Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair might be best friends outside of the ring, but that doesn't mean Lynch likes the analysis that refers to her as the sidekick of the daughter of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
Lynch discussed being pigeonholed as Charlotte's sidekick, and how that bothers her, in an appearance on Jim Ross' podcast, The Ross Report.
"I get called that a lot but it's never anything that I feel I am," Lynch said. "That is, I guess, what ends up being the position and what I end up being called a lot of the time and of course that's bothering. I'm a woman on my own. I've been struggling through this thing since I was 15 years old. To get any sort of belittlement … you're a sidekick or whatever, of course that's going to affect you."
The careers of the two women have several commonalities. They faced one another in NXT, where they were dubbed as two of the "Four Horsewomen" who elevated the NXT women's division, along with Sasha Banks and Bayley. Charlotte and Becky came up to the main roster together in 2015 as part of the "Divas Revolution", faced each other at pay-per-views including a meeting at WrestleMania in 2016. Their outside-the-ring friendship even led to the filming of a segment on an upcoming episode of Ride Along.
"I always want her to do absolutely amazing things and she's so capable … she has so much passion for this business and such a wonderful, sweet human being," Lynch said of Charlotte. "I always just want to be on the same level. ... You never want to be thought of as less than that. You're putting your heart and soul into everything you go out and do. You're never going to be happy or content being called the sidekick and that's not how I ever see myself. When it's said or reiterated, it's like, 'Oh, darn it!' I thought I was past that. But it works for the storyline."
The two friends will face off at Summerslam as the pair of challengers in a Triple Threat for Carmella's Smackdown Women's Title on August 19 at Summerslam. That match originally was booked as a one-on-one match between Lynch and Carmella until Charlotte beat Carmella on the July 31 episode of Smackdown to earn a spot. Lynch told JR she was not surprised by the change.
"I think that's been the thing that's gotten the fans so far behind me, is that things don't come easy for me. It's never a straight path," she said, adding, "I would've thought that it would be a triple threat or four-way or something. I always figure there will be something else on the way. It wasn't ever going to be a straight shot."
Click here to listen to Lynch's entire appearance on The Ross Report.
Asked what would happen ion the match “It'll surprise me as much as everybody else.”
Lynch has dealt with inconsistent opportunities since her reign as the first Smackdown Women's Champion came to an end in December of 2016.
