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WWE: Becky Lynch on Cover of ESPN Magazine with GLOW Star Alison Brie, Comments on Overcoming Obstacles, More

By John Canton • Published 9th July 2019
TJR Wrestling

The first half of 2019 has been an incredible year for WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. Not only did she become “Becky Two Belts” at WrestleMania 35 this past April, but she also main evented WrestleMania along with Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair. Since then, Lynch has lost the Smackdown Women’s Title and over on Raw, she has held onto her title while battling newcomer Lacey Evans.

This week, Lynch also becomes the first WWE superstar to be on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. You can see the cover below.

Here’s more from WWE about the issue:

Becky Lynch has taken over the sports-entertainment scene in the last year, and this Friday, you can find the Raw Women’s Champion with actress Alison Brie on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s “Blockbuster” issue.

The new issue focuses on the intersection between Hollywood and sports. Lynch and Brie, who is the star of Netflix’s hit comedy show “GLOW” on the 1980s Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling promotion, got together for an interview about the obstacles they face in their respective industries, the toughness of women, and much more.

The Man is the first WWE Superstar to ever appear on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. Get your hands on the issue when it hits newsstands this Friday.

The story on Lynch and Brie also featured an interview with both women.

Alison Brie talked about how much she admires WWE superstars for their work ethic:

“I would just like to say for the record that what Becky and the women at WWE do is totally insane and awe-inspiring and completely incredible. There’s a fearlessness Becky and the other women pros have, along with that awareness and sensitivity to one another while doing death-defying things in the ring. Becky, I hope you would agree, there is no way to do a wrestling move halfway. If I’m going to run and leap over you into a sunset flip, I have to run full speed. You have to fully commit to every moment in the ring.”

Here are some highlights from Lynch’s interview that you can read here.

On overcoming mental obstacles to make it in WWE:

I got in my own way more than anybody else did. I doubted myself, telling myself, “You’re not athletic: you’re not pretty enough.” Somebody told me, “WWE isn’t going to want girls like you.” At the time, they were just hiring models. So I took the focus off what made me special and tried to fit into this mold. And it really just broke me.

I ended up spending years in contemplation, leaving this business, not knowing who I was, getting lost. I was a personal trainer, a flight attendant. I went back to college, got my degree. I was a stuntwoman and a bartender in New York and working in health food stores and doing all these random things that I thought might fulfill me in the same way that wrestling did.

On wanting women’s wrestling to be the coolest thing on TV:

Oh yeah, absolutely. What I wanted coming into this career was for women’s wrestling to be the coolest thing on TV. I wanted to change the term from ‘divas’ to ‘women’, which we did three years ago, and I wanted to headline the main event at WrestleMania. But I also wanted the audience to demand it, not because we were women but because they cared about our story more than any other story, and they did. Our women’s main event was at the end of a seven-hour show, and everybody stayed. That makes me super proud.

On how important it is to be spontaneous when you’re in the ring:

Things go wrong all the time, so you have to be quick on your feet. If nothing else, wrestling teaches you to adjust, to be open, to be spontaneous, to embrace whatever is happening in the moment. You’re never more present than when you’re in the ring.

On becoming “The Man” in WWE:

For me, the top person, the person of the most extraordinary ability, has always been referred to as “The Man.” And until this moment, that person of exceptional ability has always been a man. So when I broke out and started claiming my status as the top dog in WWE, I started referring to myself as “The Man.”

People lost their minds. I look at it as the most empowering thing. I’m turning gender roles on their head.

On what it means to be in the ring and seeing all the fan support:

When I’m in the ring, I look out and see people of all different ages, genders, races holding signs for “The Man” or “Becky Lynch.” And, I mean, I kind of came from not much and wasn’t naturally good at anything. And I see all of these different demographics enjoying the message that I’m bringing across. When you realize the impact that you can have on people’s lives, the influence-that’s powerful. And it’s not something to be taken lightly.

That’s just part of the conversation that they shared. There were plenty of interesting comments from Becky and Alison, so check it out on ESPN now.