Ronda Rousey Talks Character Work With Vince McMahon; Comparisons to Brock Lesnar

WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey discussed the inner workings of her on-screen WWE persona after she made her debut with the company as an in-ring performer. Following a electric and memorable debut at WrestleMania 34, Rousey stormed onto WWE programming, but former CEO Vince McMahon saw her character as more “vulnerable than dominant.”

Ronda clarified on the latest episode of her podcast Ronda on the Road that Vince McMahon didn’t see her as an “invincible monster” type of character like Brock Lesnar has been booked to be. The comparison between the two obvious based on their legitimate MMA and UFC backgrounds. As a result, Ronda Rousey was booked with a more “vulnerable side.”

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“There’s this more vulnerable side of me,” Ronda explained on the podcast “but not vulnerable like, ‘Oh, I’m being hurt.’ It’s more of like, I gotta to find ways to challenge myself more and more and more.”

Rousey went into further detail about not “ducking and drudging” the challenges of being a WWE Champion and her desire to constantly defend her title and make her matches “must-see” for the WWE Universe.

“I don’t want there to be any filler,” she said. “I want the progression of matches to have a flow and meaning to them, almost like an album.” Ronda also admitted that she wasn’t great at “hiding her limits” during her first title run with the company. “I’m trying to chase after them with a vengeance…That’s what I think champions should be.”

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During the episode, Ronda Rousey also touched on the difficulties of seeing wrestling as a “team sport” and putting entertainment first because WWE entertainment isn’t a real fight, it’s a collaboration.

“I don’t want to argue with my teammate,” Rousey assured. “I’ve never been a team sport person, but I want to win…If I’m going to be on a team I’m going to be the best f**king team ever. And whoever I’m working with is gonna love me, and I’m gonna love them.”

Author Will McCormick 

Will McCormick, editor-in-chief for WrestlingRumors has been a professional writer for more than 15 years. He covered the rise of NXT and the Women’s Revolution as well as the rise of AEW and its impact on the industry.

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