This week’s NXT saw a Diva reinvention for Becky Lynch. Yes, gone are the references to Fit Finlay and Sheamus. But will the new attitude give her an edge when she takes on NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte? Let’s watch:
Becky enters second, debuting new music and a new attitude. Needless to say, this is miles ahead of the Irish stereotype gimmick. Let’s see if it translates to more charisma in the ring!
They tie up, Charlotte slamming Becky to the mat. Becky springs right back up, sweeping Charlotte’s legs out from under her and going for a quick pin. Charlotte kicks out just as quickly, swinging at Becky and snapmaring her into a pin attempt. Becky immediately bridges out of the pin, running the ropes.
Becky leaps over Charlotte, but the champ hops up and hooks her for an arm drag. Becky blocks it, flipping and taking her down with a side headlock. Charlotte uses the momentum to roll on top of Becky and grab her legs for a figure four leglock attempt. Before she can get too far, though, Becky kicks her off.
Charlotte sends Becky into the corner, but her attack is blocked. Becky hoists herself up using the top rope and kicks Charlotte right in the chest. She tries to whip Charlotte to the opposite corner, but Charlotte hangs on to the ropes, fighting her off.
Becky is sent into the corner again, and when she tries to kick Charlotte away, her foot is caught. Charlotte slams the leg down, hyperextending her knee. She uses the same leg to toss Becky out of the corner, stomping on it and slamming it her her knee repeatedly. She then hooks Becky’s leg in a submission, bridging back to increase the pressure.
Charlotte continues to beat Becky down, lifting her onto the second rope in the corner and kneeing the back of her bad leg. She goes for the pin, but gets a two count. Charlotte tries again, but gets another kick out. Charlotte takes Becky’s bad leg, flipping forward and taking the leg with her, hyperextending it again.
Charlotte takes the leg and props it up on the bottom rope, boosting herself up and stomping on it. Liking the results of that move, she tries it again, but Becky springs up this time, rolling Charlotte up for a pin attempt. Charlotte kicks out in the nick of time, but finds herself on the receiving end of a series of attacks, Becky capping them off with a leg drop. She tries to pin Charlotte again, but gets a near fall.
Becky’s momentum is halted when Charlotte nails her bad leg again, causing her to double over and position herself perfectly for the Bow Down to the Queen. Charlotte hits the finisher and earns the victory!
But that’s not all! Backstage, we see Bayley, who is asked about the recent breakup of the BFFs:
Even Bayley, happy-go-lucky as she is, admits to being glad to see them break up. She then gushes about getting recently scoring a pin on Women’s Champion Charlotte.
Charlotte then appears, scoffing at Bayley’s confidence. She says she doesn’t want to humiliate Bayley, so she advises her not to mention her name again.
Lastly, we get a glimpse of Natalya as she accompanies her husband Tyson Kidd to ringside for his match against Adam Rose:
Lollipop-related tension and distraction leads to Tyson losing the match. Natalya tries to comfort him after his loss, but there’s clearly still trouble in paradise. Where are the Total Divas cameras when you need them? Backstage, probably.. Yeah, this is a season three storyline in the making.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed Becky and Charlotte’s match, especially given that it could have easily been a bland squash match. They did exactly what they should here: build up the new blood while reminding us how good the top dog is. Charlotte looked that much stronger by beating a Diva who posed a real threat. Becky was great, her fast pace helping to make the match feel unpredictable. I much prefer an exciting, “balls to the wall” Becky over smiley, nice Becky. I’m glad they decided to give her the character overhaul because, as we’ve seen here, she’s got so much potential, and it would’ve been a shame for it to be wasted on a mediocre character.
Now, we haven’t seen much of her new character, but I like it so far. If they want to harp on her Irish roots, why not make her into a punk rock chick, like an Irish, toned-tone version of Christina Von Eerie? She can speak in a thick accent and fight dirty. That sounds like a Diva the fans would gladly cheer for.
