TNA's Shayna Baszler Recalls Ronda Rousey Fighting On Behalf Of WWE Women's Division

After a historic run in the UFC, Ronda Rousey officially began training to become a WWE star and made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. The star would go on to have a successful run in the company, though fan support behind her would wane, before departing after SummerSlam 2023 following a loss to real-life best friend, and now TNA talent, Shayna Baszler.

Baszler spoke about Rousey's time in WWE with Denise Salcedo, and said that she doesn't think she'll ever get credit for what she did behind-the-scenes, in both WWE and UFC, as she's a polarizing figure.

"I've heard people be like, 'Ronda didn't really care about wrestling,'" Baszler said. "There was a time where Ronda had a pay-per-view match and got six minutes cut off her match because a match before had gone over their time... When that happened, she bought a ticket and flew herself to headquarters to have a meeting with creative at that time to be like, 'Guys. This keeps happening. The women keep losing time. I need to know right now, is this going to change? Because if it's not, I don't need to be here. I don't need to be here to make money. I don't need to be here to get famous. I'm here to help advance this, and if you're telling me right now that's never going to happen, then I'm done. I only want to improve this.'"

Baszler said that Rousey would never talk about that story herself, either in interviews or on social media. She said no one is going to know what her friend did behind-the-scenes on her own time, just to argue for the women's locker room. Baszler wasn't sure if the stars in the locker room knew what Rousey was doing at the time.

Baszler remembered questioning Rousey as to why she would buy her own ticket to WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. She said WWE would have flown the star out there to have a meeting.

"She's like, 'No, because if I buy my own ticket, they can't cancel the meeting on me. Because I bought my ticket,'" Baszler said. It was just stuff like that, that she thought about, like you knew she was serious. Not only did she know her position, but she didn't care to get the accolades of her position."

"The Queen of Spades" said that was all on top of Rousey bringing her name to WWE, which brought in new eyes to the product. She said that MMA fans who never would have watched professional wrestling, thinking it "fake," tuned in to see Rousey, and were sucked into the story.

Rousey has been vocal about her time in WWE since departing the company. She's spoken out about everything from creative and booking, to issues working with Vince McMahon during her second run.

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