Andrew Ravens
Ronda Rousey has given her most honest account yet of what it was like working in WWE under Vince McMahon’s leadership, describing an environment defined by last-minute decisions, poor communication, and constant anxiety during an interview with Complex News.
Rousey had two stints with WWE, the first beginning in 2017 and the second running through 2023. She was direct about how the experience of working under McMahon affected her ability to connect with her own character.
“I felt like I was doing somebody else’s impression of myself,” Rousey said. “You can tell when I was allowed to write my own promos and when I wasn’t. I learned a lot from it, and I really enjoyed my time in the ring. I didn’t really enjoy being under the death throes of Vince McMahon’s reign, but there were a lot of great experiences in there.”
Her second run with the company was particularly difficult. Rousey described McMahon as being increasingly removed from the day-to-day reality of running the product and said that the working environment had deteriorated considerably by that point.
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“I mean, the second run, Vince was just more far gone and more difficult to work with, and there was a lot of inner turmoil going on in the company,” Rousey said. “It was kind of a s*** show, and nobody ever knew what was going on.
“And you would get to the arena, and you would be made to do something that somebody threw in your lap that wasn’t hadn’t thought about until 15 minutes before. Everything was super last-minute and not well thought out, and there was no communication, no back and forth.”
The psychological toll of that environment was something Rousey addressed directly.
“Any attempt to collaborate felt like we were trying to negotiate something as opposed to partnering together to make something great,” she said. “And unfortunately, I love being out there in the ring and doing it, but the process was just like a cluster f–k, sh-t show that it was so much more anxiety than it was worth.
“I just look back at it, and I just remember the anxiety of not knowing what was going on, and then at the last minute, maybe we’d be able to pull it out of our a– and have a good night, and maybe not. I was definitely team Triple H to get up to take it over. So, I’ve heard it’s been much better since he’s taken things over, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to experience it.”
Rousey recently made an appearance at AEW Revolution to side with real-life friend Marina Shafir following her match against Toni Storm. She is currently preparing for her fight against Gina Carano this Saturday at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, streaming live on Netflix.
