The Forbidden Lore Of WWE's Becky Lynch
Founders and bookers Dave Prazak and Allison Danger had booked Knox against Daizee Haze, another versatile mat virtuoso who could credibly kick the piss out of her opponents, in an hour-long Iron Man match scheduled for the Volume 7 show. It would be hyperbolic to state that this would have propelled Knox into the wider public consciousness. WWE was at least seven years away from treating women’s wrestling as something that might one day draw money, and were beaten to the punch stateside by, of all people, Vince Russo.
But in an era in which the great U.S. wrestling match was still enough of a novelty to launch physical media businesses like Ring Of Honor, who knows: this bold attempt at a statement match might have at least sparked an actual, elusive conversation beyond the raves she drew on the lesser-read message boards. Knox and Daizee shared a telepathic chemistry, and Danger - opposite whom Knox worked a Pure Rules match that SHIMMER ultras still rave about to this day - knew it. Danger, in reality, was no “divvy knacker”; she knew how great Rebecca Knox could be. Rebecca Knox didn’t.
Knox retired in 2006, aged 19. She cited an injury at the time (cranial nerve damage), at least to herself, but revealed the truth some time later. She said she was making minimal money, $50 a weekend, and had to fend for herself. She started to fret over the fear of failure; then, as her head started whirring, success. She said she was depressed, confused, and lost - and when she got hurt, “I kinda used that as an excuse to kinda step away”.
According to Cagematch, Knox worked a one-shot in 2008, but aside from that, she worked her last match as an aspiring full-time wrestler before her injury on September 23, 2006, dropping the Queens of Chaos title to Sweet Saraya: Paige/Saraya’s mother.
This mental health revelation scanned as baffling to those who followed Knox in her early years - underscoring that it can happen to anybody. Knox wrestled and talked with such a cocky swagger than you’d never have known that there wasn’t a women’s wrestling scene of note for her to take over. She radiated star power - it was innate to her - and this is best illustrated by watching this short clip. In the promo, she heckles the audiences, accusing the “hillbillies” of creaming themselves over her. Knox’s comedic timing is superb.
“I bet you can’t wait for Rebecca Knox to put on her wrestling boots and her nice little ring attire and show off her…incredible physique”.
The pause here is great. She drew a big laugh in the room before eliciting boos when revealing that she wouldn't be doing anything of the sort. Knox was the sort of heel who was always seconds away from turning babyface, she was so charming and charismatic - not entirely unlike Ric Flair or the Rock, only more self-aware. As good as she was technically, and as vicious as she was with a throw, Knox got the showbiz element as strongly as the fundamentals.
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