Rebecca Quin (January 30, 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, performing on the SmackDown brand where she wrestles under the ring name Becky Lynch. She was the inaugural WWE Smackdown Women's Champion. Within the independent circuit, she was known as Rebecca Knox.
Quin began training as a professional wrestler under Fergal Devitt and Paul Tracey in June 2002, and made her debut five months later. Initially working in Ireland and occasionally teaming with her brother, she soon expanded her career into the rest of Europe. She wrestled regularly for the France-based Queens of Chaos promotion, and won the World Queens of Chaos Championship in 2006. She also wrestled for England's One Pro Wrestling and Germany's German Stampede Wrestling.
She competed in the SuperGirls Wrestling promotion, an offshoot of Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling. She was the promotion's inaugural SuperGirls Champion and held the championship for 10 months and two days. She also appeared at ChickFight III, where she made it to the second round of the tournament. In 2006, she debuted for the all-female Shimmer Women Athletes promotion, and was involved in a series of matches with Daizee Haze, including an acclaimed two out of three falls match.
In September 2006, Knox suffered a head injury during a match in Germany, and was diagnosed with possible damage to her eighth cranial nerve. She was scheduled to return to wrestling in 2008, but no-showed the event, stating she no longer felt that wrestling was the right option for her at that time. She later returned to Shimmer as a manager in 2011, before signing a contract with WWE in 2013
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.[3][7] Beginning in June 2002, she ended up training there, along with her brother.[7] She made her professional wrestling debut five months later on 11 November, using the name Rebecca Knox.[2][3] She teamed with her brother in mixed tag team matches during the early part of her career.[3] 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 13 May 2005, Knox was defeated by English wrestler Skye at Queens of Chaos' inaugural show and DVD taping in Toulouse, France. On 7 August 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 26 September 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 4 May 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 Extreme 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 17 May, before losing to her in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia a month later on 17 June. 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 24 June, 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 23 September 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 25 March and teaming with Sid Sylum and Gurv Sihra to defeat Matthews, Phantasmo and Kyle O'Reilly on 31 March. On 8 April, Knox defeated Veronika. Knox held the SuperGirls Championship for 10 months and two days, before eventually losing it to Lisa Moretti on 21 April 2006.
On 14 October 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 21 January and 26 February 2006. On 21 January she acted as the referee in a match between Christopher Ryseck and Caden Matthews, and helped Ryseck to win by hitting Matthews with a chair. On 26 February, 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 21 May, 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 26 April 2008, but no-showed, stating that she did not believe that wrestling was the correct career choice for her at that time.
On 26 March 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 9 November, 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 13 August, before teaming with Bullfight Sora to defeated Gami and Kyoko Kimura. On 18 August, 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.
WWE
NXT (2013–2015)
On 8 April 2013, it was reported that Quin had signed a two-year developmental deal with WWE and had moved to Florida to report to their developmental territory NXT.[1] On 29 August, Quin's new ring name was revealed as "Becky Lynch", and she debuted at an NXT live event in November.[2][5]
Lynch made her televised in-ring debut on the 26 June 2014 episode of NXT, defeating Summer Rae.[43] On the 3 July 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.[44] She spent the next few months in non-title matches against Charlotte, losing three in a row.[45][46][47] On the 23 October episode of NXT, after being told to make herself relevant, Lynch aligned herself with Sasha Banks by attacking Bayley.[48]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.[49][50]
On 11 February, at NXT TakeOver: Rival, Lynch participated in a fatal four-way match for the NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Banks.[51] On the 22 April 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.[52] On 20 May, 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.[53][54] The match received widespread critical acclaim, with praise going to the performances of both Banks and Lynch.[55][56]
Main Roster (2015–present)
Lynch made her debut on the July 13 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 (The Bella Twins and 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 villainous traits, like using her father to keep her title.
Lynch would beat Charlotte on the January 4 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 7 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 2 May 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 5 May episode of Smackdown. On the 9 May 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 12 episode of Smackdown, she was defeated by Brooke after being distracted by Emma, and once again repeating the event on the May 16 episode of Raw. On June 19 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 villainous in the process. At Battleground, Lynch lost to Natalya.
Smackdown Live (2016-present)
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 13 SmackDown, Lynch defeated Bliss via countout 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 a villainess donning the La Luchadora costume. Their title rematch took place the following week, which Lynch lost after a distraction and attack by a mysterious villainess wearing the "La Luchadora" costume, which on the 17 January episode of Smackdown is 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.
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.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- As Becky Lynch
- Dis-arm-her (Seated fujiwara armbar) – 2014–present
- Bexploder Suplex (Exploder suplex) – 2014; used as a signature move thereafter
- Four-Leg Clover (Inverted figure-four leglock) – 2014; used as a signature move thereafter
- As Rebecca Knox
- Exploder suplex
- Hard Knox (Leg hook sitout suplex slam)
- As Becky Lynch
- Signature moves
- Back kick
- Top rope legdrop
- Springboard push kick
- Arm bar
- Pumphandle suplex
- Fisherman's neckbreaker
- Multiple running leg drops, with theatrics
- Flying Fire-arm (Flying forearm smash, to a cornered opponent, with theatrics)
- Leg lariat
- Pumphandle side slam
- Pumphandle suplex
- Springboard leg drop, sometimes while performing a double jump
- Managers
- Nicknames
- "K-nox"
- "Lass Kicker"
- Theme 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
- Queens of Chaos
- QOC Champion (1 time)
See also
- Becky Lynch’s event history
