Becky Lynch says Ronda Rousey was ‘mishandled’ by WWE during her run and says the UFC great ‘couldn’t wrestle’
Ronda Rousey was renowned for her grappling in the UFC - but Becky Lynch claimed her lack of wrestling skill caused her WWE downfall.
Rousey's transition into professional wrestling in 2017 following a glittering career in MMA looked to be a match made in heaven.
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The 37-year-old debuted the following year at WrestleMania 34 and looked impressive as she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Despite going on to claim multiple wrestling championships, Rousey soon had multiple gripes with the company ahead of her exit last year and now looks back bitterly at her time in the squared circle.
Admitting she was suffering from the impact of head injuries that she feared could cost her a role in WWE, she’s made clear in her new book, Our Fight, that her spells as a pro wrestler was less than blissful.
However, Rousey's former rival Lynch has claimed the company did her no favours in their booking of her following her 'Mania debut.
Aided by the knowledge and experience of Angle and Triple H especially, a seamless performance from 'Rowdy' grabbed plenty of headlines – something Lynch feels was effectively her downfall.
“She was coming from a different industry,†explained 'the Man', in an interview with MMA Hour.
“She was a star, and she should’ve been handled differently in terms of she had such a great outing that everybody thought ‘Oh, she can wrestle.’Â
“I mean this with respect, but she couldn’t wrestle.
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“What we do isn’t something you can just have one good match and [say]: ‘Okay, I’m off to the races.’
“It’s a craft and you have to learn your craft. You have to be diligent about learning your craft.
“Everybody treated Ronda like she already knew it because when she first came in she was good in that first bout.
“But she was also working with Kurt Angle, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. It was a well-rehearsed match because everybody wanted her to succeed.
“Then it was like ‘she can do this’… and that was mishandling her because she was a star in her own right. She’d done so much for MMA.
“So, in terms of that booking, that wasn’t done well.â€
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If Rousey clearly didn’t enjoy her WWE run, it’s not something Lynch necessarily finds hard to understand.
She explained: “I have a very different view and experience of WWE, but I always wanted to do this, this is what I always wanted to do. I love this.
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“Is it perfect? No. Nothing is. I’ve worked in little deli's where you think, ‘How does this place operate?’
“The size of WWE and the amount of talent and people that go into making it go live on TV… there’s so many people that go behind that.
“You’re going to be dealing with a lot of people, so you’re going to have some negative experiences.â€
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