Why A 19-Year-Old Becky Lynch Couldn't Tell Her Mom She Wanted To Be A Pro Wrestler

Former WWE Women's World Champion Becky Lynch has beaten the odds to become the face of modern-day women's wrestling. But it didn't come easy. In an interview with NFL Super Bowl MVP, Julian Edelman, on "Games with Names," Lynch said that she had a hard time telling her mother she wanted to be involved in wrestling.

"After taking my year off of college, I ended up [living] back at home with my mom going, 'What's your plan? What are you going to do? Are you going to go back to college? Get a real job? What are you gonna do?'" Lynch recounted. 

Lynch wanted to show her mother an example of what she wanted to do but faced a challenge from both the lewd wrestling in the US, and the hard-hitting Japanese style.

"The women weren't treated as the athletes and the stars that we are today [in the United States]," Lynch added. "There was still a lot of, you know, pillow fights and all that kind of jazz, and bra and panties matches...They weren't really taken seriously... nobody was eyeballing them to [the] main event. I couldn't say, 'Well, that's what I want to do on TV.' What I was looking at...what I wanted to do was these obscured promotions in Japan, where the women were better than any man that I'd ever seen. They were kicking the s*** out of each other. But I also couldn't show my Ma that!"

Lynch soon returned to the road, even wrestling in Japan as she dreamed before truly making her name in WWE. Lynch's last match before the expiration of her WWE contract came on May 28, which was a rematch clause for the WWE Women's World Championship on "WWE Monday Night RAW," just days after losing the title to Liv Morgan at the King and Queen of the Ring premium event in Saudi Arabia. For now, Lynch is enjoying her time away from the squared circle despite the looming uncertainty of if or when she will re-sign with the company, go elsewhere, pursue a new venture outside of wrestling, semi-retire, or hang her boots up permanently.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Games with Names" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.