Although Ronda Rousey is the current WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion and broke down barriers in a legendary run with UFC, she has also faced her fair share of struggles.
In a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ from 2015, the self-styled Baddest Woman on the planet’ opened up about dealing with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. The NIDCD (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, United States) defines Apraxia of Speech as the following:
“Apraxia of speech (AOS)—also known as acquired apraxia of speech, verbal apraxia, or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) when diagnosed in children—is a speech sound disorder. Someone with AOS has trouble saying what he or she wants to say correctly and consistently. AOS is a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech. The brain knows what it wants to say, but cannot properly plan and sequence the required speech sound movements.”
Ronda Rousey Credits “Awesome” Speech Therapists
During the Q&A a newly qualified speech therapist asked Rousey if there was anything she would like to say to anyone struggling with speech, and her experience with therapy. The WWE star praised the therapists she worked with as a child, adding that speech therapists are “awesome.”
“I love my speech therapist – I thought she was super cool and I didn’t even know I was in speech therapy. I’d like to tell any kid struggling with speech that anything can be overcome with hard work regardless of how insurmountable the odds seem. Shout out to all speech therapists. You’re all awesome. And the best thing about my recovery was that I was never allowed to feel interior.”
While Ronda Rousey remains an impressive force in the ring, she has previously come in for some criticism for her promos, something she has admitted she finds more nerve-wracking than her actual matches. On a recent episode of his podcast the MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani said that he would like to join forces with Rousey, delivering her promos for her while she handles the wrestling.
“I could have and could help Ronda Rousey. Yep, yep. Can’t beat that. Not great on the mic, not believable, little too stiff,” Helwani said. “Have me, the voice of the voiceless, the voice of MMA, the voice of combat sports, come out there and cut promos on her behalf. That’s what I wanna do. I don’t wanna cut promos on my behalf, I wanna cut promos on other people’s behalf.”
Ronda Rousey was most recently in action on the October 28th episode of Friday Night SmackDown where she defeated Emma, who was making her first WWE appearance since 2017.