Becky Lynch has been compared to Steve Austin ever since she debuted her new persona as “The Man” following a heel turn back in August.
On the latest episode of Sirius XM’s Fight Nation, Austin himself endorsed the comparison by saying he sees a lot of similarities between her and his “Stone Cold” persona from his days in the Attitude Era.
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“She does remind me a lot of myself cause I mean if you line up that women’s roster…and you said ‘hey, I want you pick my next break out Superstar,’ I don’t think you’re gonna pick out Becky Lynch and I damn sure know you wouldn’t have picked me out of a line-up,” Austin said. “So nonetheless, she has willed herself, she has worked her a— off and studied the game and come around and she’s been, got the hot, she’s been cooled off then she’s got a little attitude behind her, just got ticked off and said ‘hey man, I’m gonna be a star.’
“And Vince McMahon wants everybody there to be a star,” Austin continued. “He’s gonna set you up and give you opportunities. She made the most of those opportunities and when they tried to slam a door on her, she kicked the door down and just burst right through it.”
While she was always popular with a portion of the audience during her babyface run, Lynch’s popularity exploded after turning heel on Charlotte Flair following a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at SummerSlam, which many fans saw as Lynch finally fighting back against the booking that had kept her relegated to the midcard under the likes of Flair. While the character change initially pushed back against the fans as a heel, the WWE quickly pulled back by making her a rebellious anti-hero.
Lynch won the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Flair at Hell in a Cell and, after retaining against Flair at Evolution, began a program with Ronda Rousey that has managed to last all the way up to the present day. She’s repeatedly antagonized the former UFC Champion both in promos and on social media, keeping their feud alive even after she was pulled from their Champion vs. Champion match at Survivor Series due to injury. She won the Women’s Royal Rumble match in January and quickly challenged Rousey to a match at WrestleMania.
This week’s Raw saw Vince McMahon “suspend” Lynch for attacking Stephanie McMahon and Triple H and replacing her with Flair. However, numerous reports have come out in the past few months indicating the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 35 will be a triple threat between Rousey, Lynch and Flair.
