Becky Lynch is a face, but she owes Charlotte Flair nothing

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Becky Lynch has been turned on time and time again. So, it’s no wonder that one of SmackDown Live’s two babyfaces in the women’s division didn’t immediately run out to assist Charlotte Flair while she was getting a beat down from the recently formed heel stable that we’ll call Lady Legacy, at least until they have their own official title. As Andrew Swift pointed out in this week’s SmackDown recap, for all Becky knew, Charlotte was in on this from the start — it wouldn’t exactly be out of character for Charlotte to trick a supposed friend in her quest for power and glory. Becky said she stayed out of it because it’s not her fight — and she’s right.

Charlotte showed up on SmackDown as entitled as she’s ever been, dissing the entire division in the process — a division that includes the first-ever SmackDown Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch. Becky had already been turned on by Charlotte in WWE back when the Divas Championship was still a thing, and while she’s open to a reunion with her old friend because, well, they’re old friends and Becky is an inherently good person, at this point in her life, she needs more than for Charlotte to be in peril to come to her rescue. Maybe that’s not blindly noble, but it’s better story telling than Becky being so pure that she’d do something actively stupid like help Charlotte avoid a beating she, in this universe where everything is solved with fists, had coming to her.

Charlotte as this lone figure who isn’t to be trusted immediately — i.e., the reason she’s alone — makes for a more compelling character. Now, instead of Becky just doing the Right and Good Thing, we’ll get to see the more realistic thing: Charlotte looking for help from the only person on the roster who might be willing to give it to her... but not until she proves she deserves it. Charlotte is going to have to earn Becky’s trust in order to combat Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina. While it’s inevitable that Charlotte will then turn on Becky someday, at least we would have seen a story played out to its fullest after a logical start instead of just seeing Becky, for no good reason, come to the aid of her worst friend.

This is how you do shades of gray, and we should all be excited about the direction SmackDown’s women’s division is headed.

• Becky herself said in an interview that she and Charlotte have barely scratched the surface of what the two can do together and for women’s wrestling in WWE.
• In Wednesday’s rumors: there’s a slew of wrestlers WWE is interested in signing, and if you pay attention to the indies at all, you will probably be pretty excited by these names.
• Jinder Mahal stole the WWE World Championship from Randy Orton and then drove off with it in a limo. That could be the kayfabe explanation for why the House of Horrors match at Payback isn’t for the title.
• We may not see Rusev make his SmackDown debut until Money in the Bank in June, as he’s demanded a championship match or else he’s going to take his топка and go home to Bulgaria.
• Breezango won the Beat The Clock Challenge to become the new number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Is WWE actually going to let Tyler Breeze and Fandango be bother super entertaining and successful?
• Matt Hardy is teasing that he’s breaking. He’s not broken yet, but he’s sure hearing voices.
• Triple H kind of explained the push for Jinder Mahal.
• Impact’s Eddie Edwards is getting knee surgery this week. They’ve already got him hurt via Davey Richards on the show, but there’s no word on when he’ll be returning or precisely what the injury is, either.
• There’s a Vince McMahon biopic in the works, and since there aren’t a lot of details, now is the time for us to imagine what we want this to look like.
• Alexa Bliss must have made Stone Cold proud with the way she shut down those “WHAT?” chants on Monday.
• Kenny Omega is not upset about Seth Rollins taking his move.
• Adam Cole is on the eve of free agency, and ESPN talked to him about his possible next steps.