"He became my hero" - Becky Lynch got into wrestling because of a WWE legend
Becky Lynch is inarguably one of WWE's biggest stars, but she probably would not have been a pro wrestler if not for Mick Foley.
Like many present-day Superstars, Big Time Becks grew up watching the Attitude Era and could instantly relate to the Hardcore legend. Lynch, also like many others, briefly stopped watching wrestling and, as time progressed, developed ill feelings towards the art form.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Becky Lynch admitted she ridiculed professional wrestling for being fake until she saw Mick Foley. The way Foley talked captivated Lynch's attention, as she explained below:
"I was one of those. I was the worst. I was like, oh, no, you know, that's so fake, that for babies. And [he said] no, no, just it's gotten really good. Yeah, sure, whatever. But then Mick would come on and would be like the way he talked, you know, and the stories he would tell and this underdog that he was in this unlikely superstar that he was."
Being a "misfit" during her childhood days, Becky Lynch could see herself in Mick Foley and idolized the former WWE Champion as she fell in love with professional wrestling.
She continued:
"I was a bit of a misfit as a kid, not a bit of a misfit, very much a misfit. And I could see myself in him like there was just that relationship, that rapport of like, 'No, you're not the picture-perfect superstar.' And so he became my hero."
Becky Lynch recalls falling out of watching pro wrestling and WWE
The amount of lapsed wrestling fans is high, as many stopped following the sport during different eras. Some tuned out after the Attitude Era ended, but in Becky Lynch's case, it happened much before.
Lynch's earliest memories were of seeing Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior be larger-than-life babyfaces. She admittedly gave up on WWE after her brother stopped being a fan, and it took the ground-breaking Attitude Era programming - of which Mick Foley was an important member - to get her back into being an ardent supporter of sports entertainment.
"Mick Foley told me a story, man, his promos. Yeah, so, like, I remember being a fan when I was a kid, you know, Hulkamania, Warrior, all that kind of jazz, dressing up in my mom's clothes and wrestling with my brother on her bed. But I fell out of watching it, I think, mostly because my brother fell out of watching, and then he started watching again in the Attitude Era. And I'd come along when he was watching it."
The former Women's Champion also spoke about nearly being fired, and you can read more about what she said right here.
What are your favorite memories of Mick Foley during the Attitude Era? Sound off in the comments section below.