Over the past several months, Becky Lynch has reached unprecedented heights and is being positioned as potentially the next top star in WWE. Therefore, it is imperative for fans not to actively undermine her quest to breaking the frustrating glass ceiling that exists in our minds.
WWE fans consistently complain about how the company doesn’t build superstars organically and pulls the rug out from underneath them, perhaps out of fear that a star will become too big for the brand and will eventually leave the company in the dust (The Rock and Batista being possible examples here). At the same time, we, as a collective, may be – often unknowingly – playing a role in holding new stars back.
Since betraying Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam, winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Hell in a Cell, producing the Match of the Year on the main roster at Evolution, absorbing Nia Jax’s very best shot, roasting Ronda Rousey, main eventing TLC, and getting the better of John Cena in highly impressive fashion, Becky Lynch has established herself as arguably WWE’s biggest star right now.
Most of the WWE Universe isn’t just eagerly waiting for the day when “The Man” – and the significance of her nickname should not be lost on fans when discussing the larger impact of her rise on this industry – defeats Ronda in the main event of WrestleMania 35, but they’re also begging for a woman to definitively reach the summit of WWE. Throughout the company’s history of impressive superstars, whether it’s The Rock or John Cena, the common denominator has been that they are all men.
But in this day and age, many of the most popular superstars in WWE are women, from Becky Lynch to Raw’s Sasha Banks, who will have her own crack at “Ronnie”at the Royal Rumble Pay Per View. As such, it’s important for WWE to take advantage of their popularity and show their audience that the “Women’s Evolution” rhetoric is more than just talk; it’s a true revolution that will be put into action.
Becky sold out her Royal Rumble Axxess in seconds. Her search engine traffic beats AJ Styles’s, Seth Rollins’s, and Daniel Bryan’s. Her Twitter feud is a gold mine. She’s adored by thousands upon thousands.
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Yet whenever a superstar seems to be on the precipice of greatness, the pushback begins. It isn’t always WWE who are the enemy or the ultimate roadblock in preventing superstars from reaching their full potential. Oftentimes, it’s the fans.
Who can forget the boos Roman Reigns received at his crowning moments? Or the way WWE fans quickly forgot about Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder after their pushes fizzled? How about Bayley, who was one of the most beloved superstars but received boos due to her poor booking, not anything negative she did?
The WWE Universe is a complicated collection of many voices, and they help make wrestling more magical. We get to hear the perspectives of so many different fans in the live crowd, on social media, or even at the grocery store to chat up about Finn Balor (yes, this happens to me, and I love it!)
But sometimes we get in our own way. We get “annoyed” at a wrestler promoting their feud on social media with a few well-timed, playful jabs, even though it is absolutely their job to do this. We “neglect” wrestlers if they aren’t featured every week, and then when they are set up with big wins, we push back just because they aren’t our No. 1 favorites.
It’s a shame that we’re so concerned with tearing others down that we fail to see the bigger picture here. Becky Lynch is a 31-year-old veteran of the wrestling business who worked hard jobs, suffered from years of poor booking, and may have been shoved to the side by WWE for asinine reasons.
However, Becky has climbed to the top, taking advantage of a ground-swelling of organic support coupled with better booking, and cementing her status on top by showing up in important segments and matches. Lynch has a chance to be a massive star, and she’s doing it by being out there every week; she’s no lazy part-timer or sudden sensation. No, Becky has been wrestling for ages, and she’s on the cusp of being rewarded for her in-ring skills, promos, ability to connect to the audience, and brilliant mind for the wrestling business.
More importantly than just her, Becky is technically in a battle on behalf of women’s wrestlers everywhere. Because if Becky can break the glass ceiling, she can prove once and for all that women are capable of being the best in this industry, which could perhaps finally manifest itself in equalizing the horrendous gender pay gap that exists in this sport.
While it’s OK to dislike Becky and to prefer other wrestlers, just be careful that you aren’t going out of your way to undermine her success by pushing so far back the other way. Don’t be an additional glass ceiling that holds back WWE Superstars, especially the hard-working women who already have to fight against a structure that has held them down for so long; they don’t need you to join the proverbial “machine” in preventing their hard work from being justly recognized.