Becky Lynch Comments on Equal Pay in Wrestling & No Reason Why She Should Not Be Paid Same as a Top Guy
A recent episode of The Breakfast Club podcast featured Becky Lynch as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Lynch’s thoughts about wanting to see equal pay in the wrestling industry and not seeing any reason why she should not be paid the same as a top guy star.
“The last contract I signed was three years ago. I was coming back after having my kid. When I left, I left on top. It’s one of those things where, sometimes in a male dominated sport, we’re historically like, ‘Thank you. Thank you for that. I don’t want to make any waves.’ It was one of those things where I was like, ‘No, I deserve this.’ There is no reason why I should not be getting paid the same as a top guy. Because of my gender? No. You can put me in any main event. You can put me in any main event and it makes sense. I’ve proved that time and time again. So, compensate me fairly, please. It is that thing of having to ask for more. ‘I’m so grateful that you’re paying me more than we used to be paid, but still I need more.’ You’re always pushing that barrier. It’s come a long way and I love to see it.”
Transcript h/t: Fightful.com
Naomi Comments on Never Having a Doubt That She Would Return to WWE
A recent episode of the Going Ringside podcast featured Naomi as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Naomi’s thoughts about her recent return to WWE and if she ever had a doubt about returning to the company.
“WWE is home, you know? It was never a doubt about returning. It was just a matter of when and me wanting to prove some things and do some things that I needed to do for myself. And I did that. I accomplished that. And it was just time. I missed it so much. And WWE is always family.”
Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com
WWE News & Notes
Former WWE talents Jazz and Maryse reportedly recently traveled to Philadelphia ahead of this weekend’s WWE WrestleMania 40 event in the city, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that former WWE and ECW wrestler Dawn Marie is also currently expected to be in attendance at this Friday’s WWE Hall of Fame 2024 ceremony.
Roman Reigns recently reached the milestone of two years as current reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion on Wednesday. Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022 to become the new WWE Champion and unify his Universal title into the current Undisputed WWE Universal title.
NXT talent Saquon Shugars, former Lucky Ali in the indies, announced on Twitter that recently suffered a knee injury. No other details were given regarding the cause nor nature of his injury nor potential timetable for a return.
Sami Zayn recently announced on Twitter that he will be hosting his first ever comedy show called “Sami Zayn And Friends” on May 11th as part of Netflix’s upcoming “Netflix Is A Joke” comedy festival in Los Angeles, California.
Chelsea Green recently announced on Twitter that she got kicked out of the Fairmont Hotel due to staff thinking she was an escort over the way she dressed following this past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Brooklyn, New York. Green stated “Man… one night you’re wrestling at Barclays Center, having the time of your life and the next you’re being kicked out of @FairmontHotels and accused of being an escort because of your outfit. Life is funny! Maybe next year I won’t celebrate Wrestlemania weekend at The Plaza Hotel LOL…“
In a recent interview with ESPN’s First Take show, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts about if he will finish his story at WrestleMania 40. Rhodes stated “Well, if I don’t finish the story, I might as well move over to commentary at that point. I might as well hit the booth. There’s a thing in our world, the good guy – you’ll hear him referred to as the babyface – it’s hard enough to be a good guy in 2024. And they’ve rode with me, these fans. They’ve been supportive. They created the ‘We Want Cody’ movement. The whole thing. So if I lost again, I feel like you lose their faith. And more than anything, even if I didn’t believe – WrestleMania 40 – that I was leaving [as] Undisputed WWE Champion. If I didn’t believe, they believe. So I gotta do it for them. And I believe.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)
In a recent interview with The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani show, CM Punk gave his thoughts about his belief about how guaranteed contracts almost ruined the pro wrestling industry. Punk stated “I don’t regret saying it. I think I was catering and maybe leaning too much towards the niche audience. I was sold on AEW being an alternative to what WWE was. That’s the biggest shame to me. This is a last chance. I like competitors. I like guys being able to be like, ‘I can go over here and make X amount of money.’ That’s good for the business and good for the boys. When you’re there, guaranteed money almost ruined pro wrestling. If you had to get paid based off the house, the place would be drastically different. ‘Oh shit, this isn’t working. Do something else. Pivot.’ What is going to get people into the building? The short time I had where I was ‘in charge’ of Collision, that’s the way I did things. What did we draw here last time? Okay, my goal is to get one more ticket sold. I did that. I work incrementally.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with NewsNation, Ronda Rousey gave her thoughts about her belief that NDAs are the only reason why more accusations by other women against Vince McMahon have not come out yet. Rousey stated “I mean, not that I know of (Rousey said in response to if she knows if there could be more women coming forward with allegations against Vince McMahon and/or WWE). I just know Janel Grant only came forward because Vince McMahon didn’t pay out the full hush money payment. It was like 3 million dollars that she was promised for signing an N.D.A. or whatever, buying her silence and the only reason it got discovered was that he paid her off one million dollars with the company’s money and it wasn’t even his money and then they discovered 17 million dollars of other hush money payments that he paid to other women who aren’t gonna say anything because, you know, they got paid and they signed not to so, there’s definitely a lot more skeletons in that closet but I don’t know if we’re gonna hear about anymore unless Vince misses some more payments or uses some more company money to pay off these women.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda’s WrestleBinge podcast, Corey Graves gave his thoughts about Ronda Rousey’s recent comments about her issues with Vince McMahon and her time in WWE. Graves stated “Listen, I take everything with a grain of salt, and if you’re in this business for any duration, you get used to letting those sort of things roll off your back. Everybody has a different experience in the WWE or in the wrestling business. Not everybody accomplishes what they set out to accomplish. Some people never expect to love it and fall madly in love with it. You look at a guy coming from a different world like a Logan Paul, who’s taken to this like a fish to water. He’s having a very different experience. Ronda came from the combat sports world, which is a very different world, despite being the same general flavor as wrestling, as WWE. So I’ve always gotten along well with Ronda. Her personal experience is her personal experience. When my name is mentioned, I can add something, but you never really fault anybody…she’s entitled to her opinion. I don’t necessarily say I’m inclined to agree, and I may downright disagree sometimes, but people are entitled to their opinions, and I’m sorry that she feels that way. She’s got a lot of fans around the world who were grateful for her time here.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)