After a successful run in WWE, Ronda Rousey parted ways with the promotion in October 2023, leaving on bad terms after growing frustrated with her creative direction. Rousey would then go on to publicly criticize both WWE and pro wrestling, claiming she was done with the industry. She’s since gone on to debut in Ring of Honor as well as appear in AEW, and in an interview with Complex, she recalled what she loved about stepping into Tony Khan’s promotion. 

“One thing I really love about AEW is that it’s not PG, so I can walk in there and flip everybody off and walk out and laugh with my best friend and have a great time,” Rousey said. Additionally, Rousey felt like she wasn’t as edited as she had been in WWE. “I felt like I was doing somebody else’s impression of myself,” she stated about her time in WWE. “You can tell when I was allowed to write my own promos and when I wasn’t.”

Rousey acknowledged that her previous comments about WWE had been “catty,” but she didn’t feel bad about it. Despite that criticism, Rousey proclaimed that she enjoyed her time in the ring and clarified that her issues were primarily with Vince McMahon and his chosen creative direction.

In the past, Rousey has admitted that her appearance in AEW was also partly a middle-finger to the TKO Group, which she claims is all the more ironic because of her upcoming fight against Gina Carano that’ll be aired on Netflix, where “RAW” is also aired. She also reaffirmed that her AEW Revolution appearance came about due to the presence of her friend Marina Shafir on the card.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Complex” and provide ah/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.