Report: Becky Lynch Asked WWE To Turn Heel
Vince McMahon may have masterminded Becky Lynch's WWE comeback, but not the heel turn...
Becky Lynch's ill-received WWE heel turn was her own idea, reports Dave Meltzer in the latest Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer Daily Update.
Confirming PWInsider's Mike Johnson's report that WWE had turned Lynch heel and would be presenting her as SmackDown's top villain going forward, Meltzer writes that the new SmackDown Women's Champion requested the turn herself, rather than the company coming up with the idea.
As reported yesterday, Vince McMahon devised much of Lynch's divisive SummerSlam 2021 comeback. This includes the decision to have her squash Bianca Belair in under 30 seconds and take the SmackDown strap for added impact.
SummerSlam was the first time Lynch had appeared on WWE programming since May 2020, when she announced she was taking time off due to her pregnancy. Becky gave birth to her and Seth Rollin's first child, Roux, that December, and had been the subject of numerous comeback rumours prior to the pay-per-view.
Though she was received as a returning hero upon making her SummerSlam entrance, the reaction to Lynch defeating Belair didn't sound as partisan, at least on the stream. It'll be interesting to see how she is received going forward - particularly as her mannerism weren't exactly heel-ish, handshake fake-out aside.