8 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 1)

1. Belair Buildup For Naught?

Becky Lynch Bianca Belair
WWE.com

If we had actual faith in WWE to tell a real story here, this wouldn’t be a cautionary down here, but the company’s track record is so shoddy that we have to note it here.

Becky Lynch has continued to get one-up on Bianca Belair, first besting her at SummerSlam in 26 seconds – a fact that keeps getting brought up – and then outsmarting her on multiple occasions since. This essentially derailed Belair’s momentum since winning the Royal Rumble and SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37.

There’s a natural story here to tell, of the rookie overcoming the brash veteran who is desperate to hold onto her spot. But there are a couple of problems. Lynch hasn’t really been solidified as a villain, at least in a way that has gotten fans out of Becky’s camp and into Bianca’s. But worse, Monday night might have been the perfect time to pull the trigger – and they waffled.

Oh sure, we can get another bite at the apple in the near future, but when you fail to deliver multiple times, you run the risk of Luger-ing Belair. She’s going to need to win the big one if WWE really wants to elevate her to the next level. Simply hanging with Becky isn’t going to cut it.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.