4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (9 February - Results & Review)

3. Tone It Down About Three Notches

Becky Lynch’s routine as a histrionic, raving conspiracy theorist champion is a bit divisive in how over-the-top The Man’s portrayal has been, but Monday’s showing might have exceeded most people’s tolerance limits.

Lynch opened Raw by stalking to the ring, apoplectic at seeing AJ Lee backstage and sputtering about not being able to tolerate the disrespect before AJ joined her. Lee insisted she was there for Maxxine Dupri, but Becky ranted at her about being “cute” and calling out her “stupid eyebrows” before declaring that she was “ruining my life.”

AJ feigned ignorance as she pointed out how she had beaten Lynch twice and cost her the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. This prompted a wild-eyed Becky to offer a one-on-one match at Elimination Chamber to make her go away, which Lee managed to goad her into turning it into a Women’s IC title match. Becky once again did a nervous breakdown routine before finally leaving.

Lynch’s overacting was nothing short of a complete distraction here. She’s shown in the past that she can play a cracking champion pushed to the edge, but this was turning the dial up to 87, not 11. It detracted from the story here, which was AJ’s first singles match in 11 years and in Chicago to boot.

There’s still time for Becky to present a more subdued version of this character, but if she’s going to sputter her way through the next few weeks, this is going to become fast-forward material.