Shayna Baszler Reveals Lesson She And Ronda Rousey Learned In UFC

Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey both came over from UFC and became champions while in WWE, with Rousey winning the Raw and Smackdown Women's Championships and Baszler winning the NXT Women's Championship. The two were one-half of the Four Horsewomen of UFC, a group also involving former "NXT" Star Jessamyn Duke and current AEW Star Marina Shafir.

While on "Out of Character with Ryan Satin", former two-time Women's Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler revealed a lesson that she and Rousey learned while in UFC together.

"Ronda is one of my closest friends so we have an understanding, and it's an understanding as very close friends that — I have a deeper understanding of Ronda than anybody that's going to be watching, and vice versa, so that's how I'll word that," Baszler said. "... We had this talk and it was like, 'Man, if one of my friends earns a title shot, isn't it more of a jerk move to deny them that title just because they're my friend?' Like, it should be, 'You earned it. I should give it to you.' It's more selfish to say, 'No, we're friends. I'm not going to fight you for the title'."

Baszler made her way to WWE prior to Rousey, joining the "NXT" brand and winning the NXT Women's Championship within a year of her debut by defeating Ember Moon, now known as Athena in AEW. Baszler held the title for 133 days before dropping the title to Kairi Sane. Baszler eventually regained the NXT Women's Title by defeating Sane at WWE's first all-women's Pay-Per-View, Evolution, and held onto the title for 416 days.

Baszler made her way to the main roster in 2020 when she was thrust into the Raw Women's Championship picture almost right away, taking on and ultimately losing to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 36. Baszler would not have the singles success on "Raw" or "Smackdown" she found on "NXT," as she has won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships twice alongside Nia Jax but no singles gold over her two-plus years on the main roster.

Rousey debuted in WWE months after Baszler did, however, Rousey did not go through "NXT," she was immediately placed on the main roster, teaming with Kurt Angle in her first WWE match to take defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34. Rousey would win the Raw Women's Championship months later at SummerSlam by defeating Alexa Bliss. She would hold onto that title until WrestleMania 35 in 2019 when Becky Lynch defeated her and Charlotte Flair to win both the Raw and Smackdown Women's Championship.

Rousey then took almost three years off, returning at the Royal Rumble 2022 to win the match. Rousey did not win the Smackdown Women's Championship in her first attempt at WrestleMania 38, but she did not give up there. Rousey ended up defeating Flair at WrestleMania Backlash in a brutal "I Quit" match to win the title.

Rousey will be defending the Smackdown Women's Championship against Natalya at tonight's Money in the Bank Premium Live Event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Out of Character" with Ryan Satin with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.