Ronda Rousey Threatened To Quit WWE In Explosive Row With Creative

Ronda Rousey threatened to leave WWE just months after returning in 2022.

After an impressive first run with WWE, expectations were high when Ronda Rousey returned to the company at the 2022 Royal Rumble. However, the big comeback didn’t go to plan for anyone involved, and by the time she left again in summer 2023, Rousey was happy to be out of the WWE bubble.

During a new interview with Rick Ucchino for Cageside Seats, Rousey opened up about her frustration with WWE who seemingly had little interest in her pitch for a match with Becky Lynch. At the time, Lynch was the only person to ever pin Rousey, and plans for a singles match had been discussed, so a feud seemed to make sense. Despite this, Rousey said WWE “refused” to work with her.

“WWE just refused to work with me at all. They refused to collaborate. They didn’t want to talk to me about it. They kept pushing it off and pushing it off until it finally got to the road WrestleMania, and they’re like, yeah, we’re not gonna do you and Becky.”

At this point, Rousey took matters into her own hands and threatened to quit unless she was allowed to start working with Shayna Baszler.

“I’m like, ‘Alright, well then I’m f—-ing leaving unless me and Shanya [Baszler] can tag.” Rousey said. “If you guys don’t want to work with me, you don’t wanna do something extraordinary. You just wanna do good enough every single night. I came here to have fun with my friends.”

The standoff led to Rousey dropping the SmackDown Women’s Title in December 2022 before teaming up with Baszler. The switch paved the way for Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39.

Ronda Rousey Takes Aim At “F*cking Sicko” Vince McMahon

During the interview, Ronda Rousey said she felt she was doing matches for a “sicko in the back” as her WWE career continued, something that only increased her unrest.

Eventually, Rousey had a meeting with Triple H and outlined her decision to leave. The former UFC star had high praise for the WWE legend and said she wished he would have been in control of her second WWE run, without input from Vince McMahon.