Ronda Rousey wishes she could have been a heel for longer.
The former UFC champion was a big star in the WWE. After debuting at WrestleMania against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, she embarked on an impressive world title run in her first year.
Ronda Rousey then became the first woman to main event WrestleMania, when she battled Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 35.
However, for most of her time in WWE, she was a babyface. She revealed on the Diary Of A CEO podcast that she would rather have been a heel, noting the criticism Ronda Rousey took when trying to impress the fans took a toll on her mental health.
“I mean, you know, it starts off like that. At first, when everything is going great, I look at the comments like the morning newspaper. I’d wake up in the morning and look at my comments. I’d look at my tag photos. That’s so unhealthy. But after my first loss, I quit cold turkey. I feel like that was one thing I needed to do, to not need that outside validation and stuff. Especially from the internet and social media and stuff.”
“I was kind of like spiralling, in a way. Kind of giving it too much stock in my emotional stake. And then pro wrestling, you’re literally in front of a crowd that is the embodiment of a comments section. That’s also why I really enjoy being a heel which I wish they would have let me be a heel more often, because I feel like I was happiest when I wasn’t trying to placate to the crowd. Purposely, trying to piss them off and get a rise out of them, not trying to constantly pander.”
Ronda Rousey Thinks WWE Need To Clean House To Get Rid Of Vince McMahon’s Influence
Speaking later in the interview, Rousey spoke about how the WWE need to get rid of Vince McMahon’s influence before they can move on from his reign as chairman.
“Steph and Triple H, I think they’re honestly doing their best,” Ronda Rousey said. “But I mean, I think that Vince McMahon just created a fundamentally sick environment, and I think if Ari Emanuel is gonna be able to actually make this multi-billion dollar dysfunctional organization into one that functions, he’s gotta clean out all of Vince’s cronies. He’s gotta completely clean house and remove Vince’s influence completely.”
