Becky Lynch talks her wrestling future

As has frequently been pointed out since she announced her pregnancy and pressed pause on her WWE career, Becky Lynch can and should do whatever she wants with her life.

But because most of her fans grew to love, respect, and admire her as a pro wrestler, there are going to continue to be questions about her future in the business. Lynch is handling those as well as she handles all interactions with the media & the public – which is to say very.

Take this talk with ESPN’s Charlotte Gibson. The interview’s set-up to focus on Becky & WWE’s partnership with Special Olympics, but it quickly segues into her impending motherhood, and what that means for her career plans.

The Man puts the spotlight on wrestling moms like her successor as Raw Women’s champion, works in a call for gender equity, and cuts a promo on how motivated she is to resume her career while raising a family… all without actually committing to wrestling again.

On stepping away from the ring to start a family with Seth Rollins:

“Well, it’s tough because I’ve given my whole life to wrestling and to moving forward in my career. But this was a choice that, for me, felt like the right one. Because it is wild that a lot of women still have to choose between their athletics or a family. And I didn’t want to have to choose that. For me, this was the right time to go and start a family, something that I’ve always wanted to do. And so I feel like I’ve achieved nearly everything I could achieve in wrestling. I think there’s nothing more important than family. And I’m so excited to experience that and to have this other person that is half me and half the love of my life that I get to show love.”

Who here role models are when it comes to balancing career and motherhood, and their proving she could pursue both:

“Bringing it closer to home, I’ll talk about the mothers in my own line of work: WWE superstars Asuka, Mickie James and Lacey Evans. They’ve all proven that you can do both.

That’s something that I’ve always preached and wanted women to have that equality. And of course, to be on the level with the male performers and be on the same level in terms of pay, in terms of treatment. But also, this kind of goes hand in hand where a guy can go and have a kid and doesn’t have to miss a beat in his career. Unfortunately, we do. But that’s also a fortunate thing because we get to experience things that they never will, but also it just doesn’t mean that it’s got to be the end for a career in any line. And I think a lot of people have proved that, and I hope to join them.”

On how her life’s changed over the past couple years, and if she has a plan to resume wrestling after the baby’s born in December:

“Apart from now being pregnant, I think personally just being happy. I have a great family, great friends and now a new family. It’s weird. I don’t know that life has even changed that much, apart from the obvious. But it’s one of those things where no matter what goal you achieve, no matter where you get to on your journey, you always have an idea of what it’s going to look like or how you’re going to be, but really you’re the same person. You’ve just done some cool things. And then you move on to the next cool thing. I remember in 2019 everybody asking how are you going to top this year. And I had absolutely no idea, and here I am topping last year!

Yeah. It’s [returning to the ring] one of those things where I know what I feel and think as a person without a child. I don’t know what that’s going to look like when I do have one, and that’s my priority. I’ll tell you, it’ll give me more motivation than ever, I could imagine. But this isn’t the end of me, one way or the other.”

In large part, it’s the line Becky’s stuck to since the announcement. She doesn’t know how it feels to have a child in her life, so she can’t make promises about what she’ll do once she does – other than be the best mom she can be.

But this does sound a little more like “I’ll be back” than her previous, general “WWE will always be part of my life” statements.

We’ll see. Based on her track record, there’s no reason to think she won’t kick ass at all the things decides to do with the rest of her life