Ronda Rousey On Using the Ankle Lock To Pay Tribute To Kurt Angle

In her latest ‘Ronda on the Road’ vlog, Ronda Rousey spoke about adopting the ankle lock as a way to pay tribute to her mentor Kurt Angle. Here are highlights, via Wrestling Inc:

On using the Ankle Lock in WWE: “I just really want to be able to put over Kurt as the whole reason I’m doing the ankle lock. That’s a way to pay homage to him. That’s all I really care about getting out, because he was my first mentor in this business, and I’ve never really got to honor him outside of our tag [match at WrestleMania 34]. People compare us all the time because we were athletes outside of WWE and then came to it. As an Olympian, he has been like my hero since I was a little kid, so I love that he gave me the blessing to use the ankle lock.”

On fans using the What chants: “Everyone was like, ‘Your rhythm seemed off, what were you worried about?’ And I was like if Brock [Lesnar] who is the most over face in the company right now is getting the ‘What?’ chants, they’re gonna ‘What?’ the f–k out of me. So I just wanted to blow through it [the promo] to the point where the first break in when I was talking was after I mentioned Kurt because if you ‘What?’ Kurt, then you’re an a–hole.”

On being nervous for promos: “I get more nervous for promos than matches because I have to nail it on the first go. I’ve always been a person that communicates better physically than verbally, but I think I got it. They let me say what I want to say, then I got it.”