The road to WrestleMania kicks off Saturday, Jan. 29, with the Royal Rumble, and one of the featured stars will no doubt be the "Raw" women's champion, Becky Lynch.
"Big Time Becks" has become one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling in the past few years, and after a break from competition to welcome her daughter, Roux, into the world, she's back on top heading into 2022.
In an interview supplied to Sporting News Australia by WWE, Lynch opened up on her favorite Royal Rumble moments, what fans can expect from her upcoming title match, and a potential dream match with a Hall of Fame superstar.
SPORTING NEWS: Favorite all-time Royal Rumble moment?
BECKY LYNCH: That's a good question, but I don't think there's one that I could pinpoint to. Royal Rumble was always the pay-per-view that I would stay up to watch, mostly because it was free on Irish television. Obviously because of the time difference it would start at 1 a.m. and I'd be up to 4 a.m. in the morning watching it. I just loved it. I loved the surprise element. That's the best thing about the Royal Rumble. It's the surprises. You don't know who's going to come out. You don't know when they're going to come out. It's awesome.
Obviously for myself, my favorite Royal Rumble moment would be when I won the Royal Rumble.
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SN: What can fans expect from title match with Doudrop?
BL: So here's the thing. I'm "The Man" and she's a fan. When she was starting out, we were both teenagers at the time, but I had made a name for myself all over the world. All over Europe, all over America, Canada, Japan, and with few role models to look at. She looked at this Rebecca Knox who was just breaking barriers all over the place, and then I was gone. And so I imagine when I re-emerged at WWE years later to change the landscape of women's wrestling, she was just beside herself. Beside herself.
Now I think she's putting on a bit of a bravado, trying to act tough, trying to hold it together because she's insecure that she's going against her idol.
SN: Is your ideal dream match with Beth Phoenix?
BL: I've been tweeting at frickin' Beth Phoenix trying to get her to fight me for years. She keeps saying no, she keeps dodging it. I think she's scared. Yes, I would love to fight Beth Phoenix.
SN: How special is this time of year for WWE?
BL: I mean, it's like we're elves in Santa's workshop getting ready for Christmas. We're real hyped about it, you know, hyped up on sugar, hyped up on maple syrup and I'm hyped up on fighting. I'm wanting to make the best toys for Santa Claus. That's a terrible analogy, but I'm going with it. I'm the frickin' Head Elf and I want to main event WrestleMania.
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SN: What are the big records you still want to break?
BL: That's a tough one . . . You know, I don't know, without forcing myself, if there's anything else I really have that dream goal of achieving. Obviously I want to main event WrestleMania again. Obviously, I want to fight all of these people, but I think that there's something freeing in not being tied to "This goal is either going to make me or break me." I feel like I accomplished all those things that I've wanted to accomplish, but now I've accomplished them and I felt that feeling, I want to stay there and I want to bring everybody up there and, maybe being Big Time Becks, I want the women's roster to continue to thrive.
I want the show to be awesome. I want to have great matches. I want to have better matches than I've had. I want to have better promos than I've had. I want the stories to be brilliant and unmissable and I just want the business to be great and I want to help make it great.
SN: If you could invite anyone outside of WWE to enter the Royal Rumble, who would you choose?
BL: Eddie Vedder, just so I could meet him because he's fantastic. An incredible musician. I feel like we'd be buds.