Becky Lynch

Early life

Rebecca Quin was born in Dublin on 30 January 1987. She was a fan of professional wrestling as a child and used to watch it with her brother, who has also wrestled under the ring name Gonzo de Mondo. She was involved in horse riding, swimming, and basketball. Quin attended university to study philosophy, history and politics, but said she "really hated it" and dropped out. She planned to return to college to study health and exercise studies. Prior to beginning to train as a wrestler, she stated that she had been "going down a bad path" involving alcohol and marijuana, but wrestling helped her give it up.

Training and early career (2002–2005)

As a teenager, Quin heard that Fergal Devitt and Paul Tracey were opening a wrestling school in Ireland. In June 2002, she and her brother began training there. She made her professional wrestling debut five months later in November, using the ring name Rebecca Knox. She teamed with her brother in mixed tag team matches during the early part of her career. She also trained at British professional wrestling promotion NWA UK Hammerlock.

European promotions (2005–2008)

During the early part of her career, Knox wrestled in Ireland and lost to English wrestler Eden Black at an NWA Ireland show in Dublin. On 13 May 2005, Knox was defeated by English wrestler Skye at Queens of Chaos' inaugural show and DVD taping in Toulouse. On 7 August, Knox appeared at a Fighting Spirit Federation (FSF) show, where she competed in a four-way match for the World Queens of Chaos Championship against the champion Nikita, as well as Jersey and Sweet Saraya. When Nikita vacated the World Queens of Chaos Championship, Knox defeated Saraya to win it on 4 June 2006 at a FSF show in Chouilly. She held the championship for approximately two and a half months, successfully defending it against Skye on 10 September, before dropping it to Saraya at a World Association of Wrestling (WAW) show in Great Yarmouth on 23 September.

During 2006, Knox competed for One Pro Wrestling. On 10 September, Knox wrestled for the International Wrestling Zone promotion, defeating Emil Sitoci and Robbie Mireno in a three-way match. On 26 September, Knox competed for German Stampede Wrestling, where she lost to Finnish wrestler Kisu in a singles match. During the match, Knox suffered a cut above her eye, for which she received stitches. Knox later posted on her website that she had been suffering from headaches, vision problems and loud buzzing in her left ear since receiving the injury, also being diagnosed with possible damage to her eighth cranial nerve, and as a result canceled all her bookings for the rest of the year. Knox was expected to participate at a ChickFight television taping on 4 May 2008, but she was removed from the show after no-showing a Shimmer Women Athletes show, stating that she did not believe that wrestling was the correct career choice for her at that time.

North American promotions (2005–2008, 2011)

In 2005, Knox joined the Canadian promotion SuperGirls Wrestling, an all-female offshoot of Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW), first appearing on ECCW shows, where she immediately began feuding with Miss Chevius, defeating her in a singles match in Surrey, British Columbia on 17 May, before losing to her in Port Coquitlam a month later on 17 June. The following night, Knox teamed with Calum Macbeth to defeat Miss Chevius and Tony Tisoy in a mixed tag team match in Vancouver. On 24 June, Knox defeated Miss Chevius at an ECCW show in Surrey, British Columbia to become the inaugural SuperGirls Champion. Knox successfully defended the championship against LuFisto 23 September at the inaugural SuperGirls DVD tapings, when she hit LuFisto with the championship belt and Knox's manager Scotty Mac performed a powerbomb on LuFisto through a table. She also successfully defended the championship twice the following night, first against Cheerleader Melissa when Mac performed a superkick on Melissa to allow Knox to pin her, and then against Madison, where Knox illegally used the ring ropes for leverage during the pin. At ECCW's tenth anniversary show in January 2006, she defeated El Phantasmo in an intergender match. In March, Knox feuded with Nikki Matthews, defeating her at the ECCW television tapings on 25 March and teaming with Gurv Sihra and Sid Sylum to defeat Matthews, Phantasmo and Kyle O'Reilly on 31 March. On 8 April, Knox defeated Veronika. Knox held the SuperGirls Championship for te months and two days, before eventually losing it to Lisa Moretti on 21 April 2006.

On 14 October 2005, Knox appeared at a New England Championship Wrestling (NECW) event in Framingham, Massachusetts, where she competed in a four-way match that was won by Violet Flame. Later that month, Knox participated in All Pro Wrestling (APW)'s third ChickFight tournament in Hayward, California, in which she defeated Morgan in the first round on 28 October, but lost to eventual winner Mariko Yoshida in the second round later that night. The following night, she teamed with Cheerleader Melissa and Tiffany in a losing effort to Rain, Morgan and Hailey Hatred in a six-woman tag team match at an APW show. She also appeared for the AWA Pinnacle promotion on 21 January and 26 February 2006, with the first being when she acted as the referee in a match between Caden Matthews and Christopher Ryseck, helping Ryseck to win by hitting Matthews with a chair. On 26 February, she and Ryseck were defeated by Matthews in a handicap match in Pacific, Washington.

Knox began working for the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in 2006 and in her debut match for the promotion at the DVD tapings of Volume 3, Knox defeated Allison Danger on 12 February, and established herself as a villainess by faking an injury, while in the Main Event of the Volume 4 DVD tapings later that night, she lost to Daizee Haze, thus provoking a feud between the two women. At the Volume 5 tapings on 21 May, she attacked Haze following Haze's first match against Portia Perez, performing a release German suplex on Haze, whom she went on to defeat Haze in a two-out-of-three falls match later that evening. The match lasted 29 minutes and was later described by promoter Dave Prazak as "probably the best women's match [that he'd] seen on U.S. soil in years, if not ever". In a repeat of her debut match for the promotion, Knox defeated Danger in a Pure Wrestling Rules match at the tapings for Shimmer Volume 6. Knox was supposed to face Haze in a 60-minute Iron Woman match at Shimmer's Volume 7 taping, but due to the legitimate injury she sustained in Germany the match was cancelled. Knox was booked for a Shimmer event on 26 April 2008, but she no-showed, stating that she did not believe that wrestling was the correct career choice for her at that time. However, Knox returned to Shimmer on 26 March 2011 as the manager of the real life mother-daughter tag team of Saraya and Britani Knight.

Japanese promotions (2005–2006)

In November 2005, Knox completed a two-week tour of Japan, as she competed for International Women's Grand Prix, teaming up with Aja Kong and Gran Hamada in the main event on each show, with her team being undefeated. During this tour on 9 November, Knox won an eighteen-person battle royal in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. She later singled out this tour as the highlight of her career. Knox returned to Japan in August 2006, defeating Yuri Urai in a singles match on 13 August, before teaming with Bullfight Sora to defeat Gami and Kyoko Kimura, while she teamed with Yuki Miyazaki to defeat the team of La Amapola and Kimura on 18 August, and then losing to Kimura in a singles match two days later.

Beginnings in NXT (2013–2015)

On 8 April 2013 it was reported that Quin had signed a two-year developmental deal with WWE and had moved to Florida to report to their developmental territory NXT. On 29 August, Quin's new ring name was revealed as Becky Lynch, and she debuted at an NXT live event in November.

Lynch made her televised in-ring debut on the 26 June 2014 episode of NXT, defeating Summer Rae. On the 3 July episode of NXT, Lynch teamed up with Bayley in a losing effort to the BFFs: Beautiful Fierce Females (NXT Women's Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks) in a tag team match. Lynch spent the next few months in non-title matches against Charlotte, losing three in a row. On the 23 October episode of NXT, after being told to make herself relevant, Lynch aligned herself with Sasha Banks by attacking Bayley, turning into a villainess in the process. Known as Team B.A.E. (Best at Everything), the alliance started to disintegrate when Banks cost Lynch a match against Bayley in February 2015.

On 11 February at NXT TakeOver: Rival, Lynch participated in a fatal four-way match for the NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Banks. On the 22 April episode of NXT, Lynch won a triple threat match against Bayley and Charlotte to become the number one contender to the NXT Women's Championship. On 20 May at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Lynch unsuccessfully challenged Banks for the championship, debuting a new look resembling Magic: The Gathering character Chandra Nalaar, thus keeping herself moving into the main roster. The match received widespread critical acclaim, with praise going to the performances of both Banks and Lynch.

Women's Revolution (2015–2016)

Lynch made her official main roster debut on the 13 July episode of Raw, as a fan favorite, along with Charlotte and Sasha Banks, after Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division, which led Lynch and Charlotte allying with Paige, who was feuding with Team Bella (Alicia Fox and The Bella Twins), while Banks would ally with Naomi and Tamina, leading to a brawl between the three teams. The trio of Lynch, Charlotte and Paige originally dubbed The Submission Sorority was renamed to Team PCB, after the first-name initials of each wrestler. Lynch made her in-ring début on the 20 July episode of Raw, where she and Paige lost to Banks and Naomi, but she was able to earn her first singles victory on the 28 July episode of Main Event over Brie Bella. The three teams ultimately faced off at SummerSlam on August 23 in a three-team elimination match, where Lynch pinned Brie Bella to win the match for PCB.

On the 31 August episode of Raw, all members of PCB competed in the first ever "Divas Beat the Clock challenge", in which Charlotte was named the number one contender to Nikki Bella's Divas Championship, which she won at Night of Champions on 20 September, and the following night on Raw, Paige turned on her partners during Charlotte's celebration and cut a worked shoot promo, where she claimed that Charlotte was only there because of her father Ric Flair, and called Lynch the "least relevant" member of Divas division. Throughout October, Paige tried to reconcile with Lynch and Charlotte only to attack them, officially disbanding Team PCB in the process. On the 2 November episode of Raw, Lynch failed to win a fatal four-way number one contender's match for Charlotte's Divas Championship, which Paige won after she pinned her. The following week on Raw, Lynch gained revenge over Paige and defeated her in a singles match.

On the 30 November episode of Raw, Charlotte started displaying villainous traits after she defeated Lynch by feigning a leg injury, followed by a distraction provided by her father. Throughout December, Lynch and Charlotte's friendship continued to strain and after Lynch defeated her on the 4 January 2016 episode Raw, Charlotte would attack her and solidify her villainous turn. Lynch went on to challenge Charlotte for her Divas Championship three days later on SmackDown and at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on 24 January, but lost both matches after interference from Ric Flair.

In February, Lynch became involved with her former rival Sasha Banks' feud with Naomi and Tamina, leading to Lynch allying with Banks to defeat Naomi and Tamina in a tag team match at Fastlane on 21 February. The following night on Raw it was announced Lynch and Banks would compete in a number one contender's match, with the winner facing Charlotte for the Divas Championship at WrestleMania 32, but the match ended in a no contest when a double pin occurred. A rematch took place on the following SmackDown, which also ended in a no contest when Charlotte attacked both Lynch and Banks. As a result, a triple threat Divas Championship match between Lynch, Banks and Charlotte was announced for WrestleMania 32. At the event on 3 April, after it was announced during transmission that the Divas Championship would be withdrawn and it would be replaced with the new WWE Women's Championship, with all three women competing for it in the triple threat match, in which she was unsuccessful in capturing the new title at her WrestleMania debut.

After WrestleMania 32, Lynch began a feud with Emma, being defeated by her on the 2 May episode of Raw, but she gained revenge on her along with Natalya by defeating her and Charlotte three days later on SmackDown. On the 9 May episode of Raw, Emma's NXT's tag team partner Dana Brooke made her in-main roster debut by assaulting and attacking Lynch during a backstage segment. Three days later on the 12 May episode of SmackDown, Lynch lost to Brooke after being distracted by Emma, and repeated the event on the 16 May episode of Raw. On 19 June at Money in the Bank, Lynch and Natalya were defeated by Brooke and Charlotte, after which Lynch was attacked by Natalya, who turned villainous in the process. Followed by multiple continuous attacks between both women, it was announced that they would face off on 24 July at Battleground, where Lynch was defeated by Natalya.

SmackDown Women's Champion (2016–2017)

After being drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on 19 July, Lynch made her first appearance for the brand on 26 July, defeating Natalya before being confronted by the brand female talents. On the 16 August episode of SmackDown Live, Lynch teamed with Carmella in a successful victory against Alexa Bliss and Natalya, after a distraction provided by Eva Marie and Naomi. It was later announced a six-woman tag team match for SummerSlam between Lynch, Carmella and Naomi against Bliss, Marie and Natalya, but following Marie's suspension on 18 August, her place was taken by the returning Nikki Bella, and Lynch's team would ultimately lose the match at evet on 21 August. At Backlash on 11 September, Lynch won a six-pack elimination challenge by last eliminating Carmella to become the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion, marking her first title victory in WWE. Lynch's first title defense against Alexa Bliss was scheduled for No Mercy on 9 October, but the match was postponed due to Lynch suffering a legitimate out-of-ring injury. The match was rescheduled for the 8 November episode of SmackDown Live, where Lynch successfully defended the title, albeit in controversial fashion (the referee did not see Bliss' foot on the rope when she submitted to her finishing maneuver, the Dis-arm-her). Lynch was a part of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series on 20 November, where she was the last woman from the team to be eliminated during the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match.

At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on 4 December, Lynch lost the championship to Bliss in a tables match. In December, an angle began where both Lynch and Bliss used a gimmick named La Luchadora to face each other in matches while trying to conceal their identities. As the feud with Bliss intensified, another woman wearing the La Luchadora costume began assisting Bliss, who was revealed to be the returning Mickie James after Lynch was defeated by Bliss in a championship steel cage match, which main evented the 17 January 2017 episode of SmackDown Live At the 2017 Royal Rumble P.E-show on 29 January, Lynch teamed with Naomi and Nikki Bella and Naomi and the trio defeated Bliss, James and Natalya. At Elimination Chamber on 12 February, Lynch defeated James in a singles match, but lost to her in a rematch on the 14 February episode of SmackDown Live. Lynch also failed to defeat Bliss for the vacant SmackDown Women's Championship on the 21 February episode of SmackDown Live, as well as losing a six-pack challenge for the title at WrestleMania 33 on April 2.

Various storylines (2017–present)

On the April 11th episode of SmackDown Live, a Superstar Shakeup would take place moving Charlotte and Tamina to SmackDown Live. When Charlotte is given a title opportunity, Natalya, Carmella and Tamina would become jealous and form a stable called "The Welcoming Committee". They would try persuade Lynch to join. On the May 2nd episode of SmackDown Live, after weeks of persuasion from "The Welcoming Committee", during an attack on Naomi and Charlotte, Lynch feigned joining the stable, only to attack them instead. At Backlash, Lynch teamed with Charlotte and Naomi in a 6-woman tag team match against Natalya, Carmella and Tamina in a losing effort after Natalya made Lynch submit to the sharpshooter. At Money in the Bank, Lynch participated in the first ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Carmella.

On the August 22 episode of SmackDown, Becky teamed with the former SmackDown Women's Champion, Naomi in a winning effort against Carmella and the new Champion, Natalya.

Other media

Quin performed stunts on a 2013 episode of Vikings.

Lynch has appeared in two WWE video games. She made her in-game debut in WWE 2K17 and appears in WWE 2K18.

She also appeared in Xavier Woods' YouTube channel UpUpDownDown as "Soulless Senpai".

Her entrance music is played after every goal scored on home ice by the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda.

Personal life

Quin resides in Los Angeles, California.

As a wrestler, Quin has broken both of her ankles and suffered two stingers prior to 2005.

During her time away from wrestling, she worked as an actress and was cast in numerous plays in 2011 and 2012. She graduated with a degree in acting from the Dublin Institute of Technology, and has attended Columbia College Chicago and the Gaiety School of Acting. She also worked as a flight attendant with Aer Lingus for two and a half years.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments