And now WWE is making the same mistake again with Becky Lynch.
It’s A Mistake Turning Becky Lynch Heel
The way WWE is currently constructed all the top champions are heels and adding Lynch to the fold makes sense. However, you need a top babyface to draw as well. Just look what John Cena did for this company when he was WWE Champion. WWE learned from their mistake from 2001 with Steve Austin. While heel Austin was excellent, the fans were not ready for him to be a heel just yet. Hence why Cena never turned heel. Plus Cena also had heels to go up against to defend the title. And that is the issue with the current state of WWE. They just do not have any legitimate babyfaces to go up against Becky Lynch. Nothing against Bianca Belair, but WWE killed any momentum she had losing in 30 seconds at Summerslam. That is not how you establish a top babyface in the company.
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Now granted Belair has her fanbase, but Becky Lynch was the top babyface from 2018 to 2020, before she had to give up the Raw Women’s Title because she was pregnant. And remember they tried this once before with Lynch. But the fans loved her so much that she could not be considered a heel. And the time is not right for her to be a heel. There is still so much to be made off of her The Man character. Plus during her two-year run, she was injured several times and never got the right main event spot for her character. The feud with Rhonda Rousey was there, but WWE in its bright wisdom had to had Charolette Flair to the fold. That did not help Becky’s character.
Who Is The Next Top Babyface?
And now you want to turn her heel. Who is she going to face? Again Belair is a great wrestler but she is not at the level of Lynch as a babyface. And that is what you need. That is why Austin turning heel was bad in 2001 because the Rock was leaving for Hollywood. For a top babyface to turn heel, you need someone to take that person’s spot. Belair can be in that spot, but it will take time. The crowd reaction proves that Becky Lynch needs to be a babyface. She is is so over and no matter what she wants to do, the crowd will treat her like a babyface.
Again time will tell with the angle and the heel turn, but it is so hard to pull off if booked poorly. And looking at the Smackdown roster, there are not that many wrestlers she can feud with. Maybe they can bring Asuka over, but how long can that last. And even if they call up wrestlers from NXT because they are not on the same level as Lynch and probably never will be. Considering WWE is lacking babyface talent, having another heel does not make sense. Lynch needs to be a babyface because her star power will be even greater and help the company grow even more.
Jim Biringer is a freelance hockey & wrestling writer. Follow him on Twitter at @Jim Biringer.
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