By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Good Karma Wrestling with guest Becky Lynch
Hosts: ESPN Chicago’s Jonathan Hood, ESPN Milwaukee’s Gabe Neitzel, and ESPN West Palm’s Brian Rowitz
Twitter: @GKW_Wrestling
On the pressure of living up to expectations at WrestleMania against Rhea Ripley: “What pressure? I’m The Man. What pressure? What pressure? No, really, I love it. And what I’m loving about this is that there are a lot of people doubting me right now. There’s a lot of people doubting. ‘Oh Rhea’s on this run. Rhea’s going to take it.’ We’re forgetting who’s doing all the groundwork. We’re forgetting who’s been doing all the groundwork, who’s been hiding in plain sight, elevating everybody to the top of their game, delivering, to quote another Irish man, ‘banger after banger after banger’ and keeping everything afloat. You know, Rhea’s been hovering around doing little backstages. I’ve been putting in the hard work week in, week out, grinding. And I’m at the top of my game now. But I love it when people doubt me because I said it in the promo. When people believe in me. I’m good. But when people doubt me, I’m great, that is true. And you can read all about it in my book.”
On what goals are there still to accomplish in wrestling: “In wrestling, nothing. So, I say that people are like, ‘Oh God,’ but it’s a great thing, man, because now it’s it’s it’s not about titles it’s not about winning a certain match, but I would like to win the Money in the Bank briefcase, I like the power that holds over the champion. You know, just puts them on edge. But what I’m saying is, is that I’m more interested in the stories and going back to the basics. Why did I start this? Because I love it. And so that’s all it comes down to. It’s the love of it. And now you’re not thinking about what can I get out of it? You’re just thinking, what can I put into it? That is a beautiful space to be. That is my favorite space that I’ve been in. How can I give back to this as opposed to what’s in it for me?”
The pride factor in seeing the growth of women’s wrestling: “It’s a thing where we talk about women’s wrestling, but it’s just wrestling. You know, it’s wrestling that’s just wrestling. And it’s to the point now and we’re getting to the point. And I mean, we’ve been at the point, I think, where it’s just standard fare, where we should main event, if the stuff is the best story. If we’ve got the best match it should be the main event. Easy, easy, done. Of course. Why wouldn’t we? Why wouldn’t we be top six? So, we just need. We need. We need the people and the talent and the hunger and the drive to continue that. And I like it because we’re at this stage where we’re talking about the micro now, we’re not talking about the macro, we’re not talking about the big things that need to change.
“We’re talking about the little things that need to be changed in terms of the grand scheme of things. You know, like, like we just need to be looking at it as equal. Who are stars, what are our stories? What are the stories that we want to tell. And it’s not it’s not to the point where we’re saying like, women, women’s matches should get cut. You know, if this time is over and there’s one token women’s match on a WrestleMania and there could be more. There could be more and there could be more stories. So, we need to continue to talk about that. But like why can’t the women be the main event?
“The women aren’t the draws, the women aren’t the stars. All those things are going out the window. We are the stars. We are the conversations. We are the stars. We are the conversations. And it just needs to continue. Like you’ve got Rhea Ripley, who is a star, you’ve got Bianca Belair, who’s a star. You have all these people that are coming up. You’ve got Lyra in NXT who is a phenomenal talent, fantastic talent with a drive and a work ethic. We just need people putting in, putting in those hours, wanting to be the top dog in the business. And that’s all it takes, just wanting to drive it forward.”
Other topics include the challenges as a Mom on the road, if becoming a U.S. citizen is as cool as sharing a beer with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and more.
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