Steve Carrier on July 31, 2023
In a recent interview with News 18, Shayna Baszler explained her decision to turn on Ronda Rousey at WWE Money in the Bank 2023 and why she requested a fight against her former tag team partner at WWE SummerSlam 2023.
The two WWE Superstars were set to become the most dominant WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, but Baszler chose to end that partnership, citing her desire to no longer be in Rousey’s shadow.
Baszler acknowledged Rousey’s significant impact on the fighting world, praising her for changing the landscape for women in fighting. However, when it came to professional wrestling, Baszler believes she should be the leader and face of their team. She emphasized that she was the one who made Rousey fall in love with wrestling and offered her advice in the early stages of her WWE career. Baszler feels that she should be the one taking the lead in WWE, and her decision to break away from the partnership was motivated by her desire to establish her own identity and not be seen as Rousey’s sidekick.
“I’m not denying that Ronda is history-making. She’s one of the best fighters that’s ever come along, she changed the landscape for women in fighting,” she said. “Dana White himself said women were never going to be in the UFC. She’s the one that changed it for us. I don’t deny all that. I was fighting almost a decade before. It would be easy for me to whine and cry about how MMA was, and she got noticed, and all this, but that doesn’t bother me at all because she’s Ronda, right?
“So on our team, as far as MMA goes, she was our leader, she was the face of our team, and I didn’t have a problem with that,” Baszler continued. “As it comes to professional wrestling, I’m the one that made her fall in love with that. I’m the one that got signed first. She saw how happy I was. She said it herself in interviews. She saw how happy I was and wanted to give it a try. She has come to me for advice as it comes to pro wrestling. So, as far as wrestling and WWE is concerned, it should be me that’s the leader. It should be me that’s the face. This is my thing. When I was in NXT, and Ronda was separate from me doing her own thing, I had a lot of success. I had probably the most dominant run with that title. I had no problems. It just seems like ever since she’s come back. I’ve just been her sidekick. She’s done nothing to change that. She’s done nothing to give me a push forward and say, ‘This is Shayna’s thing.'”
Despite understanding that she and Rousey would have been unbeatable as a tag team, Baszler chose to focus on her own journey rather than continuing as a sidekick. She believes she was not getting the push and recognition she deserved, and it was time for her to step into the spotlight and pursue championship glory on her own terms.
“Here’s the thing, me and Ronda were the tag champs. I still say to this day, I don’t think anyone was beating us for a long time, but it just came down to, ‘Do I want to go another couple of years of defending these titles and being Ronda’s sidekick, or is it time to finally do my thing?’ I just knew she wasn’t gonna give me that, you know? So yeah, this is what I love to do, and I need to take that.”
As the fight against Rousey approaches, Baszler shared that the preparation has been more of a mental adjustment. Physically, they know each other inside out due to their extensive history as sparring partners. Baszler acknowledged that no matter the outcome, both fighters will endure significant pain in the process. She emphasized the need to train her mind to reach a different level of intensity, accepting that there will be physical consequences in this intense showdown.
“As far as physically and in the ring, we know each other inside out. Every day, our job was to go to the gym and fight each other,” Baszler says. “We were sparring partners. So going into it, knowing that every advantage I have against her, she also has against me. So really, this game-planning has been just really changing my mentality, trying to train my mind to get to this different stage of intensity because, as I said before, even if I win, it’s gonna hurt, she’s gonna cause me a lot of pain, I’m gonna cause her a lot of pain. No one’s coming out of this unscathed, win or lose. So, it’s understanding that and accepting that.
“Anyone that’s played sports understands if you roll your ankle at home, working in the garden, that hurts, and it puts you out for the day, but in the middle of a game, you get to a different place mentally, and you can fight through that,” she adds. “So it’s just being able to flip that switch on command when I need to. So really, the training and the game-planning has been all about getting to that different level of mentality.”
As of now, the specific rules for the fight between Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey have not been disclosed. Fans can look forward to the highly anticipated SummerSlam event on August 5, where these two fierce competitors will face off in what promises to be a thrilling and hard-hitting encounter.
What are your thoughts on Shayna Baszler’s decision to turn on Ronda Rousey and pursue her own path in WWE? Leave a comment.
July 31, 2023 2:34 pm
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