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Becky Lynch made a surprise return to WWE at SummerSlam and defeated Bianca Belair in 27 seconds to capture her fourth SmackDown Women's Championship. While many fans were excited to see The Man back in the ring, the company's handling of both stars was heavily criticized.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the decision to have Belair lose the title in such a quick fashion at the Biggest Party of the Summer was made by Vince McMahon. The WWE chairman apparently wanted to make The Man's highly anticipated return look even more spectacular.
"We are told it was 100% a Vince McMahon call and the title switch to Lynch was specifically to make her return even more spectacular," wrote Johnson. "It should be noted that the quick nature of the match (27 seconds) was seen by a number of fans as taking the wind out of the sails of Bianca Belair, but we are told that even though some in the company expressed that concern, the idea was that the moment was about Lynch per Vince McMahon's vision of the PPV.
Becky Lynch has been away from WWE TV for over a year, and her return to SummerSlam was seemingly made on short notice. The SmackDown Women's Champion was reportedly scheduled to return full-time in October.
What's next for Bianca Belair in WWE following her dissapointing loss at SummerSlam?
Bianca Belair was supposed to defend her title against Sasha Banks on Saturday night, but the latter was removed from the match because she wasn't cleared to compete.
This bout would have been a star-studded rematch that many fans were looking forward to. In the same report, PWInsider also mentioned that Becky Lynch will officially be a part of SmackDown going forward, meaning that Belair can potentially feud with The Man over the SmackDown Women's Championship.
The report clarified that WWE taking the title off of Belair wasn't an indication of her being taken down a notch. She'll likely remain in the main event picture of the SmackDown women's division, even after Becky's return.
What did you think about Lynch's win at WWE SummerSlam? Sound off in the comments.
