Those were the words Becky Lynch shouted after winning the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Backlash, and they will resonate with me forever.

The beginning

I first became a fan of Becky’s after witnessing her tremendous match with Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. Not only was her wrestling performance impressive, but I grew increasingly invested in her as the match went on. After the match, like many of the fans in attendance, I was heartbroken to see her lose. Little did I know that I would have this gutwrenching feeling over and over again for the next year.

Once Becky came on the main roster in the summer of 2015 and I saw more of her work, she quickly emerged as my favorite wrestler. To me, she had the whole package – a great look, an abundance of charisma, and of course, excellent in-ring ability.

Having said that, Becky was clearly booked as the 'third wheel' in PCB with Charlotte & Paige. In fact, when Paige claimed Becky was the 'least relevant' of all the women's talent, it hurt, because it couldn't have been more true. Though there may not have been much crowd investment in Becky before Charlotte turned on her on a later edition of Raw, she had already convinced me that she was a dynamic, versatile talent, and worthy of consideration to be champion.

Too soon?

I would often read critics suggesting that Becky is "too much of a jokester!" in reference to her pun-filled antics backstage, or that "she just couldn’t be taken seriously!" because of her eccentric steampunk-style outfits. However, even if you didn’t like the puns or you didn’t dig her outfits, there was no denying that when she feuded with Charlotte heading into Royal Rumble ’16, she exhibited a serious demeanor, and the fans were getting behind it.

But was it too early for Becky to get her mits on the championship? We had already seen glimpses of a serious Becky Lynch run heading into the Royal Rumble. Indeed, Becky delivered a sharp, powerful promo against Charlotte that displayed her as a genuinely believable contender to the title for the first time. Again, as much as one might have discounted Becky for being too much of a 'comedic character', there's no denying that she was building herself up as a viable threat to Charlotte.

Going into that Royal Rumble encounter, I really wanted Becky to beat Charlotte and be the new champion. But in retrospect, Charlotte retaining was the right decision, since it got the fans to hate Charlotte more. In addition, Becky losing due to more Nature Boy chicanery just made her more sympathetic, and increased our investment in her journey.

Fast-forward to Wrestlemania, and Becky’s in a triple threat for the Women’s Title with Charlotte & Sasha Banks. Again, while us ardent Becky fans adamantly wanted to see her win the title on the grandest stage, it was clear the crowd was more behind Sasha, and if anything, a Becky title win might have pushed her into a heel direction if the majority were insistent on rooting for Sasha over Becky.

Dark times

After Wrestlemania and before the brand split, it was a dark time to be a Becky Lynch fan. It would seem that Becky was out of the title picture, and that all the momentum gained from her feud with Charlotte was lost. But from this point forward, even after months of losing most of her matches, even after an uninspired storyline with Natalya that didn’t give either superstar much of a chance to shine, Becky was still managing to get over. Despite all the beatdowns, despite all the losses, despite the very reasonable temptation to lose faith in Becky’s journey, the fans were still into her. Hell, Becky had gained popularity after months of losing and uninspired booking. It didn’t matter that Natalya had betrayed Becky and made her a fool at Money in the Bank. It didn’t matter that Becky tapped out to the sharpshooter at Battleground in a miserable defeat. It didn’t matter because Becky got right back up, "ripped the knife straight out of her back" and kept on going. And who couldn't get behind that?

We soon learned Becky would be headed to Smackdown after the brand split. Common opinion was that Becky was getting the short end of the stick, since her fellow horsewomen were on Raw. And at first, the "doom and gloom" persisted. While Becky won a good match with Natalya to kick off her Smackdown run, she would spend the next few weeks combating Eva Marie and Alexa Bliss, and the perception was that Becky was there to simply elevate the newer stars. Boy we were wrong.

Hope

Everything changed on the August 23rd edition of Smackdown when Daniel Bryan presented the inaugural Smackdown Women’s Championship, each woman eyeing it in the ring. As the camera panned over them, there was suddenly a huge "BECKY! BECKY! BECKY!" chant. In spite of all her shortcomings, the crowd was firmly behind Becky! I couldn’t help but smile as this happened. And neither could Becky. She went onto defeat Alexa Bliss in a sound match right after, and there was a glimmer of hope that finally…finally Becky would be portrayed as the strong wrestler we know her to be.

As we headed into Backlash, where the Elimination Match for the championship would take place, the cynics were convinced Nikki Bella would walk out victorious. After all, she had the established credibility and the popularity, while Becky only had the latter. As for me, I was optimistic. It felt like Becky was being viewed as a big deal on Smackdown. The fact she was the first woman drafted, the fact she was by far the strongest-looking competitor at Summerslam, the fact that Daniel Bryan had invited her out first on the September 6th edition of Smackdown for the Women’s Championship forum…all these things suggested that maybe Backlash would be her moment, and that’s why I absolutely had to go.

Meeting Becky

When I saw Becky would be visiting Wizard-World Richmond the same day of Backlash, I definitely had to attend that too! I must say that meeting your favorite wrestler in-person is amazing, but also nerve-racking. She’s been a big inspiration for me, as she’s not only motivated me to get back in the gym, but her disjointed journey back into her dream-job motivated me on my own job search, and helped me obtain the job I wanted.

I froze somewhat when meeting Becky at her autograph booth, but all the fan reports about her are true: she’s personable with everybody, and a joy to meet. In fact, she's probably the most 'human' of any remotely famous person I've come across.

Could it be?

Just hours after this invigorating experience would be the Smackdown Women’s Championship match at Backlash, and while I was excited, I was also worried. "What if they don’t cash in on Becky now? If not now, will they ever?".

There wasn’t much more time to think since as it turns out, the Women’s Championship match opened the show. Throughout the match, I was on the edge of my seat, completely vulnerable to the seemingly inevitable punch to the gut of Becky leaving without the title. Eventually, eliminations started to happen, and they happened fast. Once Natalya was eliminated, we were left with three: Becky, Nikki Bella & Carmella. While the next elimination occurred quickly, I just remember badly hoping that we would somehow be left with Becky and Carmella. I thought that if we were left with Becky and Nikki, I could foresee a heel turn for Nikki, and Nikki leaving as champion.

But that’s not what we got. Mere seconds later, Carmella rolls up Nikki and Nikki’s eliminated! And let me tell you: the reaction to this in the crowd, including my own reaction, was one of incredulity. "Did Nikki really just get eliminated?!" "There’s no way Carmella will beat Becky!" It’s as if we all knew that this was her night. Becky was finally going to win a WWE championship. After all the setbacks, backstabbing and defeats, Becky was one arm away from being crowned the first ever Smackdown Women’s Champion.

From then on, it’s as if the celebration already began. The crowd got another loud "Let’s go Becky!" chant going and Becky hit Carmella with a series of thunderous suplexes, taking her to BexPlex City much as Brock Lesnar takes his foes to Suplex City. I couldn’t help but think that this was Becky’s ‘coming out’ party, each suplex her way of saying "Screw the doubters! I’m winning tonight!". Becky was intense, she was focused, and unlike the Royal Rumble, unlike Wrestlemania, she was not letting this opportunity slip away.

Soon after, Becky played possum on the mat and out of nowhere locked in the Dis-Arm-Her! The pop for this in the crowd was LOUD. This had to be it! There's no way Carmella’s escaping this! Sure enough, she didn't.

And as the crowd roared, I still looked over to the ramp in a paranoid state, waiting for Shane or Daniel Bryan to come out and say they have to restart the match because Nikki Bella was unfairly eliminated. But no. There was nothing stopping Becky now. She could hold the Smackdown Women’s Championship high above her head and we could all just enjoy the moment. We could all revel in the fact that Becky Lynch was once and for all given a chance to shine.

What's next?

At first I figured I’d be happy to be ‘trapped’ in the moment of Becky locking in the armbar on Carmella forever. It was a euphoric moment, one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever been a part of. Seeing my favorite wrestler accomplish her dream live and in-person is something I could never give back.

But I wouldn’t want to be trapped in that moment forever. Why? Because then I’d miss out on more Becky Lynch. I’d miss out on her journey after making it to the top. I’d miss out on her actually being the champion.

And I sure as hell wouldn't want to miss that.