Celebrating WWE Star 'The Man' Becky Lynch on Her 32nd Birthday

Becky Lynch turns 32 years old on Wednesday, and seeing as how she has become the biggest star in pro wrestling, it feels appropriate to look back at how much has changed for her over the past year. 

Just one year ago, Lynch entered the first women's Royal Rumble match in the second spot and lasted an impressive 30 minutes before being eliminated by Ruby Riott.

She sat out Elimination Chamber and ended up on the losing end of a tag team match at Fastlane alongside Naomi. Needless to say, 2018 did not have the greatest start for The Irish Lass Kicker.

Things didn't get much better at WrestleMania 34. She was booked on the pre-show in the women's Battle Royal but came up short when Naomi scored the win and claimed the trophy for herself.

The next three pay-per-views were even worse. Lynch sat on the bench for Fastlane, lost at Money in the Bank to Alexa Bliss and missed out on Extreme Rules.

Despite her poor booking at PPVs, she remained a regular fixture at SmackDown and maintained a respectable win-loss record. Her popularity never fell, but you could tell her fans were getting just as frustrated as she was to see her being passed over for so many opportunities.

It finally felt like things were starting to turn around during the leadup to SummerSlam on August 19 when she earned a title shot against Carmella. Then, WWE added Charlotte Flair to the match as soon as she returned from an injury.

Many fans felt she was being unfairly passed over again after The Queen successfully won the title from Carmella, but what none of us realized was this moment would the catalyst for something amazing.

We often criticize WWE management for a variety of reasons, but the company deserves credit for how everything played out after the match.

As Flair was celebrating her win, the camera pushed in closer on Lynch's face. Her facial expressions perfectly portrayed how disappointed she was. All those months of hard work led to another loss and it had finally taken its toll on her—and it was written all over her face.

She and Charlotte hugged a couple of times as the crowd vented its collective frustration at seeing The Lass Kicker lose, and then Lynch slapped the taste out of The Queen's mouth.

The fans erupted as she began mercilessly beating down her former best friend in a fit of rage. It was almost more satisfying to see her snap than it would have been had she actually won the belt.

This was supposed to be the start of a heel turn, and for any other Superstar, it would have worked. However, Lynch had already won over the hearts and minds of the WWE Universe and nobody was going to boo her for attacking Charlotte.

WWE tried to have her deliver a heel promo two days later on SmackDown, but the crowd continued chanting her name and refused to be tricked into thinking of her as the bad guy.

Instead of stubbornly digging in and trying to make the heel turn work like WWE usually would, management finally realized how much more valuable The Lass Kicker would be as more of an antihero. 

This is when things really started to pick up. Lynch christened herself as "The Man" of WWE and started fresh as a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

From that point forward, the first SmackDown women's champion could do no wrong. The crowd decided she was the spiritual successor to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and threw its support behind her.

At the Hell in a Cell PPV on September 16, The Man defeated The Queen to regain the SmackDown Women's Championship and right the wrongs that had been done to her over the past several months.

Their next two matches at Super Show-Down and Evolution continued to live up to expectations and further cemented Lynch as the face of the blue brand. It seemed there was no stopping her as she prepared to battle Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series, but fate has a funny way of stepping in at times like this.

As she led an invasion of the Raw women's locker room, Lynch took a stiff shot to the face from Nia Jax and ended up with a broken face and a concussion, but if you think she let that stop her, you are dead wrong.

Instead of rolling out of the ring and letting a doctor clean her up, The Man became an even bigger icon by continuing to participate in the beatdown while bleeding profusely from her nose.

The image of a smiling, bloodied Lynch was so much more powerful than can be put into words, especially in the PG era. It was like we were seeing a legend being born right in front of our eyes.

The injury forced her to sit out her match against Rousey, but the whole incident ended up endearing her to the crowd even more. 

From that point forward, everyone else has been playing catchup. Lynch has become one of the most talked-about pro wrestlers in the industry and one of the most popular Superstars on the roster today.

Winning the Royal Rumble to earn herself a shot at Rowdy's Raw women's title at WrestleMania 35 was the icing on the cake after what has been a wild ride for the past few months.

The best part about being able to watch all of this as a fan is how organically her push has come together. There was obviously some planning involved on WWE's part, but it has also been a lot of adjusting on the fly.

Lynch was supposed to turn heel but the WWE Universe wouldn't allow it, so the company made the right call by allowing her to embrace the love from the fans. Instead of waiting months to put the title on her, management did it at the PPV right after SummerSlam.

Her injury at the hands of Jax could have stalled her push, but it just made her even more of an icon. It has been the perfect combination of booking and circumstance.

And all of this is even more satisfying because she deserves all of her success. The Man has been untouchable on the mic since SummerSlam, but her wrestling ability has been on par with the best in the company since she debuted on the main roster.

She often gives interviews in character and uses her Twitter account to further her feuds, making her one of the few Superstars who still uses kayfabe to her advantage.

2019 is already shaping up to be another great year for Lynch. If she beats Rousey at WrestleMania, The Man will be unstoppable.

Happy Birthday, Becky, and as the WWE Universe said on SmackDown Live Tuesday night, "You deserve it."