Becky Lynch made her surprise return at WrestleMania 41, teaming up with Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria to battle Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women's Tag Team titles.
Lynch and Valkyria were successful, and while the response in Las Vegas was positive, the online feedback told a very different story. Having returned to WWE and immediately won yet another title, "The Man" was dubbed "Becky Hogan," a reference to Hulk Hogan's habit of parachuting into title scenes, having a lot of creative control, and typically walking away with gold.
The former Women's Champion's popularity has waned in recent years, largely due to how she's been booked and a heel persona that generated the dreaded "go away" heat.
Talking on the RAW Recap this morning, Lynch hit back at fans who compare her to Hogan ("Becky Hogan" trended on social media after the Show of Shows).
"These people go around and compare me to the [scummiest] person on Earth? After everything I’ve done for them?" Lynch said. "And I’m the bad guy? I’m supposed to sit here and take it. Even though I haven’t done anything wrong? I broke through the glass ceiling. I changed the game."
"My wonderful face by that way, that's already been scarred up. My nose doesn't sit perfectly straight anymore. My shoulder is popping out. I’ve got scars on my arms. All of this because of what I’ve given to this industry," she continued. "I wear the scars of what I've done on my body. I wear them with pride, because of all I've given back."
Lynch also made a point of calling out the fans who view the age of women's wrestlers differently from the men (she recently turned 38).
"I could continue to do what I’m doing. Be great. But just beat all these young people, these newer people. It’s not that hard. But for some reason, it seems to be hard. And it seems to be harder on the women's division. Look at the men's. Who you got that's hot and young over there?"
"No, you got a bunch of old lads. And nobody's saying nothing. And nobody's saying like, 'Oh, move over. Move over, CM Punk, move over, Seth Rollins.' Nobody's saying that. But they’ll say it to me, so who’s the backup? Why am I supposed to move over?"
If Lynch defeats Valkyria for the Intercontinental Championship at Backlash this weekend, then she'll really struggle to shrug off those Hogan comparisons. You can hear more from her in the player below.