By Becky Lynch was sitting on top of WWE when she decided to start a family — and she now says part of that decision was about proving that women shouldn’t have to sacrifice one dream to have another. Speaking at the 2026 espnW: Women + Sports Summit, Lynch explained she wanted to show it was possible to become a mother without accepting that her days at the top of professional wrestling were over.
Lynch revealed that the very same summit played a role in changing how she viewed motherhood years earlier. Attending the 2019 edition, she listened to Olympic sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce talk about returning to competition after having a child. “I was like, ‘Oh, it can be done. You can do that. You can go have a kid and come back and be at the top of your game,'” Lynch recalled. “Six months later…”
Stepping Away at the Peak
That realization landed while Lynch was experiencing the biggest run of her WWE career. She had already main-evented WrestleMania and was in the middle of a 399-day championship reign when she eventually stepped away after becoming pregnant. Lynch said she had always wanted a family and felt she had found the right partner in Seth Rollins — but she refused the idea that motherhood automatically meant surrendering everything she had built.
“It didn’t feel like I was giving up my top spot. It felt like I was doing something with my top spot because before it was, if you go off and you have a kid, well then that’s it. Goodbye.”
“Why Would I Have to Choose?”
Lynch’s goal went beyond her own comeback. She looked at the biggest male wrestlers and saw they were never expected to choose between fatherhood and remaining on top. “The top men, they don’t have to choose whether they have a family or they’re on top of the game. And I was like, ‘Huh, well, if they don’t have to choose, why would I have to choose?’ And it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Years later, Lynch believes that mindset has taken hold inside WWE. She pointed to the growing number of mothers in the locker room and said women now understand that having children doesn’t automatically mean walking away. She came back herself, won more championships, and helped prove the exact point she set out to make.
Becky Lynch (Credits: Ringside News)
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Source: Ringside News — read the full story there.
