As the current champion on Smackdown, Becky Lynch is one of the top female wrestlers in WWE today, but she actually stopped wrestling altogether for several years before returning to the squared circle and ultimately making it to WWE.
Lynch discussed her lengthy hiatus among other topics during a recent interview posted on ESPN.com.
"I quit wrestling in 2006 because I just got lost. My mom didn't want me wrestling, I was wondering if I was going to make it in wrestling, I got injured in a match, I was 19, I was away from home, living in Florida and I just got lost," she said. "I couldn't face it, so I stepped away. It was like a death for me, and that is not an exaggeration. I struggled for years to find what I wanted to do. I was away for seven years. I always kept journals, and it's crazy to go back and read these journals because it seemed like I had unfinished business. I always felt like it was something I was meant to do, but I just didn't know how to get back in. So I ended up just trying to do something to fill the void."
Lynch began wrestling when she was 15 years old under the name of Rebecca Knox. She was trained in part by Finn Balor, the currently injured WWE star. After leaving wrestling due to the aforementioned injury, Lynch did not make her return until 2013, when she signed a developmental contract with WWE. In the early days of her career, however, Lynch said she had no desire to come to WWE.
"When I was younger, I didn't want to come to WWE because I didn't fit into the mold," she said. "I couldn't identify myself with the term 'diva.' The divas brand was meant to put a spotlight on the women, but the term to me felt more glamorous than me."
Lynch, who recently returned to the road for WWE after a non-wrestling-related medical issue, is set to defend her Smackdown title next Tuesday, Nov. 8, against Alexa Bliss in Glasgow.
