Becky Lynch was the latest star to step up and challenge WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair for the title. However, the bigger news was Bayley and Dakota Kai also made their return to create a faction with Io Shirai.
The title match at SummerSlam opened the show. Lynch hit a leg drop to Belair while on the barricade. Lynch was favoring her right arm. Belair countered a dive by Lynch from the top rope into a powerbomb. Lynch hit diamond dust for a near fall. Belair hit the KOD on the floor. Lynch pulled her off the middle rope and hit the man handle slam for 2. The finish saw Belair reverse the man handle slam with a Spanish fly and hit the KOD for the win.
Post-match, Bayley walked out to the ring to a great ovation, but was still a heel. Dakota Kai, who was released in April, and Io Shirai, who was believed to be leaving WWE with her contract expiring next month, came out. They all stood together before having a staredown with Lynch and Belair.
Bayley had been on the sidelines with a torn ACL since last July. The injury happened when she was chain wrestling in the ring with another WWE star at the Performance Center. She had to pull out of her scheduled I Quit Match with Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Title at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view.
At last year’s SummerSlam, Lynch returned after maternity leave as a surprise replacement for Sasha Banks in a SmackDown Women’s title match where she beat Belair in under 30 seconds to win the title. They rematched at WrestleMania this year over the Raw Women’s title, where Belair defeated Lynch.
