Paul Heyman may be the Special Counsel for Roman Reigns but he has discussed what his role behind the scenes was with ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey during her WWE run.
Having won an Olympic medal in 2008 in judo before conquering the world of MMA and becoming a huge draw for the UFC, Rousey decided to follow her childhood passion of pro wrestling and set foot in WWE on a full-time basis at the 2018 Royal Rumble.
With the women’s division on notice that The Baddest Unarmed Woman On The Planet was now making WWE her home, Rousey impressed many fans with her impressive display in her debut bout at WrestleMania 34. Rousey teamed with fellow Olympian Kurt Angle to defeat the husband and wife team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
From there Rousey went on a tear through the women’s roster, eventually capturing the Raw Women’s Championship in short order from Alexa Bliss at 2018’s SummerSlam. Towards the end of the year, the previous adoration Rousey received from the WWE Universe was dwindling and Rousey took exception to the fact that fans were now vociferously throwing their support behind ‘The Man’ Becky Lynch.
Ultimately Rousey, Lynch, and Charlotte Flair became the first women in history to headline a WrestleMania event at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. In Rousey’s last WWE appearance so far she was pinned by Becky Lynch who won both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
Speaking exclusively to Inside The Ropes’ own Kenny McIntosh, Paul Heyman discussed his role in working with Rousey during her time in the company for issue 10 of Inside The Ropes magazine:
“I don’t want to, nor should I, take any credit for Ronda Rousey’s accomplishments in or out of WWE. My guidance with Ronda Rousey and any discussion thereof should be limited to simply being a sounding board for one of the most progressive-thinking, revolutionary, evolutionary human beings to ever grace sports, entertainment, and/or sports entertainment. Ronda had arguably one of the best first years anyone has ever had in pro wrestling.”
Heyman was then asked if he thought Ronda Rousey would ever return to a WWE ring in the future, the answer was straightforward:
“Yes.”