Fans criticise WWE star for joking about Ozzy Osbourne’s death in Birmingham

WWE wrestler Becky Lynch has drawn criticism for making a joke about Ozzy Osbourne‘s death on live TV.

• READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025: culture-smashing revolutionary that redefined rock and reality TV

Last night (August 25), WWE brought its live TV show WWE RAW to the BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham. The event, which was live-streamed on Netflix around the globe, came just over a month after the tragic passing of Black Sabbath icon Ozzy Osbourne.

The heavy metal pioneer frontman died last month (July 22) at age 76. In a statement, his family shared that he was “surrounded by love” at the time of his passing. His death came just weeks after he played a final live show in his hometown, and raised “a ton” of money for charity along the way.

At the taping of WWE RAW, Irish wrestler Becky Lynch was involved in a segment against Nikki Bella, building up tension for their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match in Paris this weekend. Becky Lynch plays a villainous character in their feud, and over the course of several weeks has taken it upon herself to insult the audiences and cities they travel to every week.

During last night’s taping, Bella attempted to convince Lynch to wrestle her then and there, only for Lynch to argue that she wasn’t doing that, and took a couple of shots at the recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne.

“I’m not wrestling in Birmingham. The only good thing that came out of here died a month ago. But in fairness to Ozzy Osbourne, he had the good sense to move to LA, a proper city.  Because if I lived in Birmingham, I’d die too,” Lynch said as boos rang out across the venue.

Becky Lynch on Ozzy Osbourne:

“If I lived in Birmingham, I’d die too!”

BECKY WTF 💀#WWERAW

pic.twitter.com/XnppAec8Oa

— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) August 25, 2025

Fans on social media have since voiced their displeasure at the comments, noting that while it is common for a “heel” to take cheap shots at beloved icons, Lynch’s shots were “too soon” and “very disrespectful”.

See a handful of reactions below.

Okay, I get Becky’s a heel but that Ozzy “joke” was WAY too soon and very disrespectful. The man just passed away. Let Ozzy rest. pic.twitter.com/spl97h2zAY

— ❌️ Jess ❌️ (@PaxValkyria) August 25, 2025

Jesus fucking christ @BeckyLynchWWE dropping that comment about Ozzy was too soon and not cool. Low hanging fruit and i hoped you wouldn’t go there, but you did. Highly disappointing.

— Kaneda – Secret HQ Reviews (@XboxKaneda) August 25, 2025

those coments were disgusting and disrespectful

— GHOST 370 (@WaldaKevin) August 25, 2025

Hey @TripleH That line about if I lived in Birmingham, I’d die too that @BeckyLynchWWE said, was quite over the line. I get Kayfabe and storyline, but that was too much. @wwe #wwe You guys owe @OzzyOsbourne ‘s family an apology.

— Pat the Gamer (@PatinDetroitMi) August 25, 2025

That’s an absolutely disgusting effort to be a heel. Way below the line.

— Wrestling Savage (@Wrestl1ngSavage) August 25, 2025

Ozzy Osbourne, though never active in a WWE ring, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. He first appeared in WWE programming all the way back at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, when he was ringside to support to help The British Bulldogs win the World Tag Team Championships. In 2009, he and Sharon Osbourne hosted an episode of WWE RAW.

His last contribution to the WWE was for 2022’s Survivor Series: WarGames event, for which he let the company use Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ as its theme song, and appeared in a video package. In the package, he sang along to ‘War Pigs’, and said “Welcome to WarGames”.

Since Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, thousands of fans have taken to the streets of Birmingham to leave flowers and emotional tributes to the Black Sabbath icon, and thousands more lined the streets on July 31 for the funeral procession. Ozzy was laid to rest at a private ceremony in Buckinghamshire, which was attended by Elton John, members of Metallica and more.

Countless names have come forward to pay tribute to Ozzy, including Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, and Jake E Lee. Touching messages have also been shared by his Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford also recently revealed his reaction to the news, admitting that he “just curled up in a ball and bawled my eyes out for hours. I just couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it now. I’m still grieving, like so many people.”

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