Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch have finally spoken about one of the most criticized WWE storylines of the last decade: the 2019 on-screen relationship angle that paired them together shortly after they began dating in real life.
During their appearance on Bert Kreischer’s Something’s Burning, both Rollins and Lynch made it clear that the storyline was not something they wanted, and that they strongly disliked the way it affected their careers and characters.
Rollins didn’t mince words when discussing how quickly WWE turned their real relationship into a storyline: “As soon as it was out that we were together, we were put on TV as a couple, which was pretty awful.”
The timing was especially frustrating for both of them, as they were each at major peaks in their careers. Lynch explained that she had just main evented WrestleMania 35 and was one of WWE’s hottest stars, making the forced pairing feel creatively suffocating: “I was at the height of my career. I was The Man… and he was the heavyweight champion.”
Going from a historic WrestleMania main event to a romantic angle with Lacey Evans involved was creatively damaging for her. Becky even took a little shot at Lacey, saying that Lacey wasn’t a big enough star to feud with her at the time:
“For me to go from the main event of WrestleMania to somebody who hadn’t done anything was terrible.”
She added that WWE repeatedly emphasized their real-life relationship on commentary, making the whole thing worse: “They kept talking about, ‘Becky and Seth in a real-life relationship’ every two minutes. So it was jammed down everybody’s throats. Everybody hated it. It was awkward as f**k.”
Lynch also pointed out how bizarre it felt to perform as a couple before their real-life relationship was even fully formed: “We didn’t know our own dynamic as a couple and now we’re on TV.”
Their characters, personalities, and on-screen demeanors simply didn’t match their actual relationship – especially Lynch’s persona at the time. “My wrestling character is so different to how I am in real life and especially as a girlfriend.”
Rollins agreed that the situation was uncomfortable and badly timed. Rollins reiterated just how rough the whole period was: “It was not great… pretty awful.”
The storyline also overlapped with Rollins’ struggles with social media backlash in 2019 – something he said caused a “full collapse” personally and creatively. Being placed into a widely disliked romance angle only amplified the negativity.
Before WWE made it public, the couple attempted (unsuccessfully) to keep their romance off the radar: “We tried to keep it a secret for like a month… failed miserably. We thought we were being subtle.”
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