Report: Why Becky Lynch Won In 25 Seconds At WWE SummerSlam Revealed

Becky Lynch made her long-awaited return to WWE TV at SummerSlam on August 21 after over a year away.

Lynch's return quickly came under criticism, though, as she was revealed to be Sasha Banks' replacement in the SmackDown Women's Championship match against Bianca Belair. Instead of Lynch vs. Belair being a long match, however, The Man hit the champion with the Man-handle Slam and pinned her in 25 seconds to win the title. 

Why WWE booked Lynch to win in such quick fashion has been revealed by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.

According to Johnson, Lynch was originally scheduled to return in October but she was brought back early once WWE realised Sasha Banks would be unable to compete at SummerSlam. Lynch was expected to be backstage at the August 21 pay-per-view anyway, but WWE kept her hidden all day to prevent her return from leaking. 

Lynch's 25-second win was "designed to pop the fans", PWInsider noted, and it was "100% a Vince McMahon call." The quick title change was also supposed to make The Man's return even more spectacular. 

Some within WWE reportedly expressed their concern about having Belair lose the title in 25 seconds, but Vince McMahon wanted the moment to be about Lynch. 

In regards to Belair, her quick loss wasn't WWE taking her down a notch, but simply how the company decided to react to Sasha Banks' absence.

PWInsider also noted that WWE continued to promote Banks vs. Belair until the last possible moment, despite them knowing the match wouldn't be happening, because they wanted to make Lynch's return "a bigger moment."