Becky Lynch made her first televised defense of the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair in a rematch, but the bigger news was the return of Sasha Banks.
It happened during the hour of the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Columbus, Ohio at the Nationwide Arena. The match was fast-paced right from the get-go. Throughout the match, Lynch would go for the armbar and this was the story of the match as Belair continued to get out of it.
Belair went for her finisher, but Banks ran out and attacked Belair to cause the DQ. After Banks got done attacking Belair she went after Lynch. Banks hit Belair with the backstabber and so did it to Lynch. Banks stood tall.
Lynch made her WWE TV return last month at SummerSlam by defeating Belair in under 30 seconds to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Originally, Belair was supposed to defend the title against Banks at this show, but it was announced at the PPV that Banks wouldn’t be able to compete.
In late August, Belair became the number one contender by defeating Liv Morgan, Carmella, and Zelina Vega in a four-way elimination match on SmackDown despite the rule of champions getting an automatic rematch.
At first, Lynch refused to give Belair a title shot as Lynch declined to give Belair a title match. However, WWE authority figures Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce informed Lynch that she’ll be defending the championship against Belair at Extreme Rules. On the SmackDown episode from Madison Square Garden, WWE booked a contract signing for the match to make it official.
