During the opening of the August 22 episode of Friday Night SmackDown in Dublin, Ireland, Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch revealed that a past interaction with Randy Orton inspired her career. Following the brief moment of sincerity, Lynch turned on her hometown crowd.
The promo segment was interrupted by WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, Nia Jax, and Jade Cargill, leading to General Manager Nick Aldis officially announcing a tag team match for later in the evening, pitting Lynch and Jax against Stratton and Cargill.
Lynch kicked off the show, initially receiving a strong positive reaction from the audience in the 3Arena. She broke character to share a personal story, recalling how she attended a WWE show in Dublin as a fan years ago. Lynch stated that making eye contact with Randy Orton during that event was a moment that changed her life and set her on the path to becoming a WWE Superstar.
Immediately after sharing the story, Lynch transitioned back into her heel persona and began berating the Irish fans. This drew out Tiffany Stratton, followed by Nia Jax and Jade Cargill, escalating the confrontation before Aldis intervened to make the main event tag team match official.
The appearance on SmackDown comes after a series of successful title defenses on Raw for the Women’s Intercontinental Champion. Earlier this week, Lynch defeated Natalya by submission to retain her championship. That victory followed a similar submission win over Natalya’s ally, Maxxine Dupri, on the previous week’s episode.
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