WWE star Becky Lynch throws down the gauntlet to Beth Phoenix and challenges icon to fight ahead of Royal Rumble return

BECKY LYNCH has thrown down the gauntlet to ‘scared’ Beth Phoenix by challenging the returning legend to a match.

The Glamazon, 41, will be back in the ring on Saturday at the Royal Rumble.

Former Divas Champion Phoenix, who retired from being a full-time wrestler in 2012, quit her role as NXT commentator in December after three years in the role.

Now the Hall of Famer will be teaming up with her husband Edge, real name Adam Copeland, to face fellow WWE married couple Miz and Maryse in a mixed tag match this weekend.

It looks like Lynch is now wanting a piece of the action against the veteran as she looked to renew an old rivalry with Phoenix - only this time she is hoping it will be physical rather than verbal.

The war of words between the two dates all the way back to 2019 when Big Time Becks, the current Raw Women’s Champion, became embroiled in a row with Edge.

She told the Rated-R Superstar he should leave the ring as he could not wrestle due to the neck injury he suffered at SmackDown 1000.

Edge then embarked on a bitter feud with Seth Rollins, who married Lynch last year following the birth of their first child.

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Phoenix set-up her Rumble clash by returning at WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view, after which Lynch asked her if she wanted a fight sometime, only to get a ‘Busy’ response. 

Now it seems that the self-proclaimed GOAT is desperate to get her hands on Phoenix in a match that the WWE would love to see.

Speaking with WWE UK ahead of the Royal Rumble, Lynch said: “I’ve been tweeting that frickin’ Beth Phoenix trying to get her to fight me for years.

“She keeps saying no, she keeps dodging it. I think she’s scared. Yes. Yes I would love to fight Beth Phoenix.”

Lynch will be in action herself at the Rumble as she prepares to defend her title against Scottish star Doudrop.

The match is 15 years in the making following their time together on the indies in both the UK and Ireland.

Lynch added: “I’m The Man and she's a fan. When she was starting out, we were both teenagers at the time, but I had made a name for myself all over the world.

“All over Europe, all over America, Canada, Japan, and with few role models to look at.

“She looked at this Rebecca Knox who was just breaking barriers all over the place, and then I was gone. And so I imagine when I re-emerged at WWE years later to change the landscape of women's wrestling, she was just beside herself. Beside herself.

“Now I think she's putting on a bit of a bravado, trying to act tough, trying to hold it together because she's insecure that she's going against her idol.”

Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2022 live on the WWE Network – and via Peacock in the United States – on Saturday, January 29th, 2022.