Becky Lynch: Wrestling Is 20% Matches, 80% Engaging With People
Becky Lynch reflects on being The Man.
On October 18, 2018, Becky Lynch took to social media to declare herself “The Man,” posting a photo from SmackDown 1000 where she taunted Edge. Since then, Becky has gone on to headline WrestleMania while becoming the most popular superstar in WWE. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, the Raw Women’s Champion reflected on her time as The Man.
“Wrestling is 20% about the matches and 80% about how you engage with the people who care about you,” said Lynch. “I remember walking through the building at WrestleMania 35, passing by The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. I’d idolized them when I was younger, and now they’d be watching me in the main event. And that’s something I accomplished with the help of these people. There’s probably some Buddhist lesson on how you’re supposed to savor the moment or how you’re not supposed to keep looking forward, but that’s the industry we’re in. There is so much competition and you have to stand out. If you don’t, you’ll be left behind. I’m constantly thinking about the work at hand. How do I make this more interesting? Do I need to be more of an antagonist? How do I get the most of this match? There’s no time to celebrate. I’m already onto the next goal and putting in the work.”
Lynch’s character really took off before WWE Survivor Series 2018 when a stiff punch from Nia Jax left Lynch a bloody mess following SmackDown invading Raw. Unfortunately, the punch also left her with a concussion and forced her out of her Survivor Series match against Ronda Rousey.
“I wasn’t letting that moment slip away,” she recalled. “So I showed up the next day at TV in St. Louis, concussed out of my mind, begging to work, begging to be cleared. I told anyone who would listen I was fine even though, clearly, I wasn’t. There have been so many times in my career where I thought I was hot, thought I had momentum, then I was taken off TV and it slipped away. But there was no way I was letting this slip past me. I wanted to make wrestling the coolest thing on TV. That was my goal, and I wasn’t going to stop trying to make that a reality.”
Since becoming “The Man,” Lynch has constantly begged talent to step up and get on her level. After defeating Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 35, Lynch has dispatched of Lacey Evans, Natalya, and Sasha Banks in subsequent feuds.
“In our locker room, there are two types of people,” explained Lynch. “Those who are bitching about how I got to the top and those who are trying to copy what I did. But you have to go outside of that. You have to be completely different. Step up. Make a name for yourself. Do it without doing it the way I did. I see what everyone else is doing, and then I try to do the opposite. Be original. Create the interest I have, put together the matches I’ve had. No one can do what I do. If you can, please step up to the plate.”
Becky Lynch is set to face NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley at WWE Survivor Series 2019.
