It began as a lie started in 2021, but WWE made the Becky Lynch/Bianca Belair saga real in 2022, and paid it off masterfully at SummerSlam before indulging in the fruits of the labour at Survivor Series WarGames.
Handshake bookends were an excellent touch, featuring heavily in the SummerSlam squash that kicked it off, a bona fide WrestleMania classic and a SummerSlam finale one year on from the original crime committed against 'The EST'. The latter two matches were proper worldies, and one legitimate wrestling megastar genuinely helped make another. It became perfect pro wrestling distilled.
Them finally coming together as babyfaces having earned mutual respect even dovetailed into Bayley's return - 'The Man' had another reason to stand alongside Belair. Bayley’s turn all the way back in 2019 was at her expense, and she never forgot. Suddenly, there was an ideal time to remind her of that, as was the case when Lynch returned to action properly alongside the Raw Women's Champion against Damage CTRL at Survivor Series WarGames.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
