Boos were heard throughout Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas during Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. After Smackdown women’s champion Bianca Belair came to the ring the defend her title against Sasha Banks in a much-anticipated matchup, the ring announcer told the crowd that Banks would be unable to compete. As the crowd voiced their displeasure, Carmella came to the ring the take Banks’ place, making the crowd even more unhappy. But just before the matchup began, some familiar music filled the stadium
Becky Lynch, “The Man”, was back. The crowd went crazy, drowning everything out in cheers for a few minutes. Lynch had been out for over a year after giving birth to her first child. She was the most popular WWE wrestler when she left, and judging by Saturday’s reaction, she is the most popular wrestler again. She beat Carmella up, tossed her from the ring, and challenged Belair, who accepted. The bell rang, Lynch reached out to shake Belair’s hand, and when Belair did, Lynch hit with a clothesline and a manhandle slam and pinned her, 1-2-3.
An interesting way to bring Lynch back, as this almost positions her as a heel. But the crowd in Vegas saw her as pure babyface.
In other matches so far Saturday:
Big E defeated Baron Corbin
Big E hit a spear through the ropes, followed by a Big Ending for the pinfall win. He then took back his Money in the Bank briefcase.
RKBro (Randy Orton and Riddle) defeated AJ Styles and Omos to win the Raw tag team titles
Orton pinned Styles after an RKO.
Alexa Bliss defeated Eva Marie (with Doudrop)
Not much of a match. Eva Marie attacked Bliss’ doll, and that made Bliss irate, so she pinned her with a DDT. Doudrop apparently turned on Eva Marie after the match, but with WWE, you never can tell for sure.
Damian Priest defeated Sheamus to win the United States title
After a long, grueling match, Priest ripped off Sheamus’ protective face mask and pinned him with the Reckoning. The crowd didn’t care that much.
The Usos defeated Rey and Dominick Mysterio to retain the Smackdown tag team titles
The Usos won when Jey hit a splash on Rey and pinned him. No hint of dissension between the Mysterios, but Dominick did nothing in this match except get beat up.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.