Ronda Rousey Reveals Her WWE Identity Crisis

Ronda always wanted to come back to wrestling. It was obvious to anyone paying attention that she missed it. What she didn’t miss was the boos, or to be more exact, being able to fight back against the crowd. Even when every other message on a Horizon Zero Dawn stream is asking about a WWE return, it’s hard to think about being welcomed back after the last memory is being booed out of a stadium.

Lifting the curtain of heel and face, do you fight against your instincts? Or play a character that doesn’t feel right? In our latest episode of Ronda on the Road, Ronda openly talks about this identity crisis and the epiphany caused by multiple sidebars with Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon.

“I was stuck between, do I stay true to myself and tell these people to go fuck themselves,” Ronda said. “Or do I, you know, respect Vince [McMahon] 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 kind of finally got to be myself.”

In the end, whether they hate you or love you or some amalgam of both, It’s about the fans. Refreshed on her return, Ronda realized that you can smile even when people are mad you’re ruining all their plans. Cheer for Ronda snapping the arm, or boo Ronda for snapping the arm, either way the arm is getting snapped and Ronda is having fun.

“Heyman was like, ‘You did great, but I’m gonna tell you, he’s gonna tell you one thing. He’s gonna tell you to smile.’ I’m like, okay. […] I was telling [Vince McMahon], ‘They were booing me on the way out, of every stadium. And he’s like, Yeah, but they’ve forgiven you for that.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I haven’t forgiven them,’ and he goes, ‘But it’s not about you. It’s about them.’ It was such a good point, that I’d been thinking about myself and how it relates to myself, and I was forgetting that this is a show about entertaining them.”