Year of The Man: Tracing Becky Lynch's journey in the WWE over the past 12 months
SummerSlam 2018 was truly supposed to be THE moment for Becky Lynch. After being on a winning streak since Money in the Bank 2018, The Irish Lass Kicker walked into the Biggest Party of the Summer as the favorite to win the SmackDown Women's Championship against Carmella and Charlotte Flair.
In the build-up of their match, she was constantly reminded of her shortcomings and how she lived in the shadow of her friend, Charlotte Flair. But she still maintained her cool and stood with her friend. But when Charlotte won the championship at SummerSlam, she had had enough.
While it is true that big victories on big stages make legends, it was different for Becky. After being on the losing side once again, Becky snapped and started attacking Charlotte with anything that she could find. It was one of the most satisfying beatdowns for Becky's fans. It led to a huge wave of support for her, which still hasn't faltered even today.
She was now no longer that light-hearted, happy-go-lucky girl that was happy for her friend. She was The Man now. Let's take a look at the highlights from the year that made Becky who she is, and how it changed the wrestling world for good.
Since social media played a huge part in making her what she is today, I will also list here her tweets from those particular periods that kept people engaged to her.
#1 Beginning of The Man
After losing at SummerSlam 2018 to Charlotte Flair, Becky went on a path of redemption to get the SmackDown Women's Championship. In the build-up to their match at Hell in a Cell, she dominated the feud with her amazing promos and by often getting the upper hand over Charlotte in impromptu brawls.
She started out as a heel and insulted the crowds on many occasions, claiming that they never supported her. But the fans kept on cheering her and despite being the heel, she was cheered like the biggest babyface of the company. Some even started comparing her to Stone Cold Steve Austin because of her anti-hero character.
After defeating Charlotte at the pay-per-view, Becky Lynch established herself as one of the top Superstars of the company and started calling herself The Man. But she didn't limit herself to that as she was done living in the shadow of other Superstars. She started running down anyone and everyone she could find, and legends like Edge were also not safe from her insults.
She defeated Charlotte on a couple of other occasions, at the Super ShowDown and at Evolution to end her rivalry with The Queen. This was arguably the best feud of 2018, and determined Becky as the hottest thing in wrestling.