411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Becky Lynch on Main Eventing WrestleMania, Relationship With Charlotte Flair, More

411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Becky Lynch

-It’s Royal Rumble weekend and we have been gifted a new episode of Broken Skull Sessions. This time Steve sits down with Becky Lynch. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 1:26:10

-“Stone Cold” Steve Austin gives us his normal, awesome intro that Becky says got her hyped. She agrees with Steve that she feels like she is hitting her stride now. She says she is having more fun this run because she has more freedom to be a heel. Wrestling is also not everything in her life right now. She would focus on it constantly if anything went wrong and would cause anxiety, but she doesn’t do that now as she is a mom. Austin jumps on that and asks her what the transition has been like being a mom. She jokes that being married is the same as not being married, but being a mom is way better than she expected. She was terrified before the baby came as she questioned everything, but now she smiles every day because of her. She doesn’t need sleep, but she gets to drink more coffee. Austin mentions Becky has done better than him as far as raising kids and being there for them. Becky brings up that there is an instinct in raising kids because we have been doing it since the dawn of time and the rest is common sense. She brings up the baby doesn’t have a routine and doesn’t sleep through the night. I’ve been there! Our little man finally is good through the night even if he doesn’t go to sleep until midnight or so. The baby talk continues as Becky says the baby does great on the road.

-We move to wrestling and start with Day 1. Austin puts over the match with Liv Morgan and feels it put her on the map. Becky puts her over for working her ass off and knows they need more women up on a higher level. Becky brings up she started in the business in 2002 and had a seven year gap where she was away. She started when she was 15 years old and everything was all about doing cool moves. Then she fell in love with chain wrestling and now she knows fans don’t want to sit through 20 minutes of wristlocks. For her it is the story of the match and why do I hate this person vs. doing moves just to do moves. Preach!

-Steve brings up doing what the company asks when you start and having more freedom when you become a bigger star. Becky and Austin laugh as they both mention they have had their run ins with creative and ideas pitched to them. She says it is a fine line of making things better and what battles to fight. Austin calls it the reverse Vince where you make them think an idea you have was their idea. Becky laughs and says Vince can be very set in his ways.

-We go back to 2002 when 15 year old Becky entered the business. Becky laughs as she mentions she was drinking a lot and heading down a bad path. She knew she had to get her life together as she would think about having a beer while taking tests in school. She was failing PE and realized she needed to get in shape so she did some kick boxing. Then she heard Fergal (Finn Balor) had a wrestling school and she decided to go there. She was big into Tough Enough and that is what she expected when she joined the school, but instead it was a bunch of skinny kids that wanted to be The Hardy Boyz and she was wearing baggy pants like Lita. They flash a photo of Becky from around that time and they marvel that one day that young kid would be one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world.

-Austin mentions he was making $10-20 a night and asks Becky what she was making during those days. Becky says her first trip in Europe she was making 50 Euro and thought she was rich. I know that feeling as my first paycheck when I started working was $70 and I thought I had it made for life. Becky says she was awful and couldn’t put one foot in front of another. She knew she wouldn’t give up and could withstand the pain, so all she needed to do was get better. Her brother started the same time and he was much better so he helped her greatly. She consumed everything she could as far as the wrestling business.

-We get to Germany where Becky had an injury where she suplexed a girl and she fell on Becky’s head. Becky said the girl wasn’t too good and she blames herself for making the match too complicated. She was just back from a tour of Japan and wanted to get her Japanese stuff in, but the fans were chanting “women’s wrestling” as an insult. They then started booing, so Becky went with the suplex and gave herself a concussion. From there she cared too much about how she looked and got into body building and developed an eating disorder. Her fear was getting too old and not making something of herself. She ended up in Orlando and broke down and realized she couldn’t do this anymore. She called her mom and asked if she could come home and her mom told her no as she needed to see things through. Becky took the concussion as a way to get out without admitting she failed and was depressed. So she stepped away for seven years and it ate at her. She tried to fill the gap by becoming a Flight Attendant, Personal Trainer, English Teacher, back to college to be an actor, but this voice kept telling her she had more to offer. She would always listen to Pearl Jam “life would be different if you held on,” and it ate at her. She sat down with Fergal and he told her to go back because he didn’t want to be sitting with her in 10 years having the same conversation. Things started to fall in place and she ended up with a try-out with WWE and the rest was history.

-NXT: Becky says initially it was awful for her because she put too much pressure on herself to not let this slip away again. Paige was there and gave her a big hug and told Becky that she told everyone how great Becky was. That freaked Becky out as she was worried they thought she was great and also that they had an issue with Becky thinking she is great. She also had no clue what to do so she had fake eye lashes and makeup. She was told by her trainer Joe that she needed a nice dress and Becky found some that may have been old brides’ maid dresses. She walked in with a room full of gorgeous women that looked like a million dollars and were athletic freaks. She talks about Sara, who was her coach, and she didn’t want her thinking she was too big for her britches. Becky went the other way as she was too scared to do anything and she was awful.

-Becky says that the other 3 Horsewomen were all great to her, but there were some girls that were nasty to her. She was behind all of them as far as athleticism and she was getting passed up by girls that had never stepped foot in a ring. She was poor and couldn’t afford a pair of boots, so got discount ones that were four sizes too large, which didn’t help. She told Bill (Hugh Morrus) that she knew she wasn’t great, but she knew she had some kind of connection with the audience. She felt was on the chopping block each day, but he never cut her. She likes people and likes to perform and she is able to get energy from them. If have that connection you don’t have to be the most athletic. She admits she felt like the odd one out in the 4 Horsewomen and knows she wasn’t the most athletic, but learned she had something else to give. She puts over being genuine and the advice she got that if you don’t believe in yourself, the fans won’t either. Austin agrees 100% with that.

-WrestleMania 32: Dallas: Becky says she wasn’t supposed to be in the match, but some women were injured and she was put in a program with Charlotte that was to end at Rumble, but they were thrilled with what she did and made it a triple threat match. Becky knows on the backside of the match she was the third wheel, but in the moment she was thrilled to be there and put over Charlotte. She says the WWE was only focused on one women story and that was who had the title and that lead to all the focus being on Sasha and Charlotte. The brand split is what helped her and we see Becky vs Carmella at Backlash to crown the first SmackDown Woman’s Champion. Becky says it meant the world to her as she could have been fired countless times for being awful even though she did work her ass off. She says the fans chanted her name when the debuted the title and that is why she got the title.

-She talks about Survivor Series and how Charlotte was Champ and lead Team RAW, but Nikki Bella lead SmackDown even though she was the champ. She mentions she would go to John Cena and he would ask her, “Who are you?” She says he was right because she didn’t know who she was and she questions now “what is an Irish Lass Kicker,”if I am the one getting my ass kicked all the time. She tried the Steam Punk deal and that was just a way to dress to be different than everyone else.

-SummerSlam 2018: Triple Threat: Charlotte vs Becky vs Carmella. Austin watching these clips of matches is always great. Charlotte comes in and steals the pin and the crowd is pissed. So pissed that when Becky attacks Charlotte to turn heel, the crowd cheers her. Just listen to that crowd! Boy, did they misjudge that one! Austin asks what she was thinking when the crowd started to pop. She knew the crowd wasn’t going to boo her, though she says a few people in the office thought she was be booed. She brings up the story of it being Becky vs. Carmella which the crowd was wanting, but they inserted Charlotte to be the conquering hero. Becky knew being booked as a kick ass heel, who didn’t care what people thought was going to get her cheered. She was told that Brooklyn was a heel crowd and when they got to Birminngham they would boo her and that didn’t happen. Tone deaf people! Becky cuts her heel promo on SmackDown and the crowd just loves her. She tries to heel on them and it’s just not happening. “I was going to raise her hand up and rip her head off.” That’s a sweet callback to Batista’s turn on Rey Mysterio. Great stuff from Becky and Austin loves it. She admits there was some shoot with it as she had been waiting for her turn and something would stop it. She didn’t want to go to the audience that night, but they wanted her to. She realized it wasn’t the right time to heel the audience as much as was planned. From then she just listened to the crowd more and started playing off them. She enjoyed the pressure of that run as the crowd with there with her. She was in her zone and was enjoying every second of it.

-Austin brings up the art of the promo and Becky says it started to click for her when was given the mic and was allowed to talk from the heart. She mentions whenever she wasn’t on TV she would do backstage promos for digital and whatever just so her voice would be out there for anyone to listen. They agree that power of the promo carries a lot of weight. Becky says she is constantly cutting promos in her head and she will write them down in her phone. Austin compares it to writing a song and he would jot down a sentence or whatever would come to his head so he wouldn’t forget it. Becky marvels over Steve only “Austin 3:16” one time and it took off like it did.

-RAW: 11/12/18: Nia Jax potatoes Becky and the course of wrestling history changes forever. Becky was concussed and was bleeding, but somehow walked around like she owned the place and we get the awesome visual of her celebrating with the fans. That was her, Austin bleeding and passing out to The Sharpshooter moment. Becky says they arrived just before they had to go out. She says she was on auto pilot after the Nia punch and Austin laughs that it was good that Becky didn’t wipe all the blood off. Becky says Nia sent her flowers and jokes she should have sent her flowers as a thank you. She says she was being booked as a heel and had a lot of freedom, but they turned her and now she had to show vulnerability while also being this Man character. She didn’t feel she had as much freedom after being turned face again.

-They discuss The Man gimmick and she says it came from a text message with a friend who would always tell her she was The Man. She threw it out there on social media once and it took off. Now John Cena came up to her and told her she did what most couldn’t and figured out who she was. She was The Man!

-WrestleMania XXXV and Ronday Rousey: Becky puts Rousey over as someone that took to wrestling naturally. They were opposites as Becky was the every-man and Ronda was a natural born killer Olympian UFC fighter. Becky says she didn’t know for sure it was her vs Ronda as The Main Event at WrestleMania. She had it in her head that there was no way she wasn’t going to Main Event Mania that year. That leads to a watch along for the Triple Threat Match that closed the show. Austin asks her what she was thinking heading to the ring and all she was telling herself was to soak it all in. I still have yet to watch that show back even though I’ve had the BluRay for over two years now. Becky laughs that the show ended at 1 AM. It sure did! Her dad and brother were in the front row. Austin talks about the length of the show burning out the crowd and Becky mentions they had just watched nearly 9 hours of wrestling, but they were still there for the match. Her thought was “what’s next?”

-They discuss the difference between chasing and staying on top. She says that is when the pressure started getting to her. She went from Main Events with Ronda and Charlotte to trying to make Lacey Evans. Austin: “That shouldn’t have been your job.” Becky kind of agrees, but says it was her job in that case. Austin talks about making sure you are done right by the booking and Becky is more in line with balancing what they want and what she wants. Austin brings up HHH’s theme song and now the business is a game and Becky laughs as she puts over TJ Wilson. She has a story as she was in NXT and he was heading up to the Main Roster, so she asked him for advice and he told her to listen to HHH’s theme song. She credits TJ as a great mind in the business and makes sure he is shouted out here.

-Next they discuss her record reign as RAW Woman’s Champion and Becky says she pitched the idea of losing the Title at WrestleMania 36, but they didn’t want to do it yet. That leads her to dropping the title due to pregnancy. Becky says it was made slightly easier by the fact that there was no audience. You can tell Austin would have hated life working with 0 fans in the building. Becky says the goal was always to have a family and jokes there was 3:16 Day and she got drunk and 9 months later there was a baby. That breaks Austin! She basically says it wasn’t planned as you can’t plan things in this business. She thought she was coming back for Mania 37, but it was put off for a bit. She admits she watched every episode of RAW and SmackDown and it was hard on her being without it.

-She wanted to stay out of people’s mind and went off social media so that the pop when she returned was bigger. She was worried about losing her spot and losing a step. She loves a challenge and wants someone to tell her she can’t do something. She says not having fans made it a little easier for her to stay home and she came back just after the fans returned.

-They show a picture of Becky working out while pregnant and she says she worked out her entire pregnancy. Baby was born Dec 4th and she puts over Seth for being a great Dad. She also admits Seth is already wrapped around the little one’s finger. Good for Seth!

-Back to no fans and Austin talks about the trouble he had cutting a promo without fans. Becky mentions Roman and Seth were able to work well in that setting. Austin brings up that Seth mentioned Becky is the reason he wears the loud suits. Becky doesn’t know what she said, but clearly she had some affect on him. They love talking wrestling and never get tired of it. They have a good balance and mix in their life. Austin asks if she and Seth ever booked the territory like he would do in car rides and of course she has. They constantly talk about what they can do to improve things.

-SummerSlam 2021: Becky Lynch returns to a thunderous pop and Becky beats Bianca in under 20 seconds with a cheapshot and Manhandle Slam. Becky admits it’s basically a Rock Bottom. Becky says they wanted her to be a heel and this was the way to do it. She thinks a long match doesn’t put as much sympathy on Bianca. Becky says this heel run is different because she is on top and it is easier for fans to hate her. She dropped The Man moniker and the way she dressed as a way to get rid of everything the fans liked about her. Austin asks if she likes being a heel or baby: Becky says it so much fun being hated and you can do no wrong. They can love you as a heel and that’s great and they can hate you which is great.

-SmackDown: Becky/Charlotte Title Swap: Here we go! Charlotte holds the title away from Becky and drops it on the mat, so Becky throws her title at Charlotte. Becky says it should have been easy and straight forward thing. She was too grab the title and be Becky Two Belts for a second and then throw a title at Charlotte, which Sonya would then make her pick up. Charlotte would then challenge Becky to a fight and she would back away so that everyone got their moment. Becky says there was a lot of heat there and afterwards. She told people Charlotte wasn’t going to go along with plan and she did what she told everyone she was going to do. They got into a heated discussion backstage about going into business for yourself. Becky feels everyone was going to get there moment, but Charlotte wasn’t having it.

-Survivor Series 2021: Austin says they are best friends and Becky says “we were best friends.” They wanted to rip each other’s head off and the real emotion added to the story. She says they were civil after the match. Becky says the video package before the match made her tear up because they were best friends and the business changed that. Austin: “you have to look after you.” Becky says that she is still close with Bayley and Sasha and there is still a bond with Charlotte even if they don’t like each other. Austin puts all four over as future Hall of Famers.

-The Future: Becky just wants to continue to change the game. She has to make sure the business is better than when she entered. She wants to have the best matches of her career and physically she feels better than ever. She doesn’t think she has to slow down and feels she will know when it is time to bow out gracefully. She doesn’t want to go past her expiration date, but she knows her time to leave isn’t anytime soon.

-They flash Becky being on the cover of ESPN Magazine. Becky says she believed in herself but also doubted herself. She would remind herself that she is the only one that can be in her head, so she would imagine how great she is and nobody could hear or tell her that she was wrong. That’s awesome actually! They toast to end this one as Austin is drinking beer and Becky has her coffee.

-Normal great stuff from Steve and Becky was game to talk about anything here. This is a fun watch and an easy one as the nearly 90 minutes just breezes by. They could have touched on more and I am sure there was stuff cut for time, but this series continues to deliver. Definitely check this one out.