WWE's What If...? Nia Jax Never Broke Becky Lynch's Face
Marvel and Disney are celebrating the long-awaited arrival of the multiverse via its new animated show, What If...? Each episode explores an alternate timeline in which a certain event results in the series of events changing from the one fans of the MCU know and love. To celebrate such a novel idea, we have decided to do the same thing for the wrestling business. Last week, we considered what would have happened if The Undertaker's streak had never been broken. This week, it's the turn of Becky Lynch and her broken face.
What Did Happen
With Survivor Series on the horizon, a show on which Raw's champions face off against their SmackDown counterparts, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey were destined to collide. Lynch had become one of the hottest commodities in WWE, while Rousey was enjoying one of the best debut years in WWE history. A dream match on the cards for Survivor Series, and then disaster struck.
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Lynch led a SmackDown invasion of Raw, taking an incredibly stiff forearm from Nia Jax amid all of the commotion. Despite claiming she briefly blacked out, as well as breaking her nose and suffering a concussion, Lynch continued on and even landed a few blows on Rousey. After escaping the ring, a bloodied Lynch stood in the crowd, resulting in one of the most iconic images in WWE's modern era.
Even though Lynch looked like nothing less than a badass that night, she could not be medically cleared to compete at Survivor Series six days later. She was pulled from the match and the one-on-one everyone wanted to see between her and Rousey never happened. Instead, the two would meet in the first-ever women's main event in WrestleMania history. However, Charlotte Flair was shoehorned into proceedings because WWE had her versus Rousey penciled in for WrestleMania. So, what would have happened if Lynch never got injured?
What Could Have Happened
Jax swings her forearm back not knowing Lynch is there, but The Man sees it coming. The SmackDown Women's Champion responds by flooring Jax and then going after who she's really there for, Rousey. The two of them, who are destined to clash just six days later at Survivor Series, go back and forth before Lynch rolls out of the ring and escapes through the crowd, her SmackDown counterparts following close behind.
The touted match between Lynch and Rousey at Survivor Series six days later goes ahead as planned. It's every bit as physical as fans expect it to be, and the crowd even gets the results they were hoping for, a Lynch win. The Rowdy One's first loss in WWE and one that shakes the foundation she has built via a dominant run. Parallels are drawn between the match and when she suffered her first loss in UFC. Rousey disappears, taking the Raw Women's Title with her.
Rousey returns a few weeks later through fear she will be stripped of her championship for not defending it. A cocky Jax takes her on at TLC and is beaten incredibly quickly. Rousey opens Raw the following night, informing fans that she won't be tiptoeing around them or the rest of the locker room anymore. She insults the business in the process and tells Lynch at Royal Rumble, she'll show her the real Ronda Rousey.
The rematch takes place at Royal Rumble and it's even more physical than the first go-around at Survivor Series. Lynch lasts longer than Jax, but it's evident Rousey is channeling the version of herself that led to dominance inside of a cage. She picks up the win and that's it for her and Lynch. Charlotte Flair, who won the women's Royal Rumble match, appears at the top of the ramp as Rousey and Lynch stand side-by-side in the ring. The Queen neglects to reveal who she wants to face at WrestleMania.
After a few weeks of showing up on both shows, Flair rushes a Rousey match on Raw and lays out the champ. She grabs a mic and confirms she wants The Rowdy One at WrestleMania. Since Lynch versus Rousey has already happened twice, and Flair isn't being randomly inserted into the match, the crowd reacts positively. By this point, they want to see Flair versus Rousey at WrestleMania, and they want it to be the first-ever women's main event in the show's history.
The match goes ahead as planned in the main event of WrestleMania 35. It receives a great reception despite how late in the show it takes place, and even though Flair wins the match. The Queen becomes Raw Women's Champion, Rousey leaves as planned, and no one needs to hold both titles at the same time. Just the way WWE always wanted it to pan out, or at least that's how it seemed at the time.
