Former WCW Boss Eric Bischoff is nothing if not outspoken, and he's now chimed in on Ronda Rousey's surprise Ring of Honor debut this past Friday. After leaving WWE earlier this year following a loss to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam, the Baddest Woman on the Planet has hit the independent wrestling scene.
However, her debut for the AEW-owned company came as a major shock to fans (Tony Khan has since suggested it was, for now, just a one-off appearance). There, the former WWE Superstar appeared as part of "ROH on HonorClub," a show which was being recorded before it airs on Thanksgiving Day.
Coming out to Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation," she teamed with longtime friend Marina Shafir against ROH Women's Champion Athena and Billie Starkz.
Talking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff shared his belief that the UFC Hall of Famer is "overrated" in the pro wrestling realm.
"Eh, I think she’s...I don't want to say [she's] overrated, but I think in terms of the professional wrestling industry, she's overrated. Obviously very accomplished mixed martial artists, very accomplished in judo. Phenomenal athlete, but she never clicked for me in WWE despite a push from the gods. She got an amazing push, but there was something lacking with her, and she never clicked with me. I don't think she really clicked with the audience."
"Not long after she first arrived, I think the shine kind of wore off the star pretty quickly, and I never got the feeling that she was really serious about the industry."
"I just don't think she's as big a name as people sometimes think she is. I don't think she'd matter to a buyer. I don't think there's going to be a media buyer out there or a programming buyer out there, or an executive that's going, ‘Oh, wait a minute, you got Ronda Rousey. I wasn't too sure about this deal, but now I really want to do it.’ I don't see that."
WWE dropped the ball by booking the Baddest Woman on the Planet as a happy-go-lucky smiling babyface. Rousey never really managed to connect with fans and has since made it clear she didn't appreciate the way she was treated by them.
Before joining the WWE in 2018, Rousey managed to achieve a 12-2-0 record in the UFC and became the promotion's first female champion. She also won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but according to Dana White, there are no plans for her to be part of UFC 300.
Do you agree with Bischoff's assessment that the MMA fighter turned pro wrestler is "overrated"?