PRESHOW

When I was five years old, my dad said to me, “Make sure you keep a journal. I wish I had. Back in my day, a quarter pound of sweets cost five p; now it costs fifty p. It would be interesting to keep track of that.”

I’m sure there are more interesting things I could have kept track of than the price of sweets, but that’s where my lifelong love affair with writing began. I’ve journaled my whole life, in the hopes that when I began writing my memoir I could draw from a well of information and memories. It didn’t quite work out that way, however. In researching this book, I discovered that my journals were more like the repetitive ramblings of a madwoman. Maybe not a madwoman, but certainly a lost girl trying to find her way in this crazy world—tormented by bad relationships, teen angst, and repeating the same problems over and over again.

Despite my diligence in recording how I was feeling at all times (and the price of sweets, of course), I wrote down very few actual stories or memories. One thing that my journals make abundantly clear, though, is how much wrestling changed my life forever. It got into my bloodstream early on—and I don’t believe it could be eradicated even if I were to get a complete transfusion.

You probably know me as Becky Lynch. If not, maybe I served you in a bar in New York City or handed you peanuts high above the Atlantic. Maybe you saw me kill a man with a shield on The Vikings, or watched me reach octaves reserved only for Cyndi Lauper as I played her on NBC’s Young Rock. My professional life has been turbulent either way, and I hope to be able to recap the most interesting parts here for you. At times, I wish Rebecca Quin were more like the character I play on TV. Instead, she’s vulnerable, often foolish, and a whole lot more complex. But I like that about her.