Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: ronda rousey, Vince McMahon, wrestling, wwe
Ronda Rousey Shoots on Vince McMahon in Tell-All Book Excerpts
Ronda Rousey laid the verbal Smackdown on former employer WWE and former boss Vince McMahon in excerpts from her upcoming memoir, Our Fight.
Article Summary
- Ronda Rousey highly critical ofVince McMahon in her new book.
- Excerpts criticize McMahon's ethics and WWE's treatment of women wrestlers.
- She applauds Triple H but compares McMahon to Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine.
- Rousey's memoir details her journey from MMA to activism and motherhood.
Ronda Rousey may have left the world of MMA behind for the more choreographed "sport" of professional wrestling, but in her upcoming autobiography, she isn't pulling her punches. According to excerpts from the book published by Inside the Ropes, Rousey unleashed a devastating verbal assault on her former boss, disgraced former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. McMahon was forced to resign from WWE and parent company TKO earlier this year after a bombshell lawsuit named McMahon, former head of talent relations John Laurenitis, and WWE in claims of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
In the book, titled Our Fight: A Memoir and hitting stores on April 2nd, Rousey praised Triple H, who brought her into WWE, as "one of the better people on the business side" but compared McMahon to "Emperor Palpatine," the villain of the Star Wars franchise. "It's hard sometimes to 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," Rousey writes. "That blurred line between character and reality is a recurring theme within the WWE Universe."
In another shot at McMahon, Rousey mentions WWE holding premium live events in major cities, "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." Rouset further
The former WWE Champion also discussed WWE's penchant for patting itself on the back about the Women's Evolution, a term the company uses to describe its efforts in the last few years to treat women's wrestling with respect. But Rousey notes that WWE only made those changes after decades of treating women as "overly sexualized supporting characters," allegedly creating "a casting couch culture where men backstage in powerful positions pressured female talent for sexual favors in return for airtime," and even then, notes that the company "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 bullsh*t they were put through."
Our Fight: A Memoir hits stores on April 2nd in Hardcover format, and is available for preorder now.
From New York Times bestselling author and trailblazing athlete Ronda Rousey, an unfiltered chronicle of loss, resilience and finding meaning in life's journey.
From the moment she burst onto the MMA scene, Ronda Rousey was unbeatable. She repeatedly strung together back-to-back flawless victories, racking up a collection of records and forever changing the face of sports as the UFC's first female champion. A superstar in her sport, she transcended athletics, appearing in blockbuster films and becoming a role model for women everywhere. Then, on November 15, 2015, it all came crashing down.
In OUR FIGHT, Rousey explores the greatest challenge of her life and, ultimately, how she rebuilt her life into something better in the aftermath. She recounts how she replaced her pursuit of perfection with the pursuit of happiness and found an opportunity in disguise amongst the wreckage. Following Rousey's relatable journey, OUR FIGHT is a courageous narrative of career changes, marriage, motherhood, and facing your fears.