‘Total Divas’ Season 9, Episode 5: “The Real Ronda”

Despite a couple of weeks of resolutions, tensions were still high between Ronda Rousey and the WWE women’s roster this week on Total Divas. Natalya even tried to defend Ronda to Carmella, Trinity (aka WWE’s Naomi), and Sonya Deville after the Ronda on the Road video from Philadelphia dropped. You know, the one when Ronda went off about wrestling being scripted. Which, I mean, it is. That’s just the truth, especially in WWE.

Natalya addressed the fact that Ronda was intentionally trying to get people “riled up,” but she also worried that Ronda possibly thought “we’re just this phony business.” Trin was content to just mind her own business and Carmella said that “if people are talking, she did her job.”

Nia Jax, on the other hand, was no longer frustrated about Ronda; instead, she was focused on the lack of respect people had for her wrestling, which led to the training at the Performance Center that she’d mentioned last episode. After the fact, Nia learned that her ACL in her right knee—she noted all episode how her knees had been giving her issues for a year—had completely ruptured.

Meanwhile, Sonya was worried that her relationship with her girlfriend might be moving too fast. And Carmella did this:

With four weeks to go until WrestleMania, while Ronda was excited about everything she’d been getting to do in her WWE career, she was still very much worried about how her fellow Superstars perceived her. When she asked if all the girls are mad at her, Natalya told her, “they just see the internet and they just see this shit blow up out of proportion.” While Ronda made clear to her friend that she wanted to present herself as “a threat to the entire business,” Natalya worried that Ronda “may have pushed the envelope too much.” But again, Ronda pointed out that, if anyone has a problem with her, they have her number. As she said in a talking head:

“I’ve always felt like my true calling is being a bad guy. I always think that the antagonist is the most compelling character. I’m not trying to talk down on the industry that they all care so much about. I’m trying to be that antagonist that pushes the story.”

Back at Browsey Acres, Ronda worried that she maybe “did too good of a job” in “antagonist mode.” Then she broke down the reason why this blurring of lines has become such a problem, as while the other girls have their character names and then get to use their real names at home:

“[I’m] Ronda Rousey all the time. Where does that line stop from me in character to me as myself?”

Travis’ advice? Invite the girls over to get to see the real Ronda. Ronda agreed, citing that “I know that I’m very much an outsider in this world, and I need to take that extra effort to reach out and make sure that these girls understand me and where I’m coming from. Because they don’t know me.” Especially since, as Ronda pointed out, she came from a world of individual sports; Ronda wanted to show that she can be a team player and that she respects her colleagues.

After blueing themselves (see the above video), Ronda told Liv Morgan about her idea to invite the girls up to the Browsey mountain house to train for WrestleMania together.