Ronda Rousey Addresses Calling Pro Wrestling 'Fake'

Ronda Rousey recently spoke with Kurt Angle on The Kurt Angle Show about her transition from MMA to Pro Wrestling, and how wrestling's predetermined nature helps keep Rousey's mind at ease.

During the conversation, Rousey talked about how she's not afraid of injuries in pro wrestling, as "injuries happen in everything." She felt that the transition from MMA to wrestling was much easier, saying that there was "a lot less pressure."

"Pre-determined winner," Angle responded. "That's got to help a lot," his co-host continued.

"It really does help a lot," Rousey said of pro wrestling, "and I don't think pro wrestlers understand how much that it helps because a lot of times I'll hear people be so offended that like, 'How dare you call this fake! There's no fake way to go through a table,'" Rousey continued, "or 'This injury is real.' And I'm like, 'You guys, it's not like the physical toll that makes something real.'"

"The injuries don't enter into your mind," Rousey said of her time in MMA. "It's the anxiety and uncertainty of the result," that makes the situation real, as opposed to the predetermined outcome of a pro-wrestling match.

Rousey's focus on the result over the physical toll certainly helped her in the worlds of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and The UFC. The UFC Hall of Famer was a one-time Women's Bantamweight Champion, as well as a bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

"Imagine if you didn't win that gold medal, Kurt, and what that would have done to you for the rest of your life," Rousey continued, "That is what makes it real to me."

"Injuries, I don't care. People get injured all the time playing 'Pirates of Penzance,'" Rousey said, emphasizing the theatrical nature of her current profession, while also acknowledging the dangers of everyday life. "There's a lot of difficult, physical things out there that the realism to me is that extreme anxiety."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.