In a matter of a week, former RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey became the biggest heel in professional wrestling.
Recently, the WWE star was featured on Steve-O’s “Wild Ride” podcast and Rousey did not hold back on her feelings regarding wrestling fans. The 33-year-old makes it clear that she loved performing in the WWE during her tenure last year; however, the fans were ultimately the reason she decided to stop competing inside the squared circle (Transcript courtesy of ProWrestling Sheet):
“If I did all of the live shows, I was only home a day and a half a week. It was just not worth it for my family because we were eliminating all of our expenses and living this lifestyle, we didn’t need it. We didn’t need the money,” Ronda continued.
“So it’s just like … what am I doing it for if I’m not being able to spend my time and energy on my family, but instead spending my time and my energy on a bunch of f*cking ungrateful fans that don’t even appreciate me? I love performing. I love the girls. I love being out there … but, at the end of the day, I was just like, ‘F*ck these fans, dude.’ My family loves me and they appreciate me and I want all my energy to go into them. So that was my decision at the end of the day.
The UFC Hall of Famer does state that she had fun “fake fighting” in the WWE against the other girls as she loves acting and choreography:
“I love the WWE,” Rousey continued. “I had such a great time. I love all the girls in the locker room. Running out there and having fake fights for fun is just the best thing. I love choreography. I love acting. I love theater, live theater and some of the last forms of live theater.”
Rousey never rules out a return to the WWE; however, it won’t be at full-time capacity. Not surprisingly, Rousey caught heat for her words during the podcast, including using the term “fake fighting”. Nia Jax promised to knocked her the [frick] out if she ever returned and Alexa Bliss commented on being sidelined for a year. Rousey would eventually respond to the criticism and chalked her words up to being a work.
While the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion claims that her words were set to rile up fans and wrestlers, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that Rousey’s statement was straight from the heart. There are currently no plans in place for the former RAW Women’s Champion and Rousey was simply expressing how she felt after fans turned on her following the Charlotte Flair beatdown at Survivor Series 2018.