[media-credit name=”Photo: WWE.com” align=”aligncenter” width=”620″]
[/media-credit]
Becky Lynch recently joined Chris Jericho on his Talk is Jericho podcast during the WWE’s October tour of Mexico, discussing her temporary wrestling retirement, working in NXT, the inspiration behind her ring name and more.
Working her first WWE international tour in Mexico: She admits that this is her first trip to Mexico. It’s one of the places she’s always wanted to go sine turning down an offer to work there when she was nineteen. At the time, she was apprehensive about doing it, despite having worked in Japan. She thinks learning Spanish seemed tougher than learning Japanese.
Working in NXT: Becky says she enjoyed NXT so much that she was never in a hurry to get called up to the main roster. Unlike previous developmental territories, NXT doesn’t feel like a “stop on the road”, but is rather a destination in itself.
The Four Horsewomen: Prior to NXT, Becky hadn’t met any of them, but may have seen some of Sasha Banks‘s matches on the indies. She says their chemistry came about gradually as a result of all of them wanting to help each other improve and take the division to the next level. Sasha even helped her improve her look. She says their intention wasn’t to start a “revolution”, but rather just have good matches.
Her first wrestling run: She started training at Finn Balor‘s wrestling school in Ireland and eventually moved to England, and then – after enrolling in college and then dropping out – Canada. She then worked in Japan and Germany, where she was injured during a match. During her temporary retirement, she became a trainer and moved to Orlando, as she reasoned that she could return to wrestling with Orlando-based TNA if training didn’t work out.
Quitting wrestling: Becky admits that, after taking a seven year break from wrestling, she considers herself to only have been a wrestler for two years. Her final match before leaving wrestling was against Paige‘s mother, Saraya Knight.
Becky Lynch merchandise: She was surprised by the “Lasskicker” t-shirt and initially thought it was a Sheamus shirt made for women. When she found out it was for her, she cried. The goggles were her idea – she suggested them to the WWE and worked with them to come up with the design.
Experimenting with different careers: Many of her odd jobs through the years came about as a result of her wanting to recapture what she loved about wrestling. She became a flight attendant because she missed the traveling, she earned an acting degree, she underwent martial arts training and even studied the art of clowning.
Returning to wrestling: When she decided to return to wrestling, Finn Balor helped her get back into ring shape. She then attended a WWE tryout in Birmingham, England, performing drills and cutting promos in front of NXT officials. Becky jokes that she probably used too many puns in her tryout promo. She says she also poured her heart out in her promo, sharing everything she had gone through in her journey.
The name “Becky Lynch”: Becky says she wanted to incorporate her real name – Rebecca – in some way, so she chose Becky for her first name. The Lynch surname was inspired by the man who ran the gym she worked out in before getting her WWE tryout. Another name she thought of was Robin Dailey, which also provided plenty of pun opportunities.
Getting called up to the main roster: She says she was injured at the time of her main roster call-up and was actually on a chartered boat tour when she got the call from Mark Carrano. She had been in the midst of joking about what she’d do with her big ticket WWE money when the call came.
Her favorite match: Becky names her NXT Women’s Title match against Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable. She calls the match her “coming out” party, noting how the crowd was invested in the story they told. She says she cherishes being able to work with Sasha in the semi-main event, calling her “incredible”.
You can listen to the full interview on PodcastOne.com.
