WrestleMania 36 will be one of the most unique events in WWE history. The coronavirus pandemic forced the company to move the annual extravaganza from Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium to its WWE Performance Center in Orlando along with several closed-set locations. And there will be no fans in attendance for any of the matches.
WWE made the decision to split the show into two nights as it air on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 on the WWE Network and on pay-per-view.
Almost a year ago, Becky Lynch headlined WrestleMania 35 where she defeated both Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair to win both the “RAW” and “SmackDown” women’s championships. Fast-forward to now and Lynch is still representing the red brand as its champion.
MORE: Everything you need to know about WrestleMania 36
This past year has seen Lynch become one of the top stars in all of WWE with braggadocious ways continuing to draw huge fan support. At WrestleMania 36, she will defend her “RAW” women’s championship against former MMA fighter and NXT champion Shayna Baszler in what will be quite a memorable setting.
Sporting News recently spoke with Lynch as she talked about performing in front of no fans, training while having to stay at home, her year as champion, and what she sees in her WrestleMania 36 opponent.
The #Raw #WomensTitle is ON THE LINE at #WrestleMania when #TheMan @BeckyLynchWWE defends against @QoSBaszler ! pic.twitter.com/MaZOBHGVze
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) March 17, 2020
SPORTING NEWS: We know that these are unique circumstances that we're all living in right now. You're always an upbeat person. What have you been able to do to keep yourself upbeat and positive?
BECKY LYNCH: I am privileged enough that I still get to go, whether there are crowds or not, go out there and perform for people at home watching and hopefully give them a little bit of a break. And also, really just things that you don't really get the time to do a lot of the time, like catching up on movies and documentaries and changing your workouts a little bit. It makes you a little bit more creative. And then cooking. I love cooking and I'm never at home to cook.
SN: What's your go-to dish at home for cooking?
BL: It depends, right? If I'm in a hurry, then I make a Shepherd's pie but I don't eat meat so I make it with corn which is a meat substitute and then I use cauliflower mashed potatoes. I made that last night. Maybe it tastes like a little bit of home. I do lasagna, too.
SN: You said that you get have to get creative when it comes to your workouts. What have you been able to do to keep in shape especially if you don't have access to a gym?
BL: A million squats. So many squats and burpees. I have equipment so I did a good 10 rounds of 10 burpees, 10 upswings, 10 sit-ups and 10 goblet squats followed by 300 bodyweight squats, 200 bodyweight lunges, and 100 sit-ups. That was a good workout. I hurt for a couple of days after that. And stuff like running, just getting some fresh air.
SN: How have you been able to wrap your arms around performing under the circumstances right now? It's obviously different than anything that anybody is used to.
BL: It's very different, right? It's all about adaption and I wouldn't be where I am in my career if I wasn't about to adapt to that and know when to shift when the time is right. So I think that you just have to go into a different mode, you have to realize that you're not going to get the same feedback. It feels so good when we have the crowd responding. But to know that, OK, you're not going to get that feedback. You have to tell them a story. The people that are watching at home, the millions of people that are watching at home, you have to tell them a story. You have to give them a reason to care. You have to give them a reason to think about something else for a little bit whether it's an hour or three hours or whatever it is. Then you just figure out how can I do this the best and that's all this ever is for me: how can I do this the best.
SN: Do you have to think about a little bit more when you're in the ring? You feed off the crowd so much like so many of your peers but you don't have that crowd. Is it something you think about a little bit more while you're out there right now?
BL: Yeah, it is. That is the thing — I've always been somebody who fed off that energy and connected to the crowd. Now, they're just not there to let you know that you're connected to them. It really is just remembering that there are millions of people watching at home and that you are reaching them but now in a different way. So now, little details are even more important than they ever were.
Low-key Lynch. #GOAT pic.twitter.com/JMbvC4mOm2
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) March 3, 2020
SN: There are plenty of stories that everybody has about wrestling in front of just a couple of people early in their careers. Does this take you back to those early days?
BL: Oh, yeah. I remember wrestling in front of seven people, if even. And with Irish people, I don't know if you've noticed, but they're not really shy, right? They're usually quick-witted with comebacks from things where you can hear all of them when they're in the crowd. Sometimes just a few people is worse than nobody. I've already been through, to wrestling in front of next to nobody. WrestleMania will be the first time that I wrestle in front of nobody in terms of a WWE audience. I'll just be bringing that energy, bringing that intensity. And I don't want to lose my championship. I want to go on over here. I want to be over here being a champion. I want to retire with this thing.
SN: Has it really hit that had this huge WrestleMania moment last year and now you're going to have the championship for coming up on a year here?
BL: Yeah. I've had a little time to think about it. It's pretty crazy and it brings its own challenges. And because of that, because I've had it for a year, I've been nonstop going for a year, over a year. So, it really was a case of constantly going and constantly being on the go and now and I've finally gotten the chance to reflect on the past year and reflect on what I want for the future, the next year, which is pretty cool.
SN: People can have a big moment at WrestleMania but then it's what you do next. What has been the key for you to stay fresh and remain successful since last year's WrestleMania?
BL: Always adapting. Always adapt and always trying to change and take chances. Take risks and sometimes they don't work, sometimes you might fall flat on your face but you got to keep trying and I think that's the most important thing. Be willing to go out there and be willing to change and be willing to try things even if they don't work.
SN: You're facing Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania. You've seen her coming for a while with her work in NXT and more recently on "RAW." What has stood out in your mind in what you have seen from her?
BL: She's a technician. She's as good as anybody I've ever seen so it can be tricky trying to lock on that armbar. But, you know, I'm always looking for alternative ways. She's powerful. She's strong. She's intense, she's dominant like we saw at Elimination Chamber. She's unlike anybody I've faced in the last year.
I see everything. pic.twitter.com/ci1rdV4Ka2
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) March 18, 2020
SN: Does she remind you of yourself from the standpoint of the intensity that she brings?
BL: Yeah, I can see the comparison. She's not the most spectacular in her move set but she's gritty and I can relate to that. I can also relate to maybe being in somebody else's shadow, you know, and maybe not always being the one who got the spotlight and wanting to prove something. I think we can see that through Shayna and we saw that for me. It worked out pretty well for me so it can work out pretty well for Shayna. But I'm not the person she's going to make a name off of.
SN: You're teaming up with the Special Olympics to create a fitness video series called School of Strength . Tell me a little bit about that and how that came together.
BL: I've done a lot of work with the Special Olympics over the last few years. It's one of my favorite things to do. The energy that those athletes have and the love and the work ethic that they have is just incredible. So when the opportunity presented itself, at-home workouts that these athletes could do, there's really never been a better time to do that than right now. So, I was delighted to jump on board.
SN: I know everybody has had to make adjustments with any upcoming plans due to what we're going through right now and now everybody basically staying at home. Has this affected your wedding plans? (Lynch is engaged to fellow WWE superstar Seth Rollins.)
BL: Yeah, but like everything you adjust and you move forward. At the end of the day, as long as we have our health and as long as we have the people that we love and care about, that's the main thing.
