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Backstage Details on Incident Between Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair After WWE SmackDown

October 23, 2021 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
WWE Smackdown Charlotte Flair Becky Lynch Image Credit: WWE

2ND UPDATE: PWInsider reports that there is heat on Charlotte Flair from some people in the WWE, as she is seen as the person responsible for the segment not going as it was written. At no point was Flair meant to pull the RAW Women’s title away from Becky Lynch, and it’s believed that it was done to make Lynch “look stupid” by being “one upped” and having to pick up the belt.

It was also noted that in spite of earlier reports, Lynch throwing the Smackdown title at Flair actually was scripted, by it happened “differently” than originally planned. There are some who think that Flair took a segment that was meant to build herself vs. Sasha Banks and put all the attention on herself and Lync, when Banks is being positioned as the top babyface on Smackdown. They felt it ‘undermined’ Banks, whether it was planned or not.

Flair was not only asked to leave the venue, as noted below, but she was also escorted out by a WWE official.

There is no heat on Lynch for the incident, as it was believed she was “pushed to a boiling point”, which led to the confrontation. If it got physical, it may have been viewed differently. It was seen in the locker room as Lynch standing up for herself.

There are some who wondered if Andrade el Idolo’s shot at WWE last night was related to the Flair-Lynch altercation and not his match on Dynamite, as it was sent out within an hour of when it would have happened.

As for whether Flair might use this to get out of her deal with WWE, that is highly unlikely. Flair has years left on her deal.

UPDATE: Fightful Select reported additional details on the in-ring segment with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch that is rumored to have led to a backstage confrontation between the two after the show. Per the report, the script for last night’s show called for Lynch grabbing the Raw title from Charlotte Flair in order to brag about being “Becky Two Belts.’ Sonya Deville would then order Lynch to hand her title over to Charlotte.

It’s rumored that Charlotte Flair didn’t agree with this booking, but she was told go along with it. It’s noted that “most everyone” agreed the segment was going to come off as awkward. Charlotte Flair then dropped the title on the ground, and Becky then threw hers at Charlotte. According to the report, Lynch throwing the belt at Charlotte was planned.

During the verbal confrontation, Charlotte Flair said that the dropping of the title belt was accidental. Additionally, WWE officials reportedly asked Charlotte Flair to leave the venue before Becky Lynch finished her dark match in order to avoid another further confrontations and both talents could cool off. It was reported earlier by talkSPORT that Vince McMahon was upset that Charlotte left the Gorilla Position without speaking to him.

ORIGINAL: PWInsider reports that there was a confrontation backstage between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch following their TV angle on last night’s WWE SmackDown. Apparently, there was a moment during the SmackDown and Raw Women’s Championship title exchange where Charlotte went off-script.

Per the report, several people who were aware of the situation stated that earlier in the day, Charlotte Flair was voicing her concerns that she didn’t want to come off as looking weak, or her title to look weak, during the segment last night. However, the segment still went forward as originally planned to close the show.

During the segment, what was supposed to happen was Charlotte Flair was to hand the belt to Becky Lynch. Instead, she pulled it away and threw it to the canvas, which was reportedly not the way the moment was supposed to play out. Sonya Deville then demanded Flair pick up the belt and hand it to her. Charlotte Flair did as directed, and Sonya Deville asked for Becky Lynch to hand her the SmackDown title. Instead, Lynch threw her title belt at Flair, which was also not planned to happen.

The segment was then put back on track after Sasha Banks came out for her involvement in the TV angle. However, PWInsider reports that Flair and Lynch had a verbal confrontation backstage after the show. One source stated that Flair was reportedly seen as disrespecting Lynch by “trying to make her look bad” during their TV angle. It’s said that the confrontation backstage between Flair and Lynch did not get physical.

talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy also has some additional details on the incident. According to talkSPORT’s sources, the moment with the belt between Charlotte and Becky was supposed to play out with Lynch trying to get her hand on the title before Charlotte pulled it back. This apparently created a “timing error” between the two women, and Charlotte dropping the belt on the floor, which wasn’t planned.

talKSPORT’s report noted that Lynch, Deville, and Flair were not happy with how this played out. As for the heat between Becky and Charlotte, people close to the situation claim that the friendship between the two Four Horsewomen became strained when Lynch called Flair “plastic” during a promo a few years ago. Things apparently became tense with them ever since that promo.

Additionally, it’s rumored that after the confrontation, Charlotte Flair walked away, and Vince McMahon was unhappy that Charlotte left the Gorilla Position without speaking to him. Charlotte Flair is now said to be on her way to Orlando, Florida to support Andrade El Idolo on AEW Dynamite.

Also, talkSPORT’s report noted that the subjects involved with the title exchange segment weren’t happy about the angle, which was said to have been debated on throughout the day. Charlotte Flair is rumored to have campaigned to even lose the Raw Women’s Championship clean to Bianca Belair last Monday. Ultimately, the match ended in a disqualification. Charlotte Flair is a huge supporter of Belair, and she is rumored to have believed the DQ finish killed what could’ve been a major moment for Belair’s career.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp also reports that there were disagreements on how the segment was supposed to play out earlier in the day, and the belt being thrown down on the ground was not planned.

Sapp noted that a significant number of wrestlers, officials, producers, and referees had already left the arena last night when the incident took place, so they heard about what happened secondhand. Staff and talent were trying to leave early after what was an already busy travel week. Word on the incident reportedly started making its way around to people who left early in about an hour.

With the switch, Charlotte Flair now holds the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and Becky Lynch holds the Raw Women’s Championship. The two women’s champions are expected to face each other later next month at WWE Survivor Series 2021.

Additionally, WWE did not post any footage of the in-ring segment between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch on YouTube or Twitter. They only have the footage of the segment after Sasha Banks came out to make her appearance.