Becky Lynch revealed that her historic SmackDown Women’s Championship victory in 2016 was never part of WWE‘s original creative plan.
Speaking on No-Contest Wrestling from The Rich Eisen Show, Lynch explained that Nikki Bella was slated to become the inaugural champion before organic crowd support forced a pivot. According to Lynch, fans began chanting her name regularly the moment WWE unveiled the title, prompting company officials to rethink their direction and put the championship on her instead.
Bella had been positioned for a top spot that summer after returning from a serious neck injury at SummerSlam on August 21, 2016, replacing Eva Marie and pinning Carmella in a six-woman tag match. WWE officially unveiled the SmackDown Women’s Championship two days later.
Officials subsequently booked a Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the vacant title for Backlash on September 11 at The Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, featuring Lynch, Bella, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, and Alexa Bliss. During the bout, Bella eliminated Natalya before Carmella caught her with a surprise rollup. Lynch outlasted the rest of the field, submitting Carmella with the Dis-arm-her to capture the first championship of her WWE career and become the inaugural titleholder.
Their first singles match did not take place until nearly nine years later. At Clash in Paris in 2025, Lynch defeated the WWE Hall of Famer to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.