Ronda Rousey Says Expectations Were Low For Her WrestleMania Debut
Ronda Rousey tagged with Kurt Angle in her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 where she defeated Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a much-praised match. WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet asked Rousey about the expectations people had for her WrestleMania debut and she was open about the pressure on her.
Rousey said there were lower expectations for her because the natural assumption is that people can only master one thing. She said training in the public eye can be difficult, but Rousey was fortunate to have amazing tools at her disposal to help her make a strong start.
"I think that going into any new career like wrestling or acting or anything like that, a lot of people assume you can only be really good at one thing and if you master one thing you'll never be able to master anything else as well," Rousey said. "There's a lot of low expectations going into things and it's harder to learn with the world watching opposed to being able to learn in private. But you know, it comes with the territory.
"It makes things a little bit more difficult but it also I think helps me improve quicker. My first match was at WrestleMania [...] it's like yeah, I'm hitting the ground running but I have all the best tools in front of me and I'm really lucky."
Rousey discussed the difference between traditional acting and being a WWE Superstar. She was out promoting her upcoming film Mile 22 at the time and said in WWE there is no second take. It's important to know where the cameras are and understand the timing to give realistic reactions and get it right the first time.
Scripts are often written at the last-minute before Monday Night Raw and Rousey said it's important to be able to memorize lines quickly. The live crowd that gathers at a Raw taping can also provide a tumultuous environment to perform.
"It's very different in that you only get one shot, it's live. People aren't going to reset the shot for every single scene so you need to be very aware of where the cameras are at all times to make sure they catch what's going on. Because when you're acting in a movie you're going to do exactly what you need to do, you're just in it with the character
"With WWE you have to think about, 'okay I have to take a moment this happened, I have to register in my face this happened. I have to wait a minute because it's going to take them three seconds to turn this way so I have to wait for them to come around this side and have this person cue me or whatever.'
"So it's being very aware of that and also memorizing dialogue very last minute, you know? Because you show up and don't know what's going on and they're like, 'here's two pages of dialogue and don't screw up there's going to be a live audience there actively making you try to screw up."
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