Ronda Rousey is back in WWE, and she’s determined to do things differently this time around.
Before WWE Royal Rumble, the former RAW Women’s Champion hadn’t been seen since WrestleMania 35, where she competed in the historic main event for the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships. At the time, Rousey was drawing a lot of heat from the fans, and these reactions seemingly pushed her away.
In a video she posted on her YouTube page, “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” looked back on the end of the first chapter of her WWE career. She recalled how fans were booing her out of the building, and she had felt “uncomfortable and disingenuous” as a babyface because she couldn’t stand up for herself. That being said, she noted that she enjoyed her heel run to portray her true personality.
“When I walked out of the stadium at WrestleMania, I mean, my knuckle was shattered,” said Rousey. “So I couldn’t even, I remember I kept trying to put my hand on my hip, but I couldn’t even turn my hand. I put it on my hip and everyone was booing me out of the stadium and I was just like man, f— these people, I can’t wait to go home.
“…When I left the WWE, I’d been getting booed out of the stadium like every day for months. And I think one of the most uncomfortable and disingenuous I ever felt was when I had to be a babyface and the crowd was being hostile towards me. And I couldn’t just tell them exactly what I f—— felt. Because I was stuck between like do I stay true to myself and tell these people to go f— themselves? Or do I, you know, respect Vince, who’s done so much for me and not go against what he wants me to do? And so when I finally got to turn heel, I loved it because I felt like I kinda finally got to be myself.”
Rousey made her triumphant return on January 29, 2022, as she entered and won the Women’s Royal Rumble match. Though she got a huge pop when she came out at the premium live event, “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” was concerned about dealing with the same hostile crowd(s) she faced during her first run with the company. She explained that she expected the fans at WWE RAW after Royal Rumble to “troll” her by yelling harsh things and bringing cruel signs to the show.
“Really missed wrestling, I did,” said Rousey. “And I wanted to come back and I knew I was coming back to, or I thought I did, to the animosity that I left. So I kind of came out feeling super defensive from the beginning. And at the Rumble, it wasn’t like that, but I just assumed the reaction was from the surprise. And so coming out to RAW and Becky was gonna be there, and I was like okay this is when they’re gonna troll on me the most.”
Thankfully, other than a few hecklers, the crowd welcomed Rousey back with open arms. Since then, she has continued to appear on WWE programming; she teamed up with Naomi to defeat Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville at WWE Elimination Chamber. In just a few weeks, “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” will main-event WrestleMania for the second time when she challenges Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
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