Rebecca Quin (January 30, 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) performing on the Raw brand where she wrestles under the ring name Becky Lynch. She is a former WWE Raw Women's Champion and a four-time WWE Smackdown Women's Champion. Within the independent circuit, she was known as Rebecca Knox.
Professional wrestling career
Training and early career (2002–2005)
As a teenager, Quin heard that Fergal Devitt and Paul Tracey were opening a wrestling school in Ireland and decided to go check it out. Beginning in June 2002, she ended up training there, along with her brother. She made her professional wrestling debut five months later on November 11th, using the ring name Rebecca Knox. She teamed with her brother in mixed tag team matches during the early part of her career. She also trained at NWA UK Hammerlock.
European promotions (2005–2008)
During the early part of her career, Knox wrestled in Ireland, and lost to English wrestler Eden Black at an NWA Ireland show in Dublin.
On May 13, 2005, Knox was defeated by English wrestler Skye at Queens of Chaos' inaugural show and DVD taping in Toulouse, France. On August 7th Knox appeared at a Fighting Spirit Federation (FSF) show, where she competed in a four-way match for the World Queens of Chaos Championship against the champion, Nikita as well as Jersey and Emil Sitoci and Robbie Mireno in a three-way match. On September 26th Knox competed for German Stampede Wrestling, where she lost to Finnish wrestler Kisu in a singles match. During the match Knox suffered a cut above her eye, for which she received stitches. Knox later posted on her website that she had been suffering from headaches, vision problems, and loud buzzing in her left ear since receiving the injury. She was diagnosed with possible damage to her eighth cranial nerve, and as a result canceled all her bookings for the rest of the year. She was expected to participate at a ChickFight television taping on May 4, 2008, but was removed from the show after no-showing a Shimmer Women Athletes show, stating that she did not believe that wrestling was the correct career choice for her at that time.
North American promotions (2005–2008; 2011)
Knox joined the Canadian promotion SuperGirls Wrestling, an all-female offshoot of Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) in 2005, first appearing on ECCW shows. She immediately began feuding with Miss Chevius, defeating her in a singles match in Surrey, British Columbia on May 17th, before losing to her in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia a month later on June 17th. The following night however, Knox teamed with Calum Macbeth to defeat Miss Chevius and Tony Tisoy in a mixed tag team match in Vancouver. On June 24th, Knox defeated Miss Chevius at an ECCW show in Surrey, British Columbia to become the inaugural SuperGirls Champion. Knox successfully defended the championship against LuFisto September 23rd at the inaugural SuperGirls DVD tapings, when she hit LuFisto with the championship belt and Knox's manager, Scotty Mac powerbombed LuFisto through a table. She also successfully defended the championship twice the following night; first against Cheerleader Melissa when Mac Superkicked Melissa to allow Knox to pin her, and against Madison, where Knox illegally used the ring ropes for leverage during the pin. At ECCW's tenth anniversary show in January 2006, she defeated El Phantasmo in an intergender match. In March she feuded with Nikki Matthews, defeating her at the ECCW television tapings on March 25th and teaming with Sid Sylum and Gurv Sihra to defeat Matthews, Phantasmo and Kyle O'Reilly on March 31st. On April 8th, Knox defeated Veronika. Knox held the SuperGirls Championship for 10 months and two days, before eventually losing it to Lisa Moretti on April 21, 2006.
On October 14, 2005, Knox appeared at a New England Championship Wrestling event in Framingham, Massachusetts where she competed in a four-way match that was won by Violet Flame. Later that month, Knox participated in All Pro Wrestling (APW)'s third ChickFight tournament in Hayward, California. She defeated Morgan in the first round on 28 October, but lost to eventual winner Mariko Yoshida in the second round later that night. The following night, she teamed with Cheerleader Melissa and Tiffany in a losing effort to Rain, Morgan and Hailey Hatred in a six-woman tag team match match at an APW show. She also appeared for the AWA Pinnacle promotion on January 21 and February 26, 2006. On January 21st she acted as the referee in a match between Christopher Ryseck and Caden Matthews, and helped Ryseck win by hitting Matthews with a chair. On February 26th, she and Ryseck were defeated by Matthews in a handicap match in Pacific, Washington.
Knox began working for the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in 2006. In her debut match for the promotion at the DVD tapings of Volume 3, she defeated Allison Danger on 12 February, and established herself as a heel by faking an injury. In the main event of the Volume 4 DVD tapings later that night, she lost to Daizee Haze, provoking a feud between the two women. At the Volume 5 tapings on May 21st, she attacked Haze following Haze's first match against Portia Perez, performing a release German suplex on Haze. She went on to defeat Haze in a two out of three falls match later that evening. The match lasted 29 minutes, and was later described by promoter Dave Prazak as "probably the best women's match [that he'd] seen on U.S. soil in years, if not ever". In a repeat of her debut match for the promotion, Knox defeated Danger in a 'Pure Wrestling Rules' match at the tapings for Shimmer Volume 6. Knox was supposed to face Haze in a 60-minute Iron Woman match at Shimmer's Volume 7 taping, but due to the injury she sustained in Germany, the match was cancelled. Knox was booked for a Shimmer event on April 26, 2008, but no-showed, stating that she did not believe that wrestling was the correct career choice for her at that time.
On March 26, 2011, Knox returned to Shimmer as the manager of the mother/daughter tag team, Saraya and Britani Knight.
Japanese promotions (2005–2006)
In November 2005, Knox completed a two-week tour of Japan, as she competed for International Women's Grand Prix. She tagged with Aja Kong and Gran Hamada in the main event on each show, and her team was undefeated. During this tour, on November 9th, Knox won an 18-person Battle royal in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. She later singled out this tour as the highlight of her career. She returned to Japan in August 2006, defeating Yuri Urai in a singles match on August 13th, before teaming with Bullfight Sora to defeated Gami and Kyoko Kimura. On August 18th, she teamed with Yuki Miyazaki to defeat the team of La Amapola and Kimura, before losing to Kimura in a singles match two days later.
World Wrestling Entertainment
NXT (2013–2015)
On April 8, 2013, it was reported that Quin had signed a two-year developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and had moved to Florida to report to their developmental territory NXT. On August 29th, Quin's new ring name was revealed as Becky Lynch, and she debuted at an NXT live event in November.
Lynch made her televised in-ring debut on the June 26th 2014 episode of NXT, defeating Summer Rae. On the July 3rd episode of NXT, Lynch teamed up with Bayley in a losing effort to The BFFs (NXT Women's Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks) in a tag team match. She spent the next few months in non-title matches against Charlotte, losing three in a row. On the October 23rd episode of NXT, after being told to make herself relevant, Lynch aligned herself with Sasha Banks by attacking Bayley. Known as "Team B.A.E." (Best at Everything), the alliance started to disintegrate when Banks cost Lynch a match against Bayley, in February 2015.
On February 11th, at NXT TakeOver: Rival, Lynch participated in a fatal four-way match for the NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Banks. On the April 22nd episode of NXT, Lynch won a triple threat match against Charlotte and Bayley to become the number one contender to the NXT Women's Championship. On May 20th, at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Lynch unsuccessfully challenged Sasha Banks for the championship, debuting a new look resembling Magic: The Gathering character Chandra Nalaar, thus keeping herself moving into the main roster. The match received widespread critical acclaim, with praise going to the performances of both Banks and Lynch.
Main Roster (2015–present)
Lynch made her debut on the July 13th episode of Raw along with Charlotte and Sasha Banks, after Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division. While Lynch and Charlotte allied with Paige, who was feuding with Team Bella (Nikki Bella, Brie Bella & Alicia Fox), Banks would ally with Naomi and Tamina, leading to a brawl between the three teams. This set up a match between the 3 teams at SummerSlam, which Paige, Charlotte, and Becky won. Officially named PCB, the team continued to dominate over Team Bella, capping off with Charlotte winning the Divas Championship against Nikki at Night of Champions.
Team PCB started to crumble on the following months, starting on the Raw after Night of Champions, with Paige calling out Charlotte that she only won the title because of her father Ric Flair, and calling Lynch "irrelevant". Lynch continued to support Charlotte throughout her Divas title run, until Charlotte began to display heel traits, like using her father to keep her title.
Lynch would beat Charlotte on the January 4th episode of Raw, which then instigated an attack on Lynch, turning heel. Lynch would unsuccessfully challenge Charlotte for the Divas Championship on two separate occasions, on the January 7th episode of Smackdown and at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Lynch would then help Sasha Banks fend off Naomi and Tamina, Sasha's former stablemates, setting up a tag team match at Fastlane. Lynch and Banks would defeat Team B.A.D. at Fast Lane. However, Lynch and Banks would feud among themselves, both wanting the Divas Championship at WrestleMania. They would have matches for the #1 Contender's spot, but Charlotte would interfere. As a result, Charlotte would defend the title against both Lynch and Banks at WrestleMania, which Charlotte won and retired the Divas Title and replace with the WWE Women's Championship.
After WrestleMania, Lynch began a feud with Emma, being defeated by her on the May 2nd episode of Raw, however, she regain revenge on her along Natalya by defeating her and Charlotte in a tag team match three days later on the May 5th episode of Smackdown. On the May 9th episode of Raw, Emma's NXT's tag team partner Dana Brooke made her in-main roster debut by assaulting and attacking her during an backstage segment. Three days later on the May 12th episode of Smackdown, she was defeated by Brooke after being distracted by Emma, and once again repeating the event on the May 16th episode of Raw. On June 19th at Money In The Bank, Lynch teamed with Natalya in a losing effort against Charlotte and Dana Brooke. After the match, Lynch was attacked by Natalya, who turned heel in the process. At Battleground, Lynch lost to Natalya.
Smackdown Live (2016-2019)
Lynch became the first woman to be drafted to Smackdown Live on July 19th. Lynch started forming an alliance with Naomi and Carmella against Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Eva Marie, forming a six-woman tag team match at SummerSlam. However, Eva was pulled out, only to be replaced by Nikki Bella, who returned at SummerSlam to defeat Lynch's team. All 6 women would compete against each other in a 6-pack elimination Challenge for the first ever Smackdown Women's Championship at Backlash. Lynch won and became the first Smackdown Women's Champion. Her first challenger is Alexa Bliss, who defeated the others for a title shot at No Mercy. Due to a legitimate injury, the title match was rescheduled for the November 8 SmackDown, which saw Lynch victorious in controversial fashion; due to the referee not seeing Bliss' foot on the rope while she tapped out to the Dis-Arm-Her. Lynch was part of SmackDown's women's team at Survivor Series, being the last one eliminated in the five-on-five match, resulting in a loss to Team Raw.
At TLC, Lynch lost the SmackDown Women's Championship in a Tables Match. On the December 13th SmackDown, Lynch defeated Bliss via count out in a title rematch, after Bliss faked an injury. On the following week, Lynch donned a mask and competed as "La Luchadora" en route to defeating Bliss via submission, and revealed herself after the match. On the December 27 "Wild Card Finals" edition of SmackDown Live, Lynch received another title opportunity against Bliss, but she was defeated after being distracted and attacked by someone donning the La Luchadora costume, which on the January 17th episode of Smackdown was revealed to be Mickie James. At the 2017 Royal Rumble, Lynch teamed with Bella and Naomi and the trio defeated James, Bliss and Natalya after Naomi pinned Bliss. Lynch then defeated James at Elimination Chamber.
Right after Money in the Bank, Lynch began a winning streak, defeating different competitors such as Billie Kay, Sonya Deville, Peyton Royce, Mandy Rose and Smackdown Women's Champion Carmella in a non–title match. Because of her wins, Lynch was granted a title match, at SummerSlam, which would later go on to become a triple-threat match with Charlotte involved, after she defeated Carmella in a non-title match as well.
During the week before the 2018 Survivor Series pay-per-view on the November 12th episode of Monday Night RAW, Lynch was injured while involved in a RAW invasion segment. The following night during the November 13th episode of SmackDown Live, Lynch appeared in-ring, showing the effects of her injuries including a bruised left eye. It was reported Lynch sustained a legit concussion and a facial fracture resulting from a punch taken from Nia Jax. For this reason, Lynch was pulled from her match at Survivor Series. During SmackDown Live, Lynch named long-time ally Charlotte as her replacement to meet Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey at the pay-per-view.
After returning Lynch continued her rivalry with Rousey and challenged Asuka for the Smackdown Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble. Lynch lost the championship match but won the women's Royal Rumble match earning the right to face the women's champion of her choosing. She chose to face Rousey at WrestleMania 35. Lynch defeated Rousey and Charlotte at WrestleMania in the main event to win the Raw and Smackdown Women's Championships in a winner takes all Triple Threat match.
Raw (2019-2020)
Following her win at WrestleMania, Lynch became a temporary member of both brands since she held both women's championships. She soon began a feud with newcomer to Raw Lacey Evans for the Raw Women's Championship while also continuing her feud with Charlotte over the SmackDown Women's Championship. In May, at Money in the Bank 2019, Lynch lost the SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte due to Evans interfering but was still able to retain against Evans that same night. Following this, Lynch became exclusive to the Raw brand.
She would continue her feud with Evans over the course of June and July, retaining the title by first defeating Evans at Stomping Grounds 2019 and then at Extreme Rules 2019 alongside her boyfriend and the Universal Champion at the time Seth Rollins in a last chance winners take-all Extreme Rules match where Evans teamed with Baron Corbin. In late July and early August, Lynch began a feud with Natalya within the weeks prior to SummerSlam 2019 where both would attack each other with their separate finishing submissions. At the event, Lynch defeated Natalya in a Submission match to retain and end the feud.
The night after SummerSlam, Sasha Banks returned from her hiatus and attacked Lynch turning heel and reigniting a feud that had occurred during their last few months of NXT and first few months on the main roster all the way back in 2015. Lynch retained the title at Clash of Champions 2019 but lost the actual match against Banks after accidentally hitting the referee with a steel chair. At Hell in a Cell 2019, Lynch successfully defended and retained her title by defeating Banks in Hell in a Cell match ending the feud.
In November, Lynch began a short non-title feud with the opposing brands female champions, Bayley (SmackDown Women's Champion) and Shayna Baszler (NXT Women's Champion) in a build up to Survivor Series 2019 where all three bands would battle it out for bragging rights. At the event, Baszler defeated Lynch and Bayley in the main event after making the latter submit. After the match, Lynch attacked and put Baszler through the announce table to close the show.
In January, Lynch rekindled her feud from the previous January with Asuka with the feud being started again due to Lynch's seemingly unstoppable reign being questioned on if she was truly a great champion since Asuka was able to beat her at the years previous Royal Rumble event to retain her title at the time.
In order to gain revenge and redeem the loss, Lynch faced Asuka at the Royal Rumble 2020 where she was able to defeat her by submission to finally avenge the year long burden and retain her championship. Shortly after this, Lynch made history as the longest reigning Raw Women's Champion in its history passing Ronda Rousey's previous 232 day reign.
In the months leading up to WrestleMania 36, Lynch rekindled her short lived feud with Baszler who had recently moved up to the main roster after she had made a appearance in the women's Royal Rumble match. Baszler officially made her move up after brutally attacking Lynch on a episode of Raw in early February. Baszler soon became number one contender after beating and eliminating all other 5 competitors in the Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber 2020 in early March.
At WrestleMania, Lynch retained her championship by defeating Baszler via a surprise pin on the first night of the show. Due to her win at WrestleMania, Lynch's historic reign reached over a year in length. On the May 11th episode on Monday Night Raw, Lynch made the announcement that she has relinquished the Raw Women's title, due to her pregnancy, and that the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match - which was won by Asuka - was actually for the Raw Women's Championship.
Return (2021–present)
At SummerSlam 2021, following a 15-month hiatus, Lynch made her return, attacking Carmella and replacing her as the challenger for Bianca Belair's SmackDown Women's Championship. Lynch won the match in less than half a minute with just two moves, thus becoming champion.
Other media
Quin performed stunts on a 2013 episode of Vikings.
Lynch made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K17.
Personal life
Quin was a fan of professional wrestling as a child, and used to watch it with her brother. Her brother has also wrestled under the name Gonzo de Mondo. She was involved in horse riding, swimming, and basketball. Prior to beginning to train as a wrestler, Quin stated that she had been "going down a bad path" involving alcohol, but wrestling helped her give it up.
Quin attended university to study philosophy, history, and politics, but said she "really hated it" and dropped out. She planned to return to college to study health and exercise studies. As a wrestler, she has broken both of her ankles and suffered two stingers prior to 2005.
During her time away from wrestling, Quin worked as an actress and was cast in numerous plays from 2011 to 2012. She graduated with a degree in acting from the Dublin Institute of Technology and has attended Columbia College Chicago and the Gaiety School of Acting. She also worked as a flight attendant with Aer Lingus for two and a half years.
It was revealed that Quin was in a relationship with fellow wrestler Colby Lopez, known professionally as Seth Rollins. The couple announced their engagement on August 22, 2019. On May 11, 2020, Quin announced that she was expecting her first child in December and that their wedding, originally planned for May, would take place at a later time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 7, Quin and Lopez welcomed their first daughter, named Roux.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- As Becky Lynch
- Dis-arm-her (Seated fujiwara armbar) – 2014–present
- Bexploder Suplex – 2014; used as a signature move thereafter
- Four-Leg Clover (Inverted figure-four leglock) – 2014; used as a signature move thereafter
- Manhandle Slam - 2019–present
- As Rebecca Knox
- Exploder suplex
- Hard Knox (Leg hook sitout suplex slam)
- As Becky Lynch
- Signature moves
- Armbar
- Bex-Plex (Pumphandle suplex)
- Diving leg drop
- Fisherman's neckbreaker
- Flying Fire-arm (Flying forearm smash, to a cornered opponent, with theatrics)
- Hammerlock Inverted DDT
- Leg lariat
- Springboard leg drop, sometimes while performing a double jump
- Springboard push kick
- Managers
- Nicknames
- "K-nox"
- "Lass Kicker"
- "Becky Balboa"
- "The Man"
- "Becky Two Belts"
- "Big Time Becks"
- Tag teams and stables
- Best At Everything (w/ Sasha Banks)
- PCB (w/ Paige & Charlotte)
- Entrance music
- "U Can’t Touch This" by MC Hammer (CWN)
- "Anything You Wanna Do" by Chris McCormack & Ritch Battersby (NXT)
- "Celtic Invasion" by CFO$ (NXT/WWE)
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked her #41 in the 2014 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #17 in the 2015 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #4 in the 2016 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #19 in the 2017 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #11 in the 2018 PWI Top 100 Females
- PWI ranked her #1 in the 2019 PWI Top 100 Females
- PWI ranked her #34 in the 2021 PWI Top 150 Females
- PWI ranked her #4 in the 2022 PWI Top 150 Females
- PWI ranked her #29 in the 2023 PWI Top 250 Females
- Queens of Chaos
- QOC Championship (1 time)
External links
| 2015 PWI Top 50 Females |
|---|
| Nikki Bella • Paige • Sasha Banks • Santana Garrett • Gail Kim • Charlotte • Naomi • Cherry Bomb • Courtney Rush • Taryn Terrell • Bayley • Brie Bella • Sexy Star • Cheerleader Melissa • Lufisto • Nicole Matthews • Becky Lynch • Kimber Lee • Natalya • Jessicka Havok • Awesome Kong • Candice LeRae • Brooke • Athena • Ivelisse • Jade • Madison Rayne • Leva Bates • Barbi Hayden • Angelina Love • Emma • Saraya Knight • Veda Scott • Velvet Sky • Madison Eagles • Kay Lee Ray • Marti Belle • Kellie Skater • Nikki Storm • Evie • Heidi Lovelace • Tessa Blanchard • Portia Perez • Alicia Fox • Cat Power • Crazy Mary Dobson • Xandra Bale • La Rosa Negra • Malia Hosaka • Vanessa Kraven |
| 2016 PWI Top 50 Females |
|---|
| Charlotte Flair • Sasha Banks • Asuka • Becky Lynch • Bayley • Jade • Natalya • Gail Kim • Sexy Star • Sienna • Ivelisse • Madison Eagles • Nicole Savoy • Rosemary • Allie • Nicole Matthews • Kimber Lee • Candice LeRae • Paige • Heidi Lovelace • Evie • Cheerleader Melissa • Nia Jax • Santana Garrett • Naomi • Dana Brooke • Madison Rayne • Kay Lee Ray • Alexa Bliss • Lufisto • Amber Gallows • Marti Belle • Emma • Taylor Made • Vanessa Kraven • Su Yung • Ember Moon • Tessa Blanchard • Jessicka Havok • Shayna Baszler • Crazy Mary Dobson • Malia Hosaka • Thunder Rosa • Carmella • KC Spinelli • Veda Scott • Jessica James • Xandra Bale • Kaitlin Diemond • Eva Marie |
| 2017 PWI Top 50 Females |
|---|
| Asuka • Charlotte Flair • Alexa Bliss • Sasha Banks • Bayley • Io Shirai • Natalya • Sienna • Naomi • Kairi Sane • Mercedes Martinez • Shayna Baszler • Rosemary • LuFisto • Mayu Iwantani • Mia Yim • Allie • Ember Moon • Becky Lynch • Madison Eagles • Nicole Savoy • Nia Jax • Candice LeRae • Toni Storm • Hiroyo Matsumoto • Chelsea Green • Saraya Knight • Shazza McKenzie • Kay Lee Ray • Mickie James • Dakota Kai • Nicole Matthews • Alex Windsor • Deonna Purrazzo • Abbey Laith • Risa Sera • Viper • Carmella • Ruby Riot • Nikki Cross • Vanessa Kraven • Santana Garrett • Tessa Blanchard • Arisa Nakajima • Lady Lory • Shotzi Blackheart • Veda Scott • Alpha Female • Marti Belle • Zoey Skye |
