Ronda Rousey Talks 'Wasted Potential' Of WWE Booking Strategy & Match Production
Ronda Rousey's run with WWE was often met with criticism even while she still was an active competitor, with many believing her success in mixed martial arts didn't translate well to pro wrestling. Over the years, Rousey has voiced agreement with these assertations, and during a recent interview with "The Lapsed Fan," she went into detail on changes she would've made to her booking — specifically expressing frustration with a lack of time to prepare for matches. According to Rousey, her WrestleMania Backlash 2022 "I Quit" match against Charlotte Flair was something they had to put together 30 minutes before they went out.
"That could've been great! And it was still — it was good, but imagine what we could've done?" Rousey said. "Like with my WWE debut, where we had six weeks to put it together with the best minds in the business and we had it figured out a 100 percent two weeks before, and we had two weeks to rehearse it, and it shows!"
She then compared her debut match at WrestleMania 34 to her WrestleMania Night 1 main event against Becky Lynch and Flair a year later, similarly pointing out that the match was terrible because they were still trying to figure things out the day of. The frequency of this process has the former WWE Women's Champion baffled at how WWE continues to grow.
"It's also so crazy how much they succeed despite themselves," she added. "Like if it was actually, like, run functionally — I mean maybe it is now, who the f*** knows? ... The wasted potential there is a crime."
'The fact that they had me fighting Alexa Bliss at all was f***ing ridiculous!'
Ronda Rousey further criticized the opponents she had in WWE, specifically her first one, when she followed up her WrestleMania 34 debut by feuding with then-"WWE Raw" Women's Champion (and current women's tag team champion, as of this writing) Alexa Bliss.
"The fact that they had me fighting Alexa Bliss at all was f***ing ridiculous!" Rousey exclaimed, referring to the differences in size and athleticism between the two. "And do you know why they had me against Alexa Bliss? 'Cause she had the most merch sales at that time... Like, what the f***? That's your decision-making process?"
Rousey claimed decisions like this were among the reasons she left WWE and instead wrote a comic book. This isn't the first time Rousey has criticized her work with Bliss, and in the past has concluded that WWE simply didn't have any interest in growing her as a professional wrestler by putting them in the feud.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Lapsed Fan" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.