Ronda Rousey Says ‘Anyone Can Be Better Than Vince McMahon in WWE’s New Era’: ‘The Only Place You Can Go Is Up’

Ronda Rousey worked as a full-time WWE Superstar for six years and didn’t like what she saw. The three-time WWE Women’s Champion, who is now retired and working toward publishing her first graphic novel, has high hopes for professional wrestling’s leader in a world without former CEO Vince McMahon.

“I think anybody could be better than Vince McMahon,” Rousey told CBS Sports, discussing the Kickstarter campaign launching July 25 for her “Expecting the Unexpected” graphic novel. “The only place you can go is up. I really love Triple H and working with him, and honestly, I haven’t seen him, but I’ve seen some of Nattie. [Neidhart] He told that recently he had received a card in which the number of women was equal to that of men.

“That’s what I really want to see. Women should be equally represented not only with the matches on the card, but over time on the show.”

Rousey wrote scathing comments In his recent autobiography he wrote about McMahon, our fight, She criticized the company’s poor history with booking women and pointed to various sexual misconduct allegations against McMahon, the latter of which led to the company’s dismissal of sexual misconduct allegations against him. Resigned from WWE and parent company TKO was acquired in January and reportedly under federal investigation For sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The power structure of modern WWE has changed dramatically. Triple H, known as Paul Levesque in his executive roles, primarily serves as WWE’s chief content officer alongside CEO Ari Emanuel and president Nick Khan. Levesque was an integral part of Rousey’s career. Rousey first stepped into a WWE ring at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, handcuffing Levesque’s wife Stephanie McMahon during a segment with Triple H and The Rock. Rousey made her in-ring debut three years later, teaming with Kurt Angle in a tag team match against Triple H and Stephanie.

“I think they have no choice but to move on, and I’m so happy for all the women who are still there and are moving forward under the new system,” Rousey said.

Paul Heyman was an integral part of Rousey’s pro wrestling career. Heyman’s close friendship and on-screen chemistry with former UFC and WWE champion Brock Lesnar put him on equal ground with Rousey during her transition from UFC to WWE. Rousey says the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame inductee – who has actively done some of the best work of her career in The Bloodline storyline, runs cult favourite wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and has held roles as SmackDown’s general manager and lead writer – has contributed to the industry in ways that will never be fully understood.

“I think he’s the backbone of the whole industry,” Rousey said. “People don’t see the backbone. It’s hidden underneath the body, but he’s literally everybody’s mentor. Every success story has its roots in him. I think the industry would be a hole in itself without him.

“He should consider himself lucky to have his time because he could have spent his talents on something else. But he spends 100% of his time and energy on WWE. He’s someone who encouraged me creatively. He truly believed I was more than what my body could handle.”

Watch Ronda Rousey’s full interview below.

Rousey credits Heyman with encouraging her to pursue writing, which led to a graphic novel, a memoir and the screenplay for her upcoming biopic on Netflix.

“He really encouraged me to write and create,” Rousey said. “He’s the one who told me, ‘You should write your own story.’ No one had ever looked at me that way before or believed in me that way. I didn’t even believe in myself that way. I wrote the logline, and then after breaking my finger, having surgery, jumping straight on a plane to do ‘The Stephen Colbert Show’ to promote ‘Mortal Kombat 11,’ and finally laying in bed for the first time in four to eight hours, I sat down and I typed notes on my phone for 11 hours straight to write the first draft of this story. It was something sitting inside of me and Paul Heyman was the only person who saw it.

“Five years later, I’ve learned a lot and put a lot of work and love into this, and it’s finally seeing the light of day. This isn’t something I’m doing to impress anyone. I’m finally away from that part of my life. You know what? I’m retired. I’m going to do whatever it takes. I felt like writing a graphic novel and it’s here. It doesn’t matter if people take it one way or the other. It’s like a compulsion. I had to tell the story and write it. I hope it finds someone, even one person who needed to read it as much as I needed to write it.”