Ronda Rousey’s exit from WWE last summer marked the conclusion of her run with the pro wrestling company. After she first arrived in January 2018, Rousey returned to WWE after that red-hot year in January 2022.
Things didn’t go so well. What made it work the first time seemed absent for her entire second run. For whatever myriad of reasons, it didn’t work the second time. And since she left WWE, Rousey’s had a lot to say.
Some chose to respond publicly to Rousey’s comments more even-keeledly. Then there’s Jimmy Smith.
A former WWE and UFC commentator, Smith laid into the former UFC champion and WWE women’s champion on a recent stop on his show, Unlockihng the Cage with Jimmy Smith on Sirius XM Radio.
Smith pulled no punches in describing how others felt about working with her.
“I have never been a religious person. One of the things I’ve always said about God – he gets all the credit and none of the blame. That’s what Ronda Rousey wants,” Smith said. “All the credit and not the blame.”
Smith continued, “I want credit for all of my wins. My losses? I had CTE, and I had this, and I had that. I’m the greatest to ever do it, but when it didn’t work, it was so and so and so and so and never me. She never gives credit to the people who actually beat her. The idea that I left MMA and went to the WWE because I had concussion problems makes no sense,” Smith said.
Smith’s words continued. Before noting that he never goes in-depth about backstage stories, he decided to temporarily change his approach.
“Let me let you in on something, Ronda, if you are listening, the people behind the scenes – camera people, audio people – the people you can push around and bully and talk down to can’t stand it,” Smith said. “Everybody behind the scenes that had to put a mic on Ronda Rousey couldn’t stand her. I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘She was a b—- to us from the moment she sat down to the moment she got up.’ Like it’s our fault that she has to do this interview to hype something – her next fight – and she’s just miserable, and she’s just mean to us, and we can’t stand her.'”
“They were cheering when she got knocked out,” Smith revealed. “Those people couldn’t stand Ronda Rousey. So don’t sit there and tell me you’re a victim when the poor guy gets shit on by you or you’re mean to the person asking questions when we’re hyping your fight. Don’t give me this victim s—. Don’t waste my time with it.”
It’s not the first time someone’s accused Rousey of being a bully. Rousey is entitled to think how she wants to. But clearly, others feel a strong way about her in the other direction.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022