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Ronda Rousey on Who She’s Sought Guidance From in WWE, Wanting to Headline WrestleMania

October 22, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

– Ronda Rousey spoke with Refinery 29 for a new interview promoting Evolution. Highlights are below:

On who she’s sought in WWE’s women’s division for guidance: “It’s hard to pick one person, because every single person on the roster has been a teacher to me at some point. I’ve learned something from everyone. Nattie’s been amazing to me from day one, when I was just training with Brian Kendrick in secret. Nattie knew I was training and she had just finished a South America tour. She had been all over the place, and instead of coming home, she flew all the way out to L.A. and stayed at my house and came to train with me. Now that I’ve been traveling around with them, I’m like, ‘How could you ever have taken some of your home days and spend them on me?’ Sasha [Banks] and Bayley have taught me so much. [They] have been these great examples of being effortlessly great at what they do. They’ve also been a great resource and made me feel so comfortable about coming to them and asking them questions. I’ve learned so much from every woman that I’ve ever been in the ring with. Nia Jax was my first singles match and if I didn’t have her as my partner, I don’t know if it would have been as good as it was. It was extremely intimidating that my first ever singles match was for the Raw Women’s Championship and she was just a great mentor and guide through that whole process. The people you are against [are the ones] you spend the most time with and you learn the most from. There isn’t a single woman in the locker room that hasn’t been instrumental to my success.”

On the best piece of advice she’s received: The one consistent thing that everyone keeps telling me, across the board, is just have fun. The last thing I always hear before I go out there is, ‘Have fun. Make sure you have fun.’ It’s almost like a sign off — ‘Have fun’ is how you end your advice. ‘Have fun’ and ‘take your time.'”

On the difference between MMA and wrestling: “Here’s a good analogy: MMA is like being a pirate. You are a pirate. You do the pirate thing: You’re out there, on the ship, pillaging. You’re a pirate. WWE is like you are the star of Pirates of Penzance. Being the star of Pirates of Penzance is a lot of work, and it’s very very difficult, and you might have to learn a lot of pirate-y things, but it’s not the same as being a pirate. One is the actual subject and one is paying homage to the subject.”

On what milestone in WWE she’d like to hit: “We’ve never had women headline WrestleMania and I would love to be one of the women to do so, or at least be one of the women watching when it happens. It’s that one ‘first’ that has still been kept away from us that every single woman on the roster is ravenous for.”