It's no secret that Ronda Rousey grew increasingly unhappy with the way she was booked in WWE and, in her new book, Our Fight, the Baddest Woman on the Planet wastes no time in making her feelings known about former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Rousey signed with WWE in 2018 and, after taking a hiatus to have a baby, she returned in 2022 before concluding her run with the company in 2023.
She struggled to connect with fans and, booked as a smiling babyface, seemed legitimately annoyed when crowds wouldn't get behind her. In a newly released excerpt from the aforementioned book (via Inside the Ropes), Rousey wastes no time venting her frustrations on McMahon.
"NXT was founded by and under the control of Triple H, real name Paul Levesque. In addition to being my in-ring WrestleMania nemesis, he is arguably one of the best professional wrestlers in history and one of the better people on the business side. He is married to Stephanie McMahon, who is the daughter of WWE’s Emperor Palpatine, Vince McMahon."
"Vince took over the company from his father in the early 1980s and spent the better part of forty years playing a real-world pro-wrestling version of Monopoly, buying up and absorbing smaller promotions until he basically owned them all."
"It’s hard sometimes to know where the evil, unethical, slimeball character of Vince McMahon played out for the cameras ends and the actual questionably ethical, many times sued, and multiple times accused of sexual misconduct Vince McMahon begins. That blurred line between character and reality is a recurring theme within the WWE Universe."
She'd later take another shot at her former boss by adding, "[Pay-per-views are] held in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as now twice a year in Saudi Arabia, a nation that restricts the rights of women in a way that I’m certain Vince McMahon wishes he could."
Rousey clearly isn't looking to return to WWE as she recounts the history of women within the company and holds little back, describing "a casting couch culture where men backstage in powerful positions pressured female talent for sexual favors in return for airtime."
"Four women were given less time to collectively wrestle than every single man on the roster got for his intro music alone," she adds. "Presented this information as a person outside of the wrestling world you might draw the conclusion that there is a troubling foundational sexist, patriarchal culture within the WWE. You would be right."
"I have nothing but respect for the female wrestlers who paved the way for women wrestlers today. And nothing but disgust for the amount of sexist, degrading bullsh*t they were put through."
Rousey last wrestled for Ring of Honor last November and, for now, doesn't appear to have any plans to step back into the ring. WWE dropped the ball on a woman who should have been another Brock Lesnar for them, but a look back at the time she spent there should make this book a must-read for curious pro wrestling fans.
Our Fight arrives in bookstores on April 4.