Ronda Rousey’s departure from WWE after her SummerSlam match against Shayna Baszler last year marked the beginning of her candid reflections on her time in the company, often sharing negative sentiments about her WWE journey.
During her stint in WWE, Rousey experienced significant dissatisfaction, feeling that her expectations were not met. Despite having a clear vision for her role in the company, including a desired match against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, the reality of her booking did not align with her aspirations. WWE’s divergent creative direction left Rousey feeling disillusioned and frustrated.
In her autobiography, “Our Fight,” Rousey recounts a poignant conversation with Triple H, expressing her desire to collaborate with Shayna, enact a storyline where Shayna betrays her, and ultimately put Shayna over before departing from WWE.
Rousey emphasized the urgency of realizing this storyline before SummerSlam, conveying her emotional turmoil to Triple H. She criticized WWE’s booking practices, describing them as “minimum effort” and expressing her exhaustion with the situation.
“Listen, I told you I’d be here until SummerSlam,” I said. “And I’m a woman of my word, but I’m done after this. All I wanted when I got into this business was to tag with Shayna, have her turn on me, then put her over before I leave. We have until SummerSlam to make that happen. After that, I’m done being associated with this minimum effort lazy-ass s***show.” I could feel my lip quivering, I was so worked up it took everything I had to hold back tears. He shook his head like someone who silently shared my frustration.
“OK, I get,” he said. “I get it.” I nodded, indicating I had said my piece. I moved to leave, when he stretched out his hand, I thought to shake mine. Instead, he leaned in, gently touching my arm. He dipped his head, looking up at me. His tone shifted from authority figure to friend. “But how are you?” he asked sincerely. I burst into tears. Not just crying, but bawling. “I’m so tired,” I said. “I’m so tired that I feel like it’s changing my personality. I’m so much more anxious, stressed, negative, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
