Viewers who wait and watch WWE Raw on Hulu might have been wondering where Becky Lynch was on Monday night’s episode. Well, she was actually featured in the episode in both a promo segment and a match. However, WWE opted not to include her in the 90-minute version of Raw delivered to Hulu after the live episode’s broadcast on USA Network. While this first Raw episode of 2023 was particularly stacked, it’s an odd choice to omit one of WWE’s biggest Superstars.
The cut segments featured Becky interrupting a rant from Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai) before entering into a pseudo-handicap match against IYO and Dakota, WWE’s women’s tag team champions. Michin (a.k.a. Mia Yim) rushed to Becky’s aid halfway through, making it a full-on handicap match (that unfortunately didn’t end in the face wrestlers’ favor). The match, which took place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, was shown on TV and in YouTube highlights but not on the Hulu version. It was also not included in WWE Main Event, the company’s Hulu show that showcases major matches from the week in addition to new matches filmed before Raw’s broadcast.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Another match from Monday’s episode, Dexter Lumis vs. Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable (with Otis) was also left off both Hulu uploads. Matches that did make Raw’s Hulu cut included two title matches, Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss (for the Raw Women’s Championship) and Austin Theory vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins (for the United States Championship). Several Bloodline segments were also included, including the “Music City Street Fight” featuring Solo Sikoa against Elias. Title matches and the Bloodline storyline are obviously huge deals for WWE’s creative direction right now, but it’s still disappointing that big moments between megastar Becky and top female tag team Damage CTRL were left on the cutting room floor.
The blame here seems to fall on WWE and the agreement they made with Hulu. The streaming service’s representatives previously noted in 2021 that they “receive a 90-minute version of WWE Monday Night Raw from the content owners and don’t make any edits” before making it available. In 2012, the service said “we only have the rights to stream the 90 minute version,” per eWrestlingNews.
If you want to watch the full episode of WWE Raw, you’ll have to wait 30 days until it becomes available on Peacock. (For reference, the latest Peacock episode is Dec. 5, 2022.) In the meantime, the 90-minute version is up on Hulu and you can find highlights from the cut segments on WWE’s YouTube channel.
About WWE’s Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch, age 35, is a professional wrestler for WWE, performing on the USA Network show Raw. She is a four-time WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, two-time WWE Raw Women’s Champion and one-time Royal Rumble winner (2019). Her real name is Rebecca Quin. Her husband is fellow WWE Superstar Seth Rollins (real name Colby Lopez). They’ve been married since June 29, 2021, and they have one child together, a two-year-old daughter named Roux. Lynch also recently starred in an episode of Young Rock, portraying pop music legend Cyndi Lauper.
