WWE’s SummerSlam 2022 felt like a critical moment for the organization, as the pay-per-view offering (available to Peacock premium subscribers) was its first major event after former CEO Vince McMahon’s retirement. Triple H assumed duties as head of creative, and many speculated that very little of what McMahon had in place for the event would change once he assumed his post. But it’s been reported that one major element was changed by "The Game," whose actual name is Paul Levesque. Allegedly, the original plan for SummerSlam’s Raw Women’s Championship match would've seen the show end with Becky Lynch still operating as a heel.
When Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship, a defeated Lynch embraced Belair in the ultimate sign of respect. Not long after, Bayley made a glorious and unexpected return to face Belair and brought Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky (formerly Io Shirai) along with her. It seemed like Belair was headed for a massive beatdown, but Lynch rushed to back up her up at the last minute and forced Bayley and her minions to walk away.
The move solidified the Irish wrestler's turn from heel back to babyface and, according to Wade Keller of PWTorchVIP.com (via WrestlingNews.co), that purportedly wasn’t something that was initially planned for the event. Keller shared what he'd heard about the situation, saying:
I can now confirm Becky was not gonna turn if Vince McMahon was still in control. That was a Paul Levesque call. I just got confirmation on that. She would have been a heel as we're talking right now if McMahon was still running things. So, one big change early on there.
Switching Becky Lynch from heel to babyface is a move that might majorly shake up the landscape of the women’s division on Monday Night Raw (read more of our major takeaways from SummerSlam). With Bayley back in the organization as a heel, the returning top female superstar won’t have to compete with “Big Time Becks” as the other top female heel in the brand. Additionally, aligning Becky as an ally of Bianca Belair evens the champion’s odds against Bayley’s new faction, though they might need another woman to lend a hand to have an equally-sized stable. Maybe this will finally provide Alexa Bliss with a chance to slide back into a major storyline, as Bliss hasn’t been a huge factor in shows since her return.
Assuming this reported intel is current, flipping Becky Lynch from heel to babyface would be a pretty big change for Triple H to make right off the bat. If true, it could also be a sign that fans can expect some other major creative changes and shifts in direction moving forward. Attendees in Nissan Stadium responded to Becky’s babyface move in an overwhelmingly positive way so, hopefully, the WWE's formerly “struggling” creative team will get a green light to try out other ideas under the new exec.
There's no doubt that we’ll get more of the fallout from SummerSlam on Monday Night Raw, so be sure to tune into USA Network on Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET to see what all goes down. Hopefully, we’ll see some more of Bayley and get a better sense of whatever she and her posse have planned for Becky and Bianca at upcoming WWE events.
