Becky Lynch is the current SmackDown Live Women’s Champion, but she’s had a long hard road to the top of WWE. Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey has walked a very different path.
Earlier this year Ronda Rousey was thrust into the spotlight as soon as she signed with WWE, and the company has been pushing the former UFC star to the top of the card ever since.
Lynch opened up about Rousey’s arrival in WWE during her recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, and she confirmed that there was some locker room resentment towards Ronda.
“Absolutely [there was resentment]. That’s the thing with some many people and the people they want to succeed, right? And that was never me. There are chosen people and that was never me. I was never meant to succeed. I was never the one that was meant to be the champion, the one that was meant to be on top, the one that was supposed to be on the posters and the billboards. I think that’s what [has] made it all the more sweeter and I think that’s what the audience relates to because they could see that. And that is why I think they’ve supported me because I made this myself and nobody can take that away from me. Nobody can take that away from me.”
Becky did say that she has a ton of respect for Rousey, and she praised her talent. However, the SmackDown Women’s Champion continued to emphasize the fact that her and Ronda have gone through very different experiences.
“Ronda is doing amazingly well. She is doing amazingly well! She has taken to this like no one. She is talented beyond belief. She’s the world champion. She [has] got the Women’s Championship over on RAW, but she’s illegitimate until she takes it here. And that’s the thing, Ronda has been so successful in her life. And Ronda’s whole life is based on being unbeatable and I get beaten up all the time. I got beaten up twice on the way over here. But that’s the thing with people who were born naturally talented. They hate getting hit, right? They’re not used to it. But I was the runt growing up. I’ve been beaten up my entire life. I’ve been beaten up my whole career. I left Ireland when I was 15 [years old] to do this. I would fight anybody they would hire me to. So I wasn’t born tough like Ronda, but I was made tough and that’s what’s more legitimate. That’s what’s more long-lasting.”
It’s rumored that we could be seeing Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch face off on the Grandest Stage of Them All next year, and at this point it’s hard to argue that Lynch vs. Rousey is one of the most anticipated matches in all of wrestling.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
