Breaking Down The Belts: Becky Lynch's WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship

Becky Lynch is set to defend her Women's Intercontinental Championship for the second time in this reign at WWE Elimination Chamber 2026, facing rival AJ Lee in their first-ever singles match, in Lee's hometown of Chicago. 

Twice now has Lee got the better of Lynch since returning to the ring last year, teaming with husband CM Punk to defeat Lynch and her husband Seth Rollins at Wrestlepalooza, and then teaming on the winning side of WarGames at Survivor Series. However, this will be Lee's first attempt at a title since holding the Divas Championship over a decade ago. 

Lynch is in her second reign as Intercontinental Champion, having recaptured and then successfully retained the title over Maxxine Dupri. Prior to Dupri capturing the title from her, Lynch had reigned for 163 days. So she has a more than proven pedigree with the title, is arguably due a victory over Lee, and will be just one-on-one with her in Chicago. 

Already on the road to WrestleMania, it would seem as though Lee and Lynch are due for an extended feud heading into the "Show of Shows," and that may well be started by Lee winning the title at Elimination Chamber. But if she isn't the won to take the title either here or later on, then the next question naturally lies with who would be the one to succeed "Big Time Becks." 

Enter Breaking Down the Belts, this writer's opportunity to look over the options available, plot trajectories, and what would appear to make sense. So let's get to it.

It really does feel like Lynch's next challenger will take the title at some stage or another, and Chicago looks like a great place to do it. As said, theirs is a feud that has been brewing for some time and would feel a little short-handed to conclude in just one match. 

So that leaves several sub-options in how Lee takes the title. 

First, she could win the title at the Chamber event, getting her hometown pop and then presumably a rematch at the "Show of Shows." From there, Lynch can either re-take the title – assuming Lee is working a limited schedule and not planned for an extended title run – or Lee can continue, and either case leaves a trilogy bout open down the line. 

On the other hand, Lynch could be the one to get the win in Chicago and upset the audience, potentially adding a greater sense of stakes for their rematch at WrestleMania. Then once again, either can win the second match and set up a trilogy bout further down the line.

In any case, it certainly looks like the next person to take the title will be the former longest-reigning Divas Champion. Her return was a long-time coming and if it is something that looks to be a longer term run, handing her a title reign for however long feels plausible, especially when Lynch is in position to re-take the title and pass it onto another when the time is right. 

But in the event that Lee isn't the won to take the title and fails in her pursuit of Lynch, there is another name who arguably should take the title from Lynch even more-so. 

Bayley has yet to actually see a pay-off to her removal from last year's WrestleMania, allowing Lynch to team with Lyra Valkyria and capture the Women's Tag Team Championship. It was later revealed that Lynch had been the one to attack Bayley, causing her to miss out on the biggest show of the year.

Bayley has since gone through a feud of-sorts with Valkyria, with both failing to take the Intercontinental title from Lynch last year. They're now working together as a tag team, but Bayley and Valkyria have yet to capture the Women's Tag Team Championship together. 

The rule of catharsis would dictate that, when all is said and done, Bayley is the one to take the Intercontinental title from Lynch. "The Man" wouldn't even have the title if it wasn't for her plot against Bayley one year ago. At the same time, Bayley was robbed of her chance at a title as she was forced to watch Lynch replace her and take the tag belts too. 

It would complete that arc for Bayley to have undergone the work to recover both physically and mentally from that attack, trading gold-for-gold and gaining vengeance against Lynch. More than anything, though, it would be good for her to get back on track after having been on quite the gold drought since being Women's Champion two years ago.