"The Man" is coming to Freehold.

The reigning SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch, who refers to herself as "The Man," visits iPlay America for a meet-and-greet session with fans on Friday, Dec. 7.

Lynch will defend her title against Charlotte Flair and Asuka on Sunday, Dec. 16 at World Wrestling Entertainment's upcoming TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs event, happening at San Jose's SAP Center and airing live on the WWE Network. Their triple-threat championship match marks the company's first women's TLC match.

Lynch recently discussed TLC, her connection with WWE's fans and her hopes for WrestleMania's New Jersey return in April.

Q: Thank you so much for taking some time to talk, I know all of the fans in Jersey are looking forward to getting the chance to meet you.

A: Oh, it’s my pleasure. This is always my favorite part, coming out here and getting to meet the fans, the people that I credit (with) me being where I am today. It gets me so excited to be able to come out there and thank everybody personally.

Q: That brings me to something I wanted to ask you: 2018 has been a huge year for you in WWE, there’s been a groundswell of support among the fanbase that’s pushed you to the top of the card, there’s so much audience love for you.

Is that something you anticipated? Were you feeling that out there in the ether or has this been a pleasantly surprising ride over the last couple of months, to see how much the fanbase has gotten behind you as of late?

A: Yeah, I think it’s surprising to everybody. I don’t think people expected it, but the thing is the fans have always been so amazing. I don’t know what it is, if it’s just that they know that I love them and it’s a mutual thing and that I appreciate every single one of them and the time that they take to watch our matches, watch my matches, and make signs and show their support, that means the world to me.

I don’t know if it’s that they can tell that I’m so passionate about it and that I just want to be really good and that every time I go out there I try to put on the best match possible in the time that I can for them. I don’t know if it’s that, but I think that we saw at Money in the Bank every time I climbed the ladder they showed their support, and I think that was when everybody started to turn their heads and say, “Oh, OK, Becky’s got a connection with these people.”

Q: Coming off Money in the Bank, and your incredible Last Woman Standing match, and heading into TLC, I wanted to talk with you about the fact that it seems like the company has really opened the doors for the women’s division to compete at the same level of physical brutality as the rest of the company.

How has that experience been for you, getting to take things up that notch and be a part of some groundbreaking, historic and very physically demanding matches?

A: Yeah, it’s wonderful, I love it. I love it. The more physical the better, that’s what I’m looking for at TLC next week. I think it was all in due time, I think it was just a perfect storm, lightning in a bottle, of talent and opportunities meeting at the exact right time, because right now we have just women that want to go out there and want to go.

(We have) some of the best athletes in the world when you look at Ronda (Rousey) and you look at Charlotte and you look at Naomi, you look at The Man, Becky Lynch. I think we have such high caliber of talent at the moment, and I think just the demand from the audience is that they want to see us go out there and do everything that the guys are doing because they know that we can, and it’s perfect and it’s being well-received. And it hurts, and it’s taxing on our bodies, but we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t absolutely love every single second of it.

Q: How are you feeling going into the first-ever women’s TLC match, and what makes Charlotte and Asuka ideal partners to share this moment with?

A: I would argue that they are two of the best that we have in WWE, right? Man, woman or child – I feel like I can say child now because everybody’s had babies and Nicholas was a champion. So I would argue that they’re two of the best women in WWE, they’re just not the best woman in WWE because that’s The Man, that’s Becky Lynch.

So I’m excited because I’ve proven time and time again that I own Charlotte Flair, I’ve owned her for months now and it was a table that I put her through that she couldn’t get up from.

The other thing is that we saw what happens to me when I get knocked out: I was out on my feet when Nia (Jax) punched me, I was running on autopilot but we look back and we see that still, my autopilot is also a badass. So I feel like I don’t really have anything to be scared of, but those women do.

Q: What were your thoughts on Charlotte’s Survivor Series performance in that match against Ronda where she turned in for herself a very physical, brutal showing against Ronda?

A: I think she went out there and she put it all out there and she did the best she could. Of course, she couldn’t get the job done. If it was me in there, I would have gotten the job done, and that’s the difference.

Q: You are one of my favorite people to follow on social media, on Twitter and Instagram. It seems like you really understand the vital importance that social media has in storytelling and character and communicating with the audience these days. Can you tell me a bit about working that side of things?

A: Absolutely, I think it’s so important because you’ve got however long we have on TV, usually maybe 15 minutes, 10 minutes. 10, 15 minutes we have on TV, 30 if you’re Becky Lynch and you put on the longest women’s match in WWE history on TV, maybe.

So you’ve got that, but when you’re on social media you can extend the story, you can get your voice out, you can let people know how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. And what I’ve said about other people’s social media is they’re on there writing love letters to each other. I don’t have time for that. I don’t have time for that because I don’t care about anybody else, I care about me and being the champion, being the best, being The Man.

So that’s what I want to do with my social media, I want to make sure that everybody knows it and everybody’s scared of it. And everybody is scared of it, because people don’t really come at me anymore, they’re terrified of me.

The other thing is that I don’t think anybody needs to see selfies of myself, right? They don’t need it. There’s plenty of that, watch me on TV, you can see my face. You don’t need to see me in a bikini. You can know that I’m the most dangerous woman in this company, and possibly the world, and that’s all they need to know.

Q: WWE will be back in New Jersey for WrestleMania in April. What are your hopes for WrestleMania’s New Jersey return in 2019?

A: The same hopes as I always have, to main event WrestleMania, right? And that’s what I want to do this year. And I don’t care who I have to go through to make that happen, that’s my goal, and to go out and steal the show.

Q: One last question: I know that early in your career you trained with someone you’re now on the WWE roster with, Finn Balor. What do you think are one or two things you learned from Finn in your time together?

A: You know what he taught me a long time ago? He said, “If anybody tells you it’s raining, go out and check.” And I always think that’s perfect. It’s a little bit like the whole (idea that) you can’t trust anybody, right? And not everybody’s got your back, right? And so I think I’ve learned that, and you’ve seen that in me coming out on TV recently, that I don’t trust anybody, that I’m going to go out and check for myself and take things for myself. I think that’s what he meant by that.

Also, what was so great about Finn is that he was so passionate, right? I think that extended down to everybody he taught because we all absorbed that passion and we wanted to be the best. And he just has such a great work ethic and such a discipline and such a drive and such a belief in himself. So I think that extended to me and that was something that I looked at and idolized and hoped that one day I could bring out in myself. And look, here we are.

Becky Lynch

When: 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7

Where: iPlay America, 110 Schanck Road, Freehold

Tickets: Sold out

Info: 732-577-8200, www.iplayamerica.com/event/becky-lynch