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00:00I think, I think the man took over more than anybody could have anticipated.
00:09Because I remember even saying it to Mick Foley at a hockey game,
00:15and I hadn't even written it, and this was just in October.
00:20It was in October, yeah, and I said to him, I go,
00:23I think I'm going to start calling myself the man, right?
00:27And I talked about it.
00:29So I have a friend back home, and we'll run ideas past each other and stuff,
00:33and I said it to him, and he would call me the man all the time.
00:37He said, you're the man, you're the man, you're the man, you're the man.
00:40And I once said, just turn and go, I think I'm going to start calling myself the man.
00:43He was like, do it, and then we did it.
00:46And, like, I don't think I'd even called myself the man on TV,
00:55and people had signs up, the man Becky Lynch.
00:59That's when you know that you're on to something.
01:17So, here's the thing.
01:21I've been in tables matches.
01:23I've been in ladders matches.
01:25I've been in last-one-standing matches, and I'm still here, right?
01:30And not only am I still here, but I'm stronger and better than I have ever been, right?
01:36So this is just another challenge.
01:39And we can't make light of how intimidating those matches are,
01:44how much pain those matches cause.
01:48But for me, that's just physical pain, right?
01:51The mental pain I can endure to no end,
01:56and that's where I think I have the upper hand above anybody else.
02:01They were trying to stick me in the back, trying to ignore me, but they couldn't.
02:04They couldn't because I have a voice.
02:06I have a voice and I have an ability,
02:08and I have a work ethic that nobody else has here, that nobody else has here.
02:13Then I'm thinking about they want to put me in a box,
02:16and they want me to get out of the box because I'm a pain on their back.
02:19I don't know what they're saying.
02:21They couldn't because I have a voice, I have a voice and I have an ability and I have a
02:25work ethic that nobody else has here, that nobody else has here, that I'm thinking about
02:29this non-stop, thinking about how I can climb, how I can get better, how I can achieve more,
02:35how I can get the people to care more, how I can get people interested in what I'm doing.
02:41So that they want to see the fights, so that they want to see the man, they want to see
02:44Beth Williams, they want to see the champ.
02:47And it's been a whole lot sweeter because nobody's handed me nothing.
02:53Oh, with the knee, Asuka wins!
02:55Asuka is going to the TLC pay-per-view, she will join the match with Charlotte Flair and
03:02Becky Lynch for the championship.
03:04When I was 15, I wasn't in any way focused, right?
03:14And I'd never been, I think there was a slight ambition in me, but there was never anything
03:21that I was passionate about, nothing.
03:25So I decided I was going to get fit, right?
03:27And I was an unconventional kid, I didn't want to go to a gym.
03:31So I was going to take up kickboxing, but lo and behold, my brother found out that they
03:34were opening a school in Bray, which was about an hour and a half away from where I lived.
03:41Opened by Fergal Devitt, Finn Balor.
03:44And so I was like, oh, I want to go do that, and he's like, you're not coming along.
03:47I was like, I'm coming along.
03:49So I went along, and I was the only girl in the place, and I expected to go in and see
03:56a warehouse and a bunch of big, tough guys and a wrestling ring and a big sign on the door.
04:03I walk into this little school gym, there were six blue padded mats on the ground, and
04:08there was a bunch of skinny teenage lads with their hair trying to grow out, trying to look
04:13like the Hardy Boys.
04:14And I was like, all right, well, this is it, here I am.
04:18And you have to believe me when I say I was awful, like, god awful.
04:26I was the most uncoordinated, couldn't pick up a damn thing, but my god, did I love it.
04:32And I was just, I couldn't believe that I was getting to do it.
04:37I couldn't believe it.
04:38I was like, this is the greatest thing in the world.
04:40How does everybody not want to do this?
04:43And the following day, I was beat up, I was hurt, but I was happy, and I was driven.
04:49I couldn't wait to go back the next week.
04:53So I just got cleared, which is dangerous for everyone, because I'm back.
05:00I don't think my life has ever been restful, right?
05:03I can't do it.
05:04I physically cannot rest.
05:06Frustrating, absolutely, because it's wanting to go out there, wanting to compete and to
05:12fight and being told that you just physically can't.
05:15I only missed one SmackDown.
05:17Unfortunately, I missed Survivor Series, which was heartbreaking.
05:21And I had to watch somebody else step into my spot, so that was hard and gut-wrenching
05:27and just all sorts of frustrations.
05:47I'm kind of little for a man.
05:51I'm kind of little for a man.
05:59We're making history, you said?
06:01Well, it must be a Tuesday, because when you're the man, you make history every time you step
06:07foot in this ring.
06:09Being put through a table, or having a metal chair bent over my back, or feeling a steel
06:15ladder bounce off my skull, none of that compared to the pain that I've endured to get to where
06:21I am today.
06:26So it doesn't matter to me if your opportunity was earned, or if you're hurt.
06:34I really couldn't care less.
06:36Because at TLC, I'm going to do anything it takes to win, and I can't really say the same
06:42thing for you two dopes.
06:44None of you could beat Ronda Rousey, and neither of you can beat me either.
07:00You know.
07:01Sorry, sorry.
07:02Yeah, yeah, you better be sorry.
07:04Yeah, yeah.
07:05You're the man.
07:06Yeah.
07:07You're the man.
07:08They know.
07:09They know I'm the man.
07:11Wait, what did you say, Demo?
07:15I let him away with it because he's Irish.
07:18And you left for a while.
07:19I left for seven years.
07:21What was the thing you had left?
07:22Seven years.
07:24It was a lot of self-sabotage, right?
07:27Like, people don't, people talk about the fear of failure, right?
07:34But they also, they don't talk enough, I think, about the fear of success.
07:39At the time, I was 19, and I was doing well, and I was making a name for myself.
07:46I also didn't really have, I didn't really have any support or any, like, backing or
07:54any guidance.
07:55Like, my ma didn't want me wrestling.
07:58And if you weren't in WWE, you were all fending for yourself, and I wasn't making a lot of
08:03money.
08:04I'd make, what, like $50 a weekend or whatever, if even.
08:08So it was just, like, a lot of, like, I got so in my head, I've got to succeed, I've got
08:13to succeed, I've got to succeed, I've got to succeed.
08:15But then it was like, oh, but what if I do, and what if I'm not good enough, and what
08:18if, you know, and all these things.
08:22So I just, I kind of got depressed.
08:25I got confused.
08:26I got lost.
08:28I got hurt in a match.
08:29And I kind of used that as an excuse to kind of step away and say, look, I don't.
08:36And I couldn't even face up to the fact that I couldn't face up to it.
08:42You know, like, I had to hide behind an excuse of, oh, I'm hurt, you know, which is why I
08:53think I take extra exception to when I'm genuinely hurt and people are calling me out like I'm
09:02hiding behind something because I missed a week.
09:05I missed a week.
09:06I know what it is.
09:07I know what it is to hide behind an excuse because I did it before because I did it when
09:10I was younger.
09:11And I have never felt more low and more ashamed of myself for doing that.
09:16I felt like I turned my back on this thing that had given me a life, that had given me
09:22a drive, that had given me a passion, that had given me a purpose.
09:26And when I tell you that I paid for it, I definitely did because I completely lost myself.
09:34And I think what we see here, right, we see me being built up and me changing and me taking
09:40over is that's all from below zero that I've had to come up.
09:45And it's a little step at a time, but it's even coming from that low point back from
09:51when I was 19 to where I am now that I've been through all this.
09:59And now I am so grateful and I know what I'm meant to do because I lost it all.
10:06We are back in my hometown gym, my new hometown.
10:11Priorities Hill CrossFit in Venice, California.
10:13This is my first workout since getting cleared.
10:22I gotta step it up.
10:26I know I'm always trying to step it up, but we've got big things ahead and fitness isn't
10:31going to be the thing that lets me down.
10:33It never is.
10:37Being able to come in here and train as hard as I possibly can and push myself to the limit
10:45is, I don't even think it's a physical gain.
10:52Right now we say that about this industry is it's not a physical gain, it's a mental
10:58gain and it's about mental toughness because your mind is going to give up through your
11:04body.
11:05So for me it's about training my mind to keep going no matter how much pain I'm in, no matter
11:11how exhausted I am, no matter how blown up my lungs are, I can always do more.
11:18And I just keep telling myself, just keep going.
11:22And that's it, that's all that I say, just keep going.
11:26It doesn't matter how slow you move, right?
11:28And we've seen that throughout my career.
11:30It doesn't matter how slow you move, as long as you just keep going, you keep getting up,
11:34keep going, you don't stop.
11:36You just don't stop.
11:38I think that's how you make it.
11:49Right, to not be able to do this, I was going stir crazy.
11:54I had to go out for walks.
11:56That's all I was allowed to do was walk.
11:59And it's not like me to obey doctor's orders, but when it's in the interest of getting better
12:10so that I can get back in the ring quicker, so that I can go out there and show everybody
12:16why I am the champ, why I am the man, then I will do exactly what you tell me.
12:21Because I don't want to have any excuses of why I'm not out there.
12:33I think that nothing emulates what we do in the ring, what I do in the ring, more than
12:39the kind of workouts that I do.
12:42It's carrying things, sled ones, pushing things.
12:45Having missed out on all those workouts for however long, two, three weeks, the impulse
12:52is that now we have to go three times as hard, right?
13:12Physically, I feel great.
13:16I'd be worried if I was those other two girls, just because of how great I feel.
13:21I'd often pick up little hobbies, you know, I'd do karate one week or whatever,
13:26and just wouldn't go back.
13:29Wanted to do dance for a little while, didn't go back.
13:33Would just pick up hobbies and just never saw anything through.
13:37And then I remember three months later, they got a wrestling ring.
13:41Holy moly, Jesus, that was like, that was freaking Christmas, right?
13:47I'll never forget the awe of seeing this wrestling ring set up in the flesh,
13:54right in front of me.
13:56And then we had to run the ropes.
13:59And while I failed PE, I failed PE because I was embarrassed of running, right?
14:03I just thought I looked funny when I ran, so I used to stand on the sidelines
14:07with a hockey stick in my hand and not doing anything.
14:10So now I had to run the ropes, and again, I was the only girl in front of a class
14:14full of lads, so I was so embarrassed.
14:16And again, absolutely terrible, taking these little girly footsteps
14:19across the ring.
14:21But my God, I just wanted to get better.
14:23And I would go to bed dreaming about this wrestling ring and just couldn't get over
14:30how I was standing in a wrestling ring like I had seen on the telly.
14:34It was unbelievable.
14:36Here she is, the SmackDown Women's Champion, the pride of Limerick,
14:39the pride of Ireland.
14:41The one and only Becky Lynch is joining us on the phone right now.
14:43Becky, how are you?
14:44I'm doing wonderful, Ariel. How are you doing?
14:47I'm doing great. What's the crack?
14:49Oh, the crack is mighty.
14:52I thought you were going to say 91.
14:54I heard that when it's 91, that means it's the best ever.
14:57The crack is 91.
14:59The crack will be 91 when I retain my title at TLC and walk out of there
15:04still the champ, always the man.
15:06You're now the hottest thing in pro wrestling.
15:08Everyone's talking about you, not just at Pro Wrestling.
15:10In my world as well, you have caught everyone's attention.
15:13Is this kind of surreal at this point?
15:15It is a bit, but it's what I've always envisioned.
15:18It's what I've been working towards since I was 15.
15:21I left home at 15 and was traveling around the world
15:24trying to make this happen, trying to make this dream happen.
15:28And here we are.
15:29It just took a lot of self-belief to get there.
15:35You've been doing this for so long.
15:36Ronda Rousey, who is an accomplished athlete, of course,
15:38an Olympian, month medalist, UFC champion,
15:41but never really paid her dues, if you will,
15:44the regional scene of pro wrestling.
15:46What are you thinking at that time?
15:48Well, look, the thing is what I always wanted
15:52and what I set off coming from Ireland to do
15:57was to make sure that women's wrestling
16:00was the coolest thing on TV, right?
16:03And that people cared about it.
16:05And when you have a star like Ronda Rousey coming in,
16:08then it brings eyes, it brings attention.
16:10So for me, that was a case of, all right,
16:14all right, this person is here, this world-class athlete,
16:18this champion, this Olympian is here.
16:21So now it's time to step up, right?
16:23But show her who the man is.
16:26And I've heard her say, like, look, you're a woman,
16:29you should be proud of being a woman.
16:30Why are you calling yourself a man?
16:31That's exactly what we don't need.
16:32What is your response to that?
16:33Because, and that's just, and that is the thing.
16:36That's such a small-minded thing
16:38because I'm not talking about gender.
16:40I'm not saying I am a man.
16:42I am saying I am the man.
16:44The man has been used as the moniker
16:47to being the top dog in our business.
16:50And if she knew anything about our business,
16:52she might know that, right?
16:53So it's what Ric Flair called himself.
16:56He said, to be the man, you gotta beat the man.
16:58Well, there's nobody else who was on top of the totem pole
17:02like I am right now.
17:03So therefore, I am the man.
17:05And being the man is all about believing in yourself, right?
17:08It's about believing in yourself
17:10more than other people believe in you, right?
17:12So the man in the mailroom can be the man, right?
17:15The woman that's running a Fortune 500 company
17:21can be the man.
17:22But in my business, there's only one man,
17:24and that is me.
17:25All the best to you.
17:26And hopefully, if that does come to fruition,
17:28we can have you back perhaps in the studio on the program.
17:30That would be amazing.
17:31Thank you so much, Ariel.
17:34All right, all the best to you.
17:35The pride of Limerick, Vicky Lynch.
17:37It was lovely.
17:39That was live, wasn't it?
17:40Yeah, it was live.
17:41Freaking love doing interviews.
17:44I love doing media.
17:45I love talking.
17:46I love getting out there.
17:48That's one of my favorite things about this business.
17:51And just my favorite thing to do is to talk, right?
17:55I love running my mouth.
17:56And to be able to go out there and have a conversation,
17:58somebody I respect like Ariel Hawane
18:01and it's just great.
18:04It's just fantastic.
18:05And the other thing is that the more I get out there,
18:09the more I get my voice out there,
18:10the more I get my story out there,
18:12the more people are going to want to come to see the shows, right?
18:15And the more people care about the fights,
18:17and that's what I care about,
18:19is getting people excited about seeing a match
18:24and seeing us fight.
18:28That's all it is about, right?
18:30And people want to go.
18:31They want to forget their problems
18:32and they want to be totally invested
18:34in what they're seeing on the TV
18:35or what they're seeing in the ring in front of them.
18:42It's the final show before TLC,
18:44and we are in Las Vegas, Nevada.
18:49Just want to wreck some people.
18:51I want to wreck the freaking furniture.
18:55Lucky I'm in a TLC match.
18:57I'm able to do that without getting in trouble.
19:00Look at the poster for the T-Mobile.
19:03Look at that.
19:04What woman's on that, right?
19:06What woman is on that?
19:10Not me.
19:11Who's the women's champion?
19:17It's not in my head,
19:21or it's not just a thing where it's like,
19:23oh, no, Becky's been passed over.
19:25Look, again, I'm the champ.
19:29A picture, right?
19:31Oscar's through a table, right, lying down.
19:35Nothing left him.
19:37Charlotte's over there,
19:39covered in stacks of chairs.
19:43Beaten and broken.
19:45And I set the ladder up,
19:47and I'm just climbing.
19:49Climbing, I get to the top.
19:51Unhook it.
19:54Slap it over my shoulder.
19:56The arena goes mental.
19:59Everybody's happy.
20:02The man stays on top.
20:05I'm going to scout them out.
20:07I'm going to pay more attention and detail
20:10to where their weaknesses are.
20:12Do you have any weak points?
20:14I'm not telling you that.
20:17I'm telling you my weak points.
20:20Everybody has weak points.
20:22We're all human, right?
20:23We're not robots stepping out there.
20:25We're not robots stepping into the ring.
20:27We all have weak points.
20:29Eventually, everybody gets beaten.
20:31I've been beaten countless amounts of times.
20:33I've been beaten up countless amounts of times.
20:35But I keep getting up.
20:37I keep getting stronger.
20:38That's what makes me different.
20:40That's what makes me better.
20:43Wow, that was great.
20:48A kendo stick in hand.
20:51Wait a minute.
20:52Oh!
20:53The SmackDown Women's Champion
20:55tossing Charlotte into the studio.
20:57Reckless right now.
20:59Oh!
21:00Oh, and Becky sent her to the desk.
21:02She sent her to the desk.
21:09All hail the Empress.
21:18What happened out there, Becky?
21:28What happened out there
21:30is that I saw
21:32that neither of them
21:34could get the job done.
21:36Right?
21:37And when
21:38and when Charlotte couldn't get the job done
21:41she rolled out.
21:42She threw a hissy fit like Charlotte Flair does.
21:44Like only Charlotte Flair can.
21:46She got a kendo stick and she took it to Asuka.
21:48She got herself disqualified
21:50because she didn't want to get beaten anymore
21:52because she can't take a beating.
21:54Tonight, I took a beating.
21:56I took a beating and I'm not ashamed of it.
21:58On Sunday, I'm gonna take a beating again.
22:00But the thing is, I get up.
22:02And I get up again and again and again.
22:06And what happened tonight
22:08was as soon as I turned my back to Charlotte Flair
22:10she took the opportunity
22:12to hit me in the back of the leg
22:14but I owned her like I've owned her for months.
22:19And Sunday, I'm gonna own Asuka too.
22:22Especially after tonight.
22:29I was sick of being overlooked.
22:31I was on a winning streak.
22:34I was proving time and time again
22:37that no matter how much
22:39no matter who I went out there with
22:41I would always step up.
22:42And I would always bring them up too.
22:44Right?
22:45And I was sick of bringing everybody else up
22:47and letting myself go below.
22:50And it was time to just say to hell with it.
22:53I was sick of being overlooked.
22:55I was sick of being overlooked.
22:57And it was time to just say to hell with that.
22:59I'm on top. I'm the best.
23:01And I'm taking over.
23:02Oh, it was so free, right?
23:04Because you went from caring about everybody
23:07and how everybody was affected
23:09and how everybody was feeling
23:10to then just being like,
23:11no, screw them.
23:12They don't care about me.
23:13They don't care about how I'm doing.
23:15Why should I care about them?
23:17So now I just have to care about one person.
23:20And that's me.
23:23But here's the other thing, right?
23:25By doing that, I have elevated everybody.
23:28Right?
23:29Everybody wants to step up.
23:30Everybody wants to be the man.
23:31Everybody else has been warming themselves
23:34under the fire that I have started.
23:36Right?
23:37So with doing that,
23:40then I have elevated WWE's women's division
23:45like unbelievably, like nobody else could.
23:49Nobody else could.
23:50How many times has Charlotte had the women's championship?
23:53Right?
23:54How many times has Alexa Bliss had the championship?
23:56How many times has anybody else had a championship?
23:59And have they made, have they made
24:03the title, the talk of the entire industry?
24:07They haven't.
24:08Only one woman has done that.
24:14And that one woman is me.