Jim Ross Opens Up On Ronda Rousey’s “Impactful” Pro Wrestling Debut

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently did an interview with MMA Junkie Radio to offer his thoughts on the professional wrestling debut of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Rousey partnered up with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match at WrestleMania.

Ross explained why, in 40 years of his professional wrestling career, Rousey’s debut was the most impactful he has ever witnessed:

“I thought that Ronda’s debut was the most impactful pro wrestling debut that I have seen in my 40-plus year career. If you look at her skill set, experience-wise, from this genre in pro wrestling, it was almost non-existent,” said Ross. “But she had so much pressure on her. The hype was amazing. The expectations were mixed.

“Some die-hard wrestling fans don’t even like her being there, which is absolutely insane. They are [sic] and goofy, no doubt about that. So, I was absolutely blown away by what she did and how she executed. She looked like an athlete; we knew she is an athlete. She’s a winner.”

As for those who aren’t a fan of Rousey and use her two back-to-back losses in mixed martial arts (MMA) as talking points, Ross has a message for them:

“Now look, some say, well, she lost her last two fights. Kiss my a**,” said Ross. “How’s that? C’mon. She won a lot of fights, guys. You know what I mean? She’s a winner. She goes to the Olympics and medals. She’s a winner. So I knew that she was not going to drop the ball.”

Ross said that Rousey handled the pressure of performing at WrestleMania in front of 70,000 people rather impressively:

“It’s WrestleMania, guys. If you’re an MMA fan, then you say, ‘Well, what does it matter? It’s still pro wrestling.’ There was almost 80,000 people there,” Ross said. “She had so much pressure at this massive event, it would’ve been very easy for her to slip the bit and not have a great outing. If she continues to train as diligently and as ferociously as she has been, the sky’s the limit for her. She can be really, really good.”