When "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" debuted in WWE, fans were excited to finally see her within the squared circle full time, but former UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey quickly became one of the most divisive wrestlers in WWE in recent memory. After she teamed with Kurt Angle to take onTriple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34, fans thought Rousey had what it took to make it in WWE. However, it didn't take long for fans, and even other wrestlers, to turn on the "Rowdy" one.
The professional wrestling world started to turn against Rousey during her feud with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in 2019. Flair and Lynch in particular had their issues with one another in the story and the women chose to air their grievances on social mediain a storyline that blurred the lines into real life. Infamously, Rousey took to her YouTube channel and unloaded on the fans. In a vlog, Rousey called wrestling "fake," which angered not only fans who followed her, but others within WWE and those in the business overall.
While the "fake" comment didn't endear Rousey to those such asWWE Hall of Famer Theodore Long and Dutch Mantell, other wrestlers who can't stand Rousey dislike her for a variety of other reasons. Those include her work in the ring, her meteoric push, as some thought she didn't pay her dues, and evenher spot on the E! Network reality show "Total Divas" caused issues with some behind-the-scenes.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T wasn't a fan of Rousey's "fake" comments that angered quite a few people in the industry and he made his feelings known on his "Hall of Fame" podcast alongside now-AEW talent Christian Cage back in April of 2020. Booker said that Rousey's comments were a "slap in the face" to the women backstage. It was another incident with Rousey's entourage, however, that really upset the Hall of Famer.
The five-time WCW Champion explained on his podcast that he had a run-in backstage with Rousey's people during WrestleMania 34, the show where Rousey made her in-ring debut alongside Angle. Booker explained that he was backstage in catering during the event and just wanted to watch a bit of the Masters tournament on his phone, while others in catering were watching WrestleMania on a monitor. He said he pulled up the tournament and was listening to it and someone from Rousey's party asked him to turn his phone down because "Ronda was ready to start wrestling."
Booker said he was taken aback and that his phone wasn't that loud compared to the loud crowd of people back in catering as well as the action playing on the monitor. He said he was startled by someone backstage who didn't know etiquette when it came to catering or the business as a whole.At the time, Booker said he had no issues with Rousey and doubted that she even was aware of the incident.
Another WWE Hall of Famer who isn't Rousey's biggest fan is former "WWE SmackDown" General Manager Theodore Long. In April 2023, Long questioned whether or not Rousey had been worth WWE's investment. Long said on "WrestleBinge by Sportskeeda" that he didn't want to speculate on ratings that Rousey was or wasn't drawing and also said that she was a "nice person" when he met her, but admitted he thought she didn't show that she had interest in professional wrestling.
Longpreviously said he didn't think Rousey cared about the business or that she took professional wrestling seriously. He said he thought she only cared about herself. Long also thought Rousey was someone who would go into business for herself.
The following year, Rousey released her second book, "Our Fight: A Memoir," where she wrote about not loving her time in WWE under Vince McMahon and her experiences there until her departure following her SummerSlam 2023 loss to Shayna Baszler. Long talked about Rousey again, also to Sportskeeda, after the release of the book, and said once again that he thought she was a nice person, but said he knew she "didn't give a s*** about the business."Long said that sometimes he could see it in her promos, and that he saw mostly her anger at the company in the promo rather than the promo itself.
Despite the women never having a singles match in WWE, one of Rousey's biggest rivals during her time with the company was Becky Lynch. While Lynch may have only disliked Rousey in storyline, the women were very good at blurring the lines between reality and story, especially on social media, and fans really believed they absolutely hated each other.
Rousey, Lynch, and Flair clashed over both the "SmackDown" and "Raw" Women's Championships in a historic winner-takes-all main event at WrestleMania 35. Ahead of the match, Rousey and Lynch went after each other hard on social media, so brutally that WWE reportedly wasn't thrilled about it, especially with some of the language the women used.
Lynch's posts on what as then known as Twitter (now X) have since been deleted, but Rousey's remain. At one point, Rousey called out Lynch's fake "mugshot" after she was arrested in storyline and Rousey further broke kayfabe, posting that Lynch took "fake prison photos" in the hallway. Lynch shot back with an edited photo of Rousey as "The Room" actor Tommy Wiseau, alluding to Rousey's awkward deliver in promos. Lynch also told her to keep the "f" word, meaning "fake," out of her mouth.The rivalry ended with a Lynch victory at WrestleMania, though Rousey's shoulders were infamously off the mat.
After the release of Rousey's criticisms in "Our Fight," Lynch said that the former champion might have been too hard on WWE's writers and creative team. Lynch disagreed with Rousey's outlook on the company, but empathized a bit with her former rival's path and how things turned out for her in the company.
The beloved E! reality series "Total Divas" highlighted the WWE women's division and brought professional wrestling even further into the mainstream. The show ran on the network for nine seasons over six years and the cast was forever changing due to scheduling conflicts and who WWE and the network wanted to highlight that season for the best storylines. Former WWE star Lana was featured on the show on Seasons 6 and 7, but she announced on Lilian Garcia's "ChasingGlory" podcast in February 2019 that she wouldn't be returning to "Total Divas." She told Garcia she believed she was taken off the show soRousey, who debuted on Total Divas in Season 8, could take her spot.
Lana wasn't thrilled at the move and was sarcastic on the podcast about the announcement that Rousey would be joining the show. Lana mocked "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" and even took at shot at Rousey's third place victory at the Olympics and the fact she took home a bronze medal. Lana said that "technically" Rousey wasn't the best, since she wasn't number one. "The Ravishing Russian" called out Rousey for hypocrisy and said that Rousey bashed reality stars and dissed the likes of the Bella Twins, but now she was on the same reality show.
Lana would once again express her dislike of Rousey after her "fake fight" comments. She posted on social media that she had "no words," and questioned why Paige and TJ Wilson couldn't wrestle anymore if it was "fake."
Former writer for WWE creative Freddie Prinze Jr. was no fan of Rousey in WWE, especially her work during her second run with the company. The actor was highly critical of Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship match against Shotzi at Survivor Series: WarGames in 2022.Prinze called it the "single worst match" he had seen in a while and made clear it wasn't Shotzi's fault. He said that he believed Shotzi carried Rousey through the match and did everything she could to make Rousey look good, but it didn't work. Prinze said at the time that he felt Rousey was regressing in the ring and her work wasn't getting better, it was getting worse.
Prinze said that he believed Rousey either wasn't taking the time to work with people during her second time around in the company or she just couldn't do it. He questioned if it was the latter, why she was there in WWE. He called the Survivor Series championship match "legit unwatchable."
After Rousey and Baszler's SummerSlam match that would be Rousey's last in WWE, Prinze said that fans didn't care about the boutbecause they were done with Rousey. He said fans were aware she didn't care, in his words, and that match was just "was what was." Prinze gave props to Baszler for doing her best to make the story and match seem compelling.
Current GCW World Champion Effy, well-known on the independent scene for his outspoken nature, had some strong words for Rousey following her Ring ofHonor debut in November 2023, just a few short months after her final WWE match at SummerSlam. Effy took to his"Weekend at Effy's" podcast and didn't hold back on what he found problematic about Rousey outside of the squared circle, including when she previously shared conspiracy theories regarding the Sandy Hook massacre, for which Rousey would apologize forfollowing the release of her second book months later.Effy also took issue with Rousey's previous comments to the New York Post in 2013 about a transgender MMA fighter potentially joining the sport.
Effy called Rousey "the dumbest b**** of all time" for her beliefs outside of professional wrestling, as well as her ability in the ring.Effy said that everything about Rousey had been on his mind following her Ring of Honor debut. He slammed her for attempting to go to another company despite, in his opinion, her inability to wrestle, though ROH owner Tony Khan did not officially sign her after her tag team match with Marina Shafir against Athena and Billy Starkz.Effy went on to call the company "WCW Jr" and questioned what a "f****** future" was being created for professional wrestling.The ROH match would be Rousey's final foray into the square circle as of this writing.
Dutch Mantell, formerly known as Zeb Colter in WWE, was yet another high-profile name to be critical of Rousey while she was still with the company. Back in June 2022, Mantell said that Rousey's attitude "didn't convince him at all" and he didn't understand her character's personality.
In 2023, Rousey took to Instagram to vent her frustrations about WWE's creative and mentioned how her storyline with Liv Morgan could have been better if not for "octogenarians" writing her angle. Mantell blasted Rousey after the comment went viral and told her not to bite the hand that feeds her. He criticized her in-ring ability and pointed out how viewers "legitimately" disliked Rousey, but admitted that she could be a good heel because of it.
Mantell was also confused by Rousey's claim that professional wrestling wasn't a sport. He said she should try "joining the 2020s," as he heard that insult back in 1992. He said he didn't know the purpose of Rousey's comments, but said if it had been a sport, maybe "she'd have done better at it." Mantell bluntly noted at the time that he wasn't a big fan of Rousey's.
Mantell also mentioned in another interview that Rousey would visit backstage while he was still active in the company, between 2013 and 2016, and "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" never wanted to speak to him behind the scenes. Mantell explained that Rousey never said "hello" to him or even looked at him.
Rousey and Liv Morgan feuded over the SmackDown Women's Championship back in 2022, and it was the former UFC Champion who Morgan defeated for her first WWE singles title.At the time, Morgan also held the distinction of being the only woman to have two victories over Rousey. In their storyline, Morgan won the Money in the Bank contract and cashed it in on Rousey. She defended the title successfully against "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" at SummerSlam in controversial fashion, as Morgan tapped while Rousey's shoulders were down, but the referee counted the pin. Rousey won her title back from Morgan at Extreme Rules that year.
After the women had been working closely for a few months, Morgan appeared on "Twin Talk with Haley & Hanna Cavinder" and talked about her relationship with Rousey. She said she never imagined she'd be in the ring with Rousey back when she'd watch her UFC fights while working at Hooters. However, their relationship seemed to only be a working one, as Morgan said after their title feud, they steered clear of each other.
Morgan said she thought she was one of Rousey's first friends in WWE and that's why Rousey respected her when she won the gold. However, Morgan said bluntly, "I don't like her anymore" and offered no further explanation.
Former WCW executive Eric Bischoff is also not a fan of the "Rowdy" one. While many fans and those within the industry don't find much fault with Rousey's initial run in WWE, Bischoff wasn't a fan of the run that culminated in her WrestleMania 35 main event with Lynch and Flair. Bischoff called her an accomplished mixed martial artist and a phenomenal athlete, but said in the terms of the wrestling business, she was overrated.He went on to say that he didn't think she ever clicked with the audience despite her push and he didn't get the feeling she was serious about the industry.
Following the release of "Our Fight" and her negative comments about the business, Bischoff ripped into Rousey on his "83 Weeks" podcast. He said that he always had a feeling that Rousey was only in it "for the payday" and wasn't passionate about what she was doing.
He said he believed that when she was knocked out by Holm in UFC, she lost her passion for everything. Bischoff said he believed Rousey was a "bitter, angry woman" but said he hoped she sold a lot of books, because he said he thought she was "burying herself."
Former WWE and UFC commentator Jimmy Smith is no fan of Rousey, though the pair only worked in the same company at the same time during a portion of Rousey's second run with WWE. Smith and Rousey both worked in WWE from January 2022 when she returned until Smith was released from the company in October 2022.Following the release of "Our Fight" in 2024, Smith went off an a profanity-laden rant about Rousey and how he believes sheis the type of person who wants all the credit for her success, though none of the blame for her failures.
He also ranted about how Rousey's former co-workers perceived her, and how he thought she was a toxic presence backstage. Smith addressed Rousey directly and said the people behind the scenes, like those who run cameras and audio, as well as others he implied Rousey bullied, "can't stand your f***ing a**." He said everyone who had to put a microphone on Rousey "couldn't stand her."
Though they weren't associated with the UFC at the same time, Smith said he spoke with many crew members who he claimed were happy to witness Rousey's defeat to Holly Holm in November 2015. He claimed people backstage were cheering when Rousey was knocked out. Smith went on to say that Rousey didn't have one defender backstage in UFC and there wasn't a single person who wasn't thrilled when she "got crushed."
