Ronda Rousey Describes WWE Personality As The 'Backbone' Of The Wrestling Industry

While Ronda Rousey has been critical of pro wrestling, the former RAW Women's Champion got quite an insight into the innerworkings of the business during her time signed to WWE. During a recent appearance on "SHAK MMA," Rousey explained why she believes that WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman is the "backbone" of the industry.

"I feel like he's the absolute backbone of that industry, that people don't see the backbone — it's hidden underneath the body — but he's literally everyone's mentor." Rousey also claimed that every successful storyline in WWE has roots back to Heyman as well.

Rousey's praise for Heyman continued, going as far as proclaiming that the wrestling industry would be a shell of itself without the Hall of Famer. "They should be lucky to have his time because he could be spending that genius on anything else, but he spends 100% of his time and energy on the WWE."

Additionally, Rousey recently wrote a book, and in hindsight, recalled that Heyman had always encouraged her creatively, especially during their time in WWE. "He is the person that told me: you need to go and write your own story. And no one really saw me in that light before or had that kind of belief in me, and I didn't even have that kind of belief in myself."

Ronda Rousey claimed she began writing her book after a series of events, including surgery after shattering her knuckle. However, a conversation with Heyman was key to her discovering the belief in herself to write it. 

"Finally laying in bed for the first time in 48 hours, I sat and typed in a cast on the notes on my phone for 11 hours straight to write the first draft of this and it was something that was sitting inside of me, and Paul Heyman was the only one that saw it."

Rousey claims she's learned a lot in the five years since, and explained that her book isn't something she put together to impress anyone. "I'd finally gotten away from that part of my life of like, you know what? I'm retired. I'm gonna do whatever I feel like, and I feel like writing a graphic novel, and here it is," she said. "It doesn't really matter, I guess, if people take it one way or the other."

Rousey described having to write her book as a "compulsion" and that she hopes her story ends up being needed to be read by someone as much as she needed to write it. It remains to be seen if Rousey will return to a major wrestling promotion someday or not, but she does believe there's an upside to the independent scene.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "SHAK MMA" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.