During a recent interview with Asbury Park Press, Becky Lynch spoke about several topics – including her rise to the top of the SmackDown women’s division as well as her desire to main event WrestleMania 35.
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Q: That brings me to something I wanted to ask you: 2018 has been a huge year for you in WWE, there’s been a groundswell of support among the fanbase that’s pushed you to the top of the card, there’s so much audience love for you.
Is that something you anticipated? Were you feeling that out there in the ether or has this been a pleasantly surprising ride over the last couple of months, to see how much the fanbase has gotten behind you as of late?
A: Yeah, I think it’s surprising to everybody. I don’t think people expected it, but the thing is the fans have always been so amazing. I don’t know what it is, if it’s just that they know that I love them and it’s a mutual thing and that I appreciate every single one of them and the time that they take to watch our matches, watch my matches, and make signs and show their support, that means the world to me.
I don’t know if it’s that they can tell that I’m so passionate about it and that I just want to be really good and that every time I go out there I try to put on the best match possible in the time that I can for them. I don’t know if it’s that, but I think that we saw at Money in the Bank every time I climbed the ladder they showed their support, and I think that was when everybody started to turn their heads and say, “Oh, OK, Becky’s got a connection with these people.”
Q: How are you feeling going into the first-ever women’s TLC match, and what makes Charlotte and Asuka ideal partners to share this moment with?
A: I would argue that they are two of the best that we have in WWE, right? Man, woman or child – I feel like I can say child now because everybody’s had babies and Nicholas was a champion. So I would argue that they’re two of the best women in WWE, they’re just not the best woman in WWE because that’s The Man, that’s Becky Lynch.
So I’m excited because I’ve proven time and time again that I own Charlotte Flair, I’ve owned her for months now and it was a table that I put her through that she couldn’t get up from.
The other thing is that we saw what happens to me when I get knocked out: I was out on my feet when Nia (Jax) punched me, I was running on autopilot but we look back and we see that still, my autopilot is also a badass. So I feel like I don’t really have anything to be scared of, but those women do.
Q: WWE will be back in New Jersey for WrestleMania in April. What are your hopes for WrestleMania’s New Jersey return in 2019?
A: The same hopes as I always have, to main event WrestleMania, right? And that’s what I want to do this year. And I don’t care who I have to go through to make that happen, that’s my goal, and to go out and steal the show.
Q: One last question: I know that early in your career you trained with someone you’re now on the WWE roster with, Finn Balor. What do you think are one or two things you learned from Finn in your time together?
A: You know what he taught me a long time ago? He said, “If anybody tells you it’s raining, go out and check.” And I always think that’s perfect. It’s a little bit like the whole (idea that) you can’t trust anybody, right? And not everybody’s got your back, right? And so I think I’ve learned that, and you’ve seen that in me coming out on TV recently, that I don’t trust anybody, that I’m going to go out and check for myself and take things for myself. I think that’s what he meant by that.
Also, what was so great about Finn is that he was so passionate, right? I think that extended down to everybody he taught because we all absorbed that passion and we wanted to be the best. And he just has such a great work ethic and such a discipline and such a drive and such a belief in himself. So I think that extended to me and that was something that I looked at and idolized and hoped that one day I could bring out in myself. And look, here we are.
