SmackDown Live review (Jan. 2): 3 takeaways

Becky’s back!

Usually, the women’s segments have been pretty forgettable. They’ve caused some hair-pulling. They’ve led to a lot of apathy.

Such wasn’t the case on Tuesday night. For once, SmackDown Live had a memorable segment involving the women. And a lot of it had to do with the return of one woman in particular.

For several weeks now, Becky Lynch has been absent. TV-wise, because Riott Squad handed her an ass kicking. In real life, because she was filming The Marine 6 in London. Many (myself included) pegged her to return last week while SmackDown Live was in the Chicago area. That wasn’t the case, though. We didn’t end 2017 with the return of The Lass Kicker. But we started 2018 with it, instead.

Becky, sorely missed, received a huge welcome back pop. Lynch then helped lead Charlotte and Naomi to a triumph over Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan in the ring. Becky, fired up, blazed her own trail while doing so, and looked great in her first shot at redemption.

That word there: redemption. We’d waited over a month or so for Lynch to get her redemption on Ruby, Liv and Sarah after their brutal attack on her. And when we finally got it, it was done right. It was done exceedingly well. And to no surprise, the crowd absolutely ate it up. She had motivation for coming back with a vengeance. She drew sympathy for that, and for the months of torment she dealt with for the last year or so. And for just a moment on Tuesday night in Orlando, she got it.

Whether or not it’s a sign of things to come, it was still great to see Becky Lynch back. It was equally gratifying to see her kick ass and strike with a vengeance.