Becky Lynch Says She Used To Have To "Beg" To Be Put In A Match At The WWE Performance Center
WWE Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch recently spoke with Brian Koppleman on his podcast about the sacrifices and hardships she experienced on her way to WWE, and her humble beginnings.
"My parents were separated when I was young," Lynch recalled. "My brother and I would bond over wrestling, we would go for walks, talk about things going on, that was our thing. I was going down a bad path, we are talking 13,14,15, I was quite young. I would refuse to do anything, I wouldn't do anything, I was just so apathetic. When I started wrestling, I came into my own self. I would always find groups of friends, but we were kind of outcasts, but I thought we were cool."
Training would lead Lynch to a school run by Finn Balor. From there she took on the name Rebecca Knox and was able to be a major player in Japan and Canada. However, the road was not meant to be easy.
"At 17 I dropped out of college, moved to Canada, was main eventing there," said Lynch. "Main eventing in Japan at 18, was signed by an advertising agency in Japan that wanted to make me this celebrity wrestler. Then my visa in Canada ran out and I came home. My mom was asking me what my plan was, I became obsessed with making it."
At that time WWE was entrenched in the Diva era. Sadly, Lynch did not fit that look. She had a plan, however, destiny had other plans.
"At the time WWE all the girls they were employing were model like and I was not," Lynch stated. "At that time TNA was in Orlando, so I was like I need to find a way to get over there. My plan was to go to school in Orlando to become a personal trainer, work there and get back on the radar. I had been in Japan was having good matches, I'm in there with this girl, green as grass, doesn't know what she is doing. The match was terrible because I overcomplicated it. The crowd started chanting women's wrestling, then it meant 'this sucks. I was so angry I grabbed her and tried t give her a German suplex but she held on and landed on my head."
That event led to Lynch leaving the business for seven years. However, through self-discovery and attempting many other athletic endeavors, Lynch went back to the world she loved and was a part of the first training class at the WWE Performance Center.
"I had to beg to be put in a match," Lynch admitted. "When I went down there, I had no confidence. I humbled myself almost to a fault. Sara Del Ray was the trainer and I had wrestled her in Japan, and I didn't want her thinking I was full of myself or better than anybody. I mind fuc*ed myself. I couldn't even lock up."
Humbling herself was not the only thing affecting Lynch. The NXT environment was quite unstable at that time. However, Lynch took a chance and pleaded to be put in front of the audience.
"NXT wasn't what it is now," Lynch said. "You were constantly scared of losing your job. Everyone was a minute away from being fired. One wrong move, one wrong promo, one wrong thing said, everyone was walking on eggshells. Which isn't a bad thing, but I was losing sleep because I wanted it so bad. There were girls that had never wrestled before getting on the shows before me. I remember going into Bill DeMott and begging him please let me just prove I can connect to the audience."
That perseverance has paid off. Despite rock beginnings, Lynch is now arguably the face of the WWE women's division. When asked about her journey lynch summed it up with the following statement.
"I was just so willing to do whatever it took to get my foot in the door," Lynch explained. "But if you can go from that (bad early characters) to main eventing WrestleMania and winning, anybody can do anything."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Moment with Brian Koppelman with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.