Becky Lynch recently spoke with Steve Fall of WrestlingNews.co for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling. During the discussion, Lynch commented on people going up to her and saying that she’s affected their everyday life:
“Yeah, yeah, that’s, that’s wild. I don’t know. I don’t know how to even sum up what that means. You know, it’s just kind of like, disbelief really, in general, because you don’t go out trying to change anybody’s life, you just do the thing that you love, and you try to tell the stories that that you love, and you’re just trying to make your way in this world, and it affects people and that inspires people. And that’s awesome. That’s awesome. That can be the byproduct of following your dreams.”
Lynch continued, “You know, like, for me it was Mick [Foley] and if Mick didn’t do what Mick does, then I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. And it’s cool that it has this knock-on effect in this butterfly effect of just following your dreams. And I think that’s a great lesson for anybody to learn, like, you think you’re just doing the thing that you love. But if you do it and do it well and fight the good fight for what you believe in, then it really has a positive impact on the world. And that’s great.”
If it matters to her where she’s slotted on the WrestleMania 40 card:
“No, no, not at this stage. Like the thing is that it’s that point where you become a star in your own right, that you don’t necessarily have to be in a title match for it to matter. You’re in a highlighted match, whatever that is. And so you know, you look at the likes of Seth Rollins or Randy Orton or, you know, sometimes they’ll have a title match, sometimes they won’t have a title match, but they’re always strong features. And that’s as important sometimes as a title match, especially when you’re talking about women and representation and being seen as stars in our own right. I think often, far too often, it’s just relegated to what are the women’s title matches and there’s no storyline-driven matches which is the exception when we think of how much we’ve moved forward. Oftentimes we don’t rely on our female stars as much as we would in terms of our male stars when it comes to just storylines. It’s the title matches, but not necessarily just the personal things and the personal gripes. And so being able to be in a match that’s not a title match, I find that to be progress. I think that’s a good thing.”
On her feud with Trish Stratus and how she felt about it after it ended on a high note:
“Absolutely. I mean, it lasted for a long time. But when you think of the amount of physicality that we had, which wasn’t that much, and to be able to have prolonged it that long, and Trish coming back after so many years, and working with me, and then having one of my favorite matches of all time and her doing some crazy stuff in that cage — like it was yeah. I mean, it proves why she has the legacy that she does. We got snubbed on the Slammys. That was bullshit.”
On being snubbed for “Best Match” at the Slammys:
“I was like, wait a minute, our match [vs. Trish Stratus] rocked. That was better than several of these matches.”
On her memories of Bray Wyatt:
“Bray was always one of those people that you look forward to seeing because he had this warmth about him and this kindness and this mischief in his eyes. He had the most sparkly eyes you’ve ever seen. And that raspy voice and his signature laugh, and his hugs, like he gave you the world’s best hug. There was just nothing but love and you could just sit down and talk to him for hours about anything. I remember the first time meeting him and he was a huge star and I was just an extra and he just talked to me like an equal and there’s not a lot of people that did that, you know, especially back then. And there was just goodness in him. He was good and he was kind and I told the story about how I didn’t have a clue how to set up a table and he spent a long time showing me and then it was funny because I had a Last Woman’s Standing match with Nia [Jax] and couldn’t set up the damn table and I was like ugh, if only Windham was here.”
On Michael Cole:
Lynch said, “Sometimes people [are] like until you’re consistently great over many, many years — sometimes people just take it for granted. They’re like, oh of course and they don’t realize you know, and Michael Cole has just been consistently great for just decades. I mean, the man has missed what 2 shows in what 25 years, 26 years?”
On what made her know she wanted to become a professional wrestler:
“There wasn’t any. No, that’s not how I became a professional wrestler. I just was looking to get fit. And like I was a fan of wrestling, but there was no match that made me think… When I started wrestling, I didn’t think that I could be a professional wrestler. I was just doing it as a way to get in shape. And that’s how I started because even thinking that I could have done it felt like way too far of a dream. So I just started to just exercise. And I thought like, because I love wrestling, that will be a fun way to exercise because all the wrestlers are in great shape. And so if they’re in great shape, and I do that, then I’ll be in great shape. It worked out in the long run. And, you know, it changed. I mean, it changed my whole life. But it wasn’t from watching a match that I was like, oh, I want to do this. I was just a fan. I didn’t think I could do it.”
On how she feels about The Rock saying he made wrestling cool again:
“Wrestling has been cool, right? Like wrestling has been cool for a long time. And having him of course adds to it and it’s brilliant. And it’s amazing because he brings such a spotlight and he brings an extra layer of cool. But it was also cool before that too. Like we’ve been doing some very cool stuff for a long time, which is very cool. But I love that people are appreciating its coolness, and it’s very cool to have The Rock back.”
On the viral picture of Lynch with her husband Seth Rollins that is included in her book, Lynch was asked if she knew the fans online would go crazy when they saw it:
“Yeah, I thought maybe people would enjoy it. I thought it was funny because I wouldn’t post it on my own. You know what I mean? I wouldn’t like just put that out there. But it’s funny in the center of my book.”
On how many women are currently on today’s WWE creative team:
“Not very many. I think there’s like — I think there’s only one, is it? I think there’s only one. Yeah, just Alex right? Yeah, I think there’s just one.”
On the WWE Women’s Revolution being created by a man:
“So we talked about that in the book where I thought that was stupid, you know? Like, I thought it was so stupid, like, ‘Oh, we’re freeing you.’ From you? It was such a classical marketing thing. I just was like, just give us good storylines and let us wrestle you know what I mean? Like, we don’t need to treat this as anything different. And I kind of go into depth about it in the book about how when we started it’s like, ‘The floor is yours. It’s up to you what you do.’ What are we meant to do here? We were meant to wrestle? Oh, okay, cool. What are we fighting about? Evolution, revolution Well, what? It was so poorly executed and just didn’t need to happen in that manner in that way. But I suppose it was like the marketing thing and yeah it was not executed well.”
Lynch continued, “It was very poorly executed. Just overthought because the thing was in NXT, we’re just having good matches and having storylines, and nobody was making a big deal about it. At the time I was kind of saying these things, but you know, also had to keep it to the point too…but the point was that all of it was done with good intentions, right? It was like, okay, we realized that people want this, they want to see us wrestle, and let’s do this. And let’s do it the best way we know how, over the top, you know, and so, like these things were done with good intentions. And so we can nitpick, and we can talk about whatever, but look like, this is progress. This has changed. And sometimes you’re gonna make a mistake on the way several mistakes, lots of mistakes. But eventually, we’ll get there and you just have to work on it and iron out the kinks and continue to push the boundaries and continue to point these things out so that it can get better and it has continued to get better over the years.”
On what someone can expect if they’re going to watch WrestleMania for the first time next weekend (Saturday, April 6, 2024 and Sunday, April 7, 2024, live on Peacock):
“They’re talking about the biggest show of the year, everybody’s going all out. There’s going to be surprises. Everyone leaves it all in the ring when it comes to Wrestlemania. Just the matches are bigger. The surprises are bigger. Anything can happen. When you think something’s gonna go one way, it goes the other. Yeah, if that’s your first introduction to wrestling. Get ready for a ride.”
On what is her next step after this book:
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m so excited about it. Because I don’t know. Anything’s possible man. That’s what this book is about is that anything’s possible.”
On Rhea Ripley’s viral spot at a house show from last weekend:
“That just sucks that we’re talking about that. You know, like when I think of the amount of women that were at one stage, fighting against that treatment, like, that was what they were forced to do in two-minute matches. Maybe I’m just like stuffy and and jaded because this is the stuff that I had to fight against. Of course, everybody loves it, and it’s cool and it’s edgy. But if I’m a little girl sitting in the crowd, and if I have my daughter, and she’s seeing that and she’s thinking that that’s what she needs to be if she’s a professional wrestler. And that’s the stuff that’s getting a reaction and if I’m a girl who’s grown up and wants to be a professional wrestler, and I see, oh well that’s the stuff that gets a reaction. And that’s the stuff that people are talking about. And that’s the stuff that we’re posting on social media, and we continue to and even the company does and pushes that, then that is the stuff that gets over and then I’m not taken seriously for what I do in the ring. And for the person that I am in the mind that I have. No, it’s just about my body. It’s about how it looks. And it’s about fulfilling a bunch of men’s fantasies out there in the crowd, and it becomes not about the art it becomes about that. And I’ve fought so long to change that and so I kind of go when I’m talking about that, and when I’m forced to answer about that, I go that just f**king sucks. That just f**king sucks.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
