Shayna Baszler reflects on her time working with Ronda Rousey in WWE, their planned confrontations, and Rousey’s departure, expressing hope for a future collaboration and excitement for her upcoming performance at the Bloodsport pro-wrestling event in Philadelphia.
Ronda Rousey’s arrival in WWE was a day Shayna Baszler had eagerly awaited. The two were old pals, after all. But, alas, Baszler’s opportunity to work with Rousey was fleeting. Rousey’s WWE career was nearing its end before they had much chance to cross paths.
Sure, there were a few random encounters. Like that 30-person, over-the-top rope battle in the Royal Rumble. But after the birth of her daughter, Rousey decided to bid farewell to pro wrestling. She was tired of the constant travel and the path she was on.
Before Rousey’s departure, however, they managed to become WWE tag team champions. This set the stage for a classic wrestling move – a double-cross promising a confrontation of epic proportions. The following week, Baszler unleashed a blistering promo on TV. She claimed she had paid her dues to earn her spot on the roster, unlike Rousey.
Nothing, Baszler said, had been handed to her. Not like Rousey, who landed a main event spot in WrestleMania barely a year after her debut. It all felt so real. That’s because it was – Baszler and Rousey had planned it that way.
“Obviously, there are some restraints with television and WWE,” Baszler told MMA Fighting. “But the promo work, you hear wrestlers say it all the time, if you can make it come from somewhere real, it’s going to come across as genuine. We were writing our own promos.”
The two friends decided to take the gloves off. They said all the things people thought they should say to each other. And it worked. People were intrigued.
Baszler’s promo was a hit. But the real highlight came weeks later when she faced off against Rousey at Summerslam, a major WWE event. By then, Rousey knew she was on her way out. But the multi-time WWE champion wanted nothing more than to make her friend look good in a final match.
Seeing Rousey leave was tough for Baszler. But she appreciated being the one in the ring for her friend’s last WWE appearance. “The match we had, we knew going in, it was this huge stadium, and there wasn’t a jumbotron like normal, above the ring so everyone could see,” Baszler explained.
They knew their MMA style match might confuse the stadium crowd. This wasn’t an MMA audience, after all. This was a pro-wrestling audience. They were used to motion, not grappling in one spot. But they hoped their legacy would be remembered down the line.
In her autobiography, “Our Fight”, Rousey documented those last moments with Baszler. She felt pure joy as the crowd cheered for her friend, who won the match. “The crowd booed and jeered at me as I walked away from Shayna celebrating in the ring with my hands on my hips and my head down,” Rousey wrote. “As I headed toward backstage, I wanted so badly to look back, to cheer for her right along with the fans as she raised her arms victoriously.”
In an ideal world, Baszler would love to work with Rousey again. But Rousey, the former UFC champion, seems to have left WWE behind for good. Still, Baszler was proud to share that moment with Rousey. “People that maybe haven’t done sports, maybe won’t understand this, but I’m the first person to submit Ronda Rousey in a combat sport,” Baszler said about her rear-naked choke win over Rousey at Summerslam. “It’s fitting that it was me. Friends.”
“If that had been someone else, I don’t think it would have been the same. There’s a lot to say. I wish we could have another. I wish we could tell this story over a longer time period. Like you said, never say never, but if that was it, I’m glad that it went that way for sure.”
Baszler is hoping for another big moment in her career. She’s set to perform at the Bloodsport pro-wrestling event in Philadelphia on Thursday night. The event is promoted by former UFC champion Josh Barnett, who also happens to be Baszler’s coach, mentor, and lifelong friend.
Because she’s still under contract with WWE, Baszler never thought she would share a card with Barnett. But the higher-ups at WWE suggested the idea to her. “On my end, I talk to Josh all the time obviously, and I know he had been talking to some WWE higher ups about possibly using some talent,” Baszler revealed.
“I just assumed it was going to be like newer NXT recruits that hadn’t been used or something and it was just never a thought in my mind. I get pulled in the office, and they’re like, ‘Would you like to wrestle on Josh’s Bloodsport?’ I’m like yeah, is everything cool? They’re like yeah, he was just looking for people, and there’s only a few wrestlers that we have that know how to wrestle that style, and you’re one of them, so are you interested? I said yes, 100 percent. It was a complete surprise on my end.”
Baszler is honored to compete on a card with Barnett, her mentor. She’s also excited to return to her roots for a shoot-wrestling style that’s vastly different than a typical WWE broadcast. It’s a style that she adapted when she got into WWE, but she’ll get to display everything she knows in her next match.
“It’s definitely a full-circle moment,” Baszler said. “It’s not just about wrestling on a card, obviously Josh being a huge influence on my career and my life, being my mentor, but for people or MMA fans that don’t know a lot about pro wrestling, the style of pro wrestling that Josh’s event Bloodsport is very much in the lines of old-school Pancrase, old-school RINGS. If everything is done right, you should watch it and go, ‘Holy smokes.’ Understand, back in the old PRIDE days, those guys would claim pro wrestling as their martial art when they were fighting in PRIDE.
“That all comes from UWFI (Union of Wrestling Forces International), which was started partially by Billy Robinson and Billy was Josh’s coach and I also learned directly under Billy for a little bit while he was still around. It’s not just about Josh. It’s about the entire lineage.”