Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

For about a year, the Women’s division has belonged to Becky Lynch — if not always in terms of championships, then undoubtedly in terms of the conversation. Any talk about who ran the roost almost always revolved around her; The Man’s star grew so fast in the wake of her reinvention that she threatened to eclipse Ronda Rousey even before Becky relieved The Baddest Woman on the Planet of the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania. At WWE Clash of Champions, Sasha Banks’ one goal is to change all that.

For Banks, the self-styled Boss who once dominated the discourse the same way Becky currently does, 2019 was something of a lost year. Despite christening the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships with Bayley, Sasha openly admitted to viewing those titles — and the Fatal 4-Way Match in which they were defended at WrestleMania — as a step down from what she deserved. That perceived demotion and Becky’s eclipsing rise led Banks to go into self-exile for five months, after which she returned with blue hair, a vicious streak and one objective in mind: Reclaim the spotlight she had allowed herself to be shuffled out of for too long.

Lynch, of course, is not going to be so easily displaced: She has maintained an iron grip on the Raw Women’s Championship since WrestleMania, and her mind games tend to be much more unnerving than Sasha’s blunt braggadocio. (Becky’s current line — that Sasha is only enjoying renewed relevance because she’s coming after the champ — is a wicked one.)

But there’s always a chance she might be discounting Banks’ hunger: The Boss’ current mentality is reminiscent of Becky’s during the summer of 2018, right when she dropped the steampunk and quinoa act to take WWE by storm. Just like the idols The Man once toppled, we’ve gotten so used to the sight of Becky with a title that the idea of her without one is almost unthinkable — to her and to the WWE Universe. Only Sasha sees that possibility, the same way Becky once did when it came to Rousey and Charlotte Flair. And if she pulls it off, it’s all anybody will be talking about for a long, long time.