Post by flame3169118 on Mar 25, 2024 21:39:28 GMT -5
In excerpts from her new book Our Fight via TheCovalentTV, Ronda Rousey discussed the struggles that female wrestlers faced in WWE over the years…
“WWE loves to do well-produced video segments about the legacy of women within the organization, but the truth is women have largely been footnotes. For the longest time, they were relegated to serving male characters in a valet role, an overly sexualized supporting character that takes cheap shots when the ref isn’t looking. Over time, as the level of female talent grew and society as a whole started to shift, the organization gradually expanded the role of female wrestlers.
WWE bills itself as a sports entertainment organization, and just like in the mainstream entertainment industry, there was, by all accounts, a casting couch culture where men backstage in powerful positions pressured female talent for sexual favors in return for airtime. There were so many public accusations and scandals it’s hard to keep track, and more that I’m sure the WWE managed to sweep under the ring.
Women weren’t just being demeaned backstage, but center stage. Up until 2007, ‘Bra & Panties Matches,’ where female wrestlers won the match by stripping their opponent down to her underwear, were an actual fucking thing. Even after that gimmick was retired by WWE executives—I’m sure very reluctantly and with a lot of lamenting about political correctness—it was still clear that the organization placed more value on a woman’s physical appearance than her physical ability.
The Divas Era with its pink rhinestone butterfly title belt dawned around the same time. Women, while now portrayed as wrestlers, were still expected to look a certain way—think lots of makeup, little clothing, and huge boobs. It would take almost another decade, years after I proved women could be a huge combat sports attraction, before women truly started to get time in the squared circle (what diehards call a pro wrestling ring).
And it was only after WWE was basically armbarred into it, following a global social media backlash to #givedivasachance after Divas were given a total of thirty seconds— less time than it takes most people to read this paragraph—for a nationally televised tag match.
Ronda Rousey commented on former WWE chairman Vince McMahon with the following comments…
“NXT was founded by and under the control of Triple H, real name Paul Levesque. In addition to being my in-ring WrestleMania nemesis, he is arguably one of the best professional wrestlers in history and one of the better people on the business side. He is married to Stephanie McMahon, who is the daughter of WWE’s Emperor Palpatine, Vince McMahon. Vince took over the company from his father in the early 1980s and spent the better part of forty years playing a real-world pro-wrestling version of Monopoly, buying up and absorbing smaller promotions until he basically owned them all.
“WWE loves to do well-produced video segments about the legacy of women within the organization, but the truth is women have largely been footnotes. For the longest time, they were relegated to serving male characters in a valet role, an overly sexualized supporting character that takes cheap shots when the ref isn’t looking. Over time, as the level of female talent grew and society as a whole started to shift, the organization gradually expanded the role of female wrestlers.
WWE bills itself as a sports entertainment organization, and just like in the mainstream entertainment industry, there was, by all accounts, a casting couch culture where men backstage in powerful positions pressured female talent for sexual favors in return for airtime. There were so many public accusations and scandals it’s hard to keep track, and more that I’m sure the WWE managed to sweep under the ring.
Women weren’t just being demeaned backstage, but center stage. Up until 2007, ‘Bra & Panties Matches,’ where female wrestlers won the match by stripping their opponent down to her underwear, were an actual fucking thing. Even after that gimmick was retired by WWE executives—I’m sure very reluctantly and with a lot of lamenting about political correctness—it was still clear that the organization placed more value on a woman’s physical appearance than her physical ability.
The Divas Era with its pink rhinestone butterfly title belt dawned around the same time. Women, while now portrayed as wrestlers, were still expected to look a certain way—think lots of makeup, little clothing, and huge boobs. It would take almost another decade, years after I proved women could be a huge combat sports attraction, before women truly started to get time in the squared circle (what diehards call a pro wrestling ring).
And it was only after WWE was basically armbarred into it, following a global social media backlash to #givedivasachance after Divas were given a total of thirty seconds— less time than it takes most people to read this paragraph—for a nationally televised tag match.
Four women were given less time to collectively wrestle than every single man on the roster got for his intro music alone. Presented this information as a person outside of the wrestling world you might draw the conclusion that there is a troubling foundational sexist, patriarchal culture within the WWE. You would be right. I have nothing but respect for the female wrestlers who paved the way for women wrestlers today. And nothing but disgust for the amount of sexist, degrading bullshit they were put through.”
“NXT was founded by and under the control of Triple H, real name Paul Levesque. In addition to being my in-ring WrestleMania nemesis, he is arguably one of the best professional wrestlers in history and one of the better people on the business side. He is married to Stephanie McMahon, who is the daughter of WWE’s Emperor Palpatine, Vince McMahon. Vince took over the company from his father in the early 1980s and spent the better part of forty years playing a real-world pro-wrestling version of Monopoly, buying up and absorbing smaller promotions until he basically owned them all.
It’s hard to sometimes know where the evil, unethical, slimeball character of Vince McMahon played out for the cameras ends and the actual questionably ethical, many times sued, and multiple times accused of sexual misconduct Vince McMahon begins. [Pay-per-views events are] held in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as now twice a year in Saudi Arabia, a nation that restricts the rights of women in a way that I’m certain Vince McMahon wishes he could.”
Ronda Rousey was asked about MMA fighters having real life “beef” and if Rousey had issues with anyone. Here was Rousey’s response…
“In MMA, I originally just started them for publicity, but those other bitches did not get the memo, and so they became personal. And in WWE, it’s all fake – I love them. Except for Bruce Prichard [WWE Executive Director] and John Laurinaitis. They can go fuck themselves.”
Rousey also said she doesn’t intend on returning to WWE…
“Oh yeah, how much of an absolute shit show it is at the WWE. Because, you know, I don’t have – they can’t hold a sword over my head and, like, hold me hostage with my own career. And I don’t need anything from them and I don’t intend on going back. So I can actually say everything that I think and feel, where everybody else that is still held captive by their organization cannot.”
“In MMA, I originally just started them for publicity, but those other bitches did not get the memo, and so they became personal. And in WWE, it’s all fake – I love them. Except for Bruce Prichard [WWE Executive Director] and John Laurinaitis. They can go fuck themselves.”
Rousey also said she doesn’t intend on returning to WWE…
“Oh yeah, how much of an absolute shit show it is at the WWE. Because, you know, I don’t have – they can’t hold a sword over my head and, like, hold me hostage with my own career. And I don’t need anything from them and I don’t intend on going back. So I can actually say everything that I think and feel, where everybody else that is still held captive by their organization cannot.”
Ronda Rousey discussed the changes that were made to the WWE NXT brand in 2021…
“People were excited about NXT in a way that they weren’t about Raw and SmackDown’s constant reliance on rehashing the same formulaic story lines over and over. As NXT grew and it became apparent that there was the potential to expand and profit from it, suddenly it became attractive to Vince. In fall of 2019, WWE launched a weekly NXT show—slated to go head-to-head on-air with AEW. Now, NXT was on the up-and-up, but so too was AEW. Then Triple H almost died, suffering from heart failure and requiring surgery. He stepped away to deal with his health, and in his absence, Vince’s cronies saw an opportunity. NXT was losing the ratings battle to AEW, they whispered to Vince. Changes needed to be made. Which is how John Laurinaitis, a former wrestler turned WWE executive and all-around dirtbag, ended up running NXT.
Laurinaitis had made a name for himself as an average but by no means outstanding wrestler before he moved into playing an in-ring authority figure type and then a producer. He looked and acted like an entitled sixty-year-old former frat boy. Tall, blondish, and with a cleft chin, he always appeared to be scowling, even when he smiled. His raspy voice earned him the nickname Johnny Laryngitis, which was one of the nicer things people called him.
Whereas Triple H looked for talent and potential in NXT prospects, it appeared John Laurinaitis looked for fuckability. He further purged the NXT roster, firing it seemed like everyone over twenty-five and turning recruiting attention away from the indie circuits in favor of blonde sorority-types from places like the Universities of Florida and Tennessee. Putting the blame for the decline on Laurinaitis—which Vince would basically try to do a few months later—would be easy but Laurinaitis was only a symptom of what was wrong within WWE. Honestly, the actual drama was so much better than anything WWE could ever script.”
“People were excited about NXT in a way that they weren’t about Raw and SmackDown’s constant reliance on rehashing the same formulaic story lines over and over. As NXT grew and it became apparent that there was the potential to expand and profit from it, suddenly it became attractive to Vince. In fall of 2019, WWE launched a weekly NXT show—slated to go head-to-head on-air with AEW. Now, NXT was on the up-and-up, but so too was AEW. Then Triple H almost died, suffering from heart failure and requiring surgery. He stepped away to deal with his health, and in his absence, Vince’s cronies saw an opportunity. NXT was losing the ratings battle to AEW, they whispered to Vince. Changes needed to be made. Which is how John Laurinaitis, a former wrestler turned WWE executive and all-around dirtbag, ended up running NXT.
Laurinaitis had made a name for himself as an average but by no means outstanding wrestler before he moved into playing an in-ring authority figure type and then a producer. He looked and acted like an entitled sixty-year-old former frat boy. Tall, blondish, and with a cleft chin, he always appeared to be scowling, even when he smiled. His raspy voice earned him the nickname Johnny Laryngitis, which was one of the nicer things people called him.
Whereas Triple H looked for talent and potential in NXT prospects, it appeared John Laurinaitis looked for fuckability. He further purged the NXT roster, firing it seemed like everyone over twenty-five and turning recruiting attention away from the indie circuits in favor of blonde sorority-types from places like the Universities of Florida and Tennessee. Putting the blame for the decline on Laurinaitis—which Vince would basically try to do a few months later—would be easy but Laurinaitis was only a symptom of what was wrong within WWE. Honestly, the actual drama was so much better than anything WWE could ever script.”
Ronda Rousey talked about the end of her run with WWE and dealing with Vince McMahon…
“I just didn’t wanna be Vince’s action fucking figure anymore. I felt like I was like doing custom matches for a fucking sicko in the back. All power to the girls that keep fighting the good fight. But I’m in my mid-30’s now. I’ve got shit to do.”
“He was never gone while I was there. He was just phoning it in through Bruce Prichard. My agent who works at WME (Endeavor), he was telling me, ‘You know, he’s completely gone now, I swear.’ And I’m like, I’ll believe it when I see it, because everyone said he left before. He never left. He was there by text message.”
“I just didn’t wanna be Vince’s action fucking figure anymore. I felt like I was like doing custom matches for a fucking sicko in the back. All power to the girls that keep fighting the good fight. But I’m in my mid-30’s now. I’ve got shit to do.”
“He was never gone while I was there. He was just phoning it in through Bruce Prichard. My agent who works at WME (Endeavor), he was telling me, ‘You know, he’s completely gone now, I swear.’ And I’m like, I’ll believe it when I see it, because everyone said he left before. He never left. He was there by text message.”
Ronda Rousey said the following about the Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley match from Wrestlemania 39…
“They weren’t supposed to go that long. The whole time the referee is telling them to go backstage and Charlotte threw her big dick on the table and said no, we’re gonna do this awesome fucking match. And that’s what [the women are] dealing with. They’re not allowed to show how fucking amazing they are, because ‘Oh, the crowd’s gonna be tired for the guys match afterward.’ That’s bullshit!”
Rousey also talked about wanting to leave WWE..
“I had a long sit down with Triple H and I was like, ‘I can’t be associated with mediocrity.’ And that’s what they seemed to be happy with at the time. And I hope that is different now, but I can’t say… that I’ve ever experienced it any other way.”
“They weren’t supposed to go that long. The whole time the referee is telling them to go backstage and Charlotte threw her big dick on the table and said no, we’re gonna do this awesome fucking match. And that’s what [the women are] dealing with. They’re not allowed to show how fucking amazing they are, because ‘Oh, the crowd’s gonna be tired for the guys match afterward.’ That’s bullshit!”
Rousey also talked about wanting to leave WWE..
“I had a long sit down with Triple H and I was like, ‘I can’t be associated with mediocrity.’ And that’s what they seemed to be happy with at the time. And I hope that is different now, but I can’t say… that I’ve ever experienced it any other way.”