Ronda Rousey has given her most honest account yet about what it was like to work in WWE under Vince McMahon, describing an environment defined by last-minute decisions, poor communication and constant anxiety during an interview with Complex News.
Rousey worked with WWE twice, the first time starting in 2017 and the second time until 2023. She was candid about how the experience of working under McMahon affected her ability to connect with her character.
“I felt like I was creating someone else’s image of myself,” Rousey said. “You could tell when I was allowed to write my own promos and when I wasn’t. I learned a lot from it, and I really enjoyed my time in the ring. I didn’t really enjoy being in the death throes during Vince McMahon’s reign, but there were a lot of great experiences there.”
His second stint with the company was particularly difficult. Rousey described McMahon as being out of touch with the day-to-day reality of running a product and said that the work environment had become increasingly unhealthy by that time.
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“I mean, in the second round, Vince had gone too far and was even more difficult to work with, and there was a lot of internal turmoil going on in the company,” Rousey said. “It was kind of a s*** show, and no one ever knew what was going on.
“And you’d get on the field, and you’d be asked to do something that someone threw in your lap that wasn’t thought about until 15 minutes before. Everything was super last minute and not well thought out, and there was no communication, no back-and-forth.”
The psychological impact of that environment was something that Rousey addressed directly.
He said, “Any attempt to collaborate feels like we were trying to negotiate something instead of partnering together to create something great.” “And unfortunately, I love being in the ring and doing this, but the process was like a cluster f–k, sh–t show that was a lot more anxiety-inducing than it was worth.
“I just look back on it, and I just remember the anxiety of not knowing what was going on, and then at the last minute, maybe we’ll be able to get it out of our A- and have a good night, and maybe not. I was definitely Team Triple H rising up to handle it. So, I’ve heard it’s gotten a lot better since he took over things, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to experience it.”
Rousey recently appeared at AEW Revolution with real-life friend Marina Shafir after her match against Toni Storm. She is currently preparing for her fight against Gina Carano this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, which is being broadcast live on Netflix.
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