Mick Foley has revealed that he once talked Becky Lynch out of quitting WWE.
While Becky Lynch currently stands as one of the biggest stars in all of professional wrestling, let alone WWE, her journey to the top has been from from straightforward.
Before even signing with WWE the Irish star quit wrestling for six years after suffering a head injury. Then even after joining the sports entertainment giant, she has openly stated that she almost left on more than one occasion due to not seeing a path onto the main roster. Significantly, when Lynch signed with WWE, women were presented in a very different way to how they are today.
Speaking on his podcast, Foley is Pod, Mick Foley recalled one such moment of doubt. The WWE Hall of Famer began by referencing an article he wrote in 2012, where he stated that the ‘Divas’ were putting in far more work with WWE than they were getting credit for, due to them having less match time.
He then went on to recall a conversation with Becky Lynch, where he talked her out of leaving the company, in part due to how much she was making.
“You know, look, I wrote this article, I think it was in 2012. I think it was about the Divas, and it was about how much they did behind the scenes and what great ambassadors they were, and that even though as much wasn’t expected of them in the matches, they were really workhorses for the company. And I didn’t think they were being compensated like they should have.
So not to just say this to be a name dropper, but before Becky Lynch became The Man before she got that break that we all thought she was do. She was really wondering, you know, she’s really down on herself, you know, down on the, you know, her role with a company, wondering if it was all worth it. I remember giving her two piece of advice.”
Foley continued by explaining the advice he passed on to Lynch, drawing on his own experiences.
“I remember giving her two piece of advice. I said, be patient, be ready. And I relayed to her a story about me being in the Memphis studio. And I was forbidden from talking because I had some of the tell-tale sounds of a New Yorker, which wasn’t good, especially because Gary Young and I just turned babyface in Memphis. The crowd would have turned on a babyface New Yorker in a heartbeat.
But what happened is Gary was a good promo guy, he fumbled a little bit. Lance Russell hands me the microphone and I was ready with stuff and cut a pretty good promo.
So with that in mind, that’s what I told Becky. And then I also told her not to, you know, not to give up on the independent scene. It might refresh her and you know, remind her what she loves. And I said, if you don’t mind me asking, like what did you make last year? I won’t tell you what, what she made, I’ll just tell you my reaction was, oh, well, you’ve got to stay in WWE.
I didn’t know that the money had picked up for the women to that extent. And like you said, how many women do you think they’re making seven figures? Six or seven? [Conrad says he personally knows of a handful]
Yeah and that’s great, because it was a 98 when Terry’s telling me in the hotel room. ‘Cactus one of these days a wrestler is gonna make a million dollars a year.’ And I think Bret may have already been making that with WCW. Bret and, you know, Hogan clearly, I think Roddy you know, was making a guaranteed [million] but at that time was like, what? Not a million dollars. That was considered to be outlandish, unthinkable money. And good for the women though. Good for them.”
Although Becky Lynch lost her Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38, she has remained prominent part of WWE’s programming. Lynch was part of the recent Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match, and appears to have once again set her sights on Bianca Belair heading into SummerSlam.
Becky Lynch has since shown her admiration for Mick Foley, crediting him as an inspiration.
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