Chris Jericho talks everything Ronda Rousey.
The emergence of Ronda Rousey into the land of sports-entertainment has garnered quite the attention from various platforms. The first-ever UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion has inked a long-term deal with the WWE for seven years, and in three weeks she will have her first-match as a part of WrestleMania where she will be stepping into the ring alongside, and against some of the most recognizable and notable stars in the company's history.
Another recognizable and notable star is former 3-time World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, who sat down with the 30-15 Chael Sonnen to discuss Ronda Rousey. Y2J would go in detail about exactly what needs to happen in order for the mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 34 to conclude in "Rowdy" Ronda having a successful in-ring debut. Chael would ask Jericho if he thinks that Ronda can pull it off and Jericho went on from there.
"Absolutely, and I’ll tell you why. Wrestling is all show-business and we control everything. Who wins, who loses, the match, whatever it may be and if you look at some of the great matches involving celebrities of all time; Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor." [Chael adds that the match was rough] Jericho continued “But it was good. Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show, you’ll see those. Mr. T back in the day, I mean it wasn’t classics but they don’t have to be. Here’s how you put together a great WrestleMania: You put together… It’s a variety show." Jericho stated, "Here’s your matches that have a chance to be ‘five stars’, here’s your matches just to get everybody on the card that have no chance of being great matches but you’re just putting everyone on the show, and then here’s your attraction matches. Here’s your Brock vs. Roman, here’s your Angle & Ronda vs. Triple H and Stephanie. They can put together the match anyway they want. All they have to do is just put it together so that she has one or two spots that really pop and mean something. The rest is all dog and pony show-business. So A, she’s an athlete, B, she’s a wrestling fan, and C, she wants to do this. She’s gonna be fine. Is it gonna be a classic? Doesn’t need to be, maybe next year if its her versus Charlotte at WrestleMania for the Women’s Title or something along those lines. Then there’s a lot more pressure for her to have a classic match, but she’s also got a year more of experience under her belt."
As mentioned, Ronda Rousey has signed a long-term deal with WWE. Rousey has stated herself that she does not want to pop in and out of the WWE Universe and that she wants to be there full-time, with no special treatment. Chris Jericho feels that she has the right attitude in order to be successful in the business, and as long as her intentions are to be best she can be, her success is undeniable.
"I don’t know, I don’t know what exactly that means." Referring to Ronda signing a long-term deal. "You know, when I go back I do a full schedule but that can be ten shows a month if I want it to be, you know. It doesn’t have to be the eighteen shows they do. I think what they're trying to say is that she’s not going to be a Brock Lesnar thing; that shows up for the odd RAW and a PPV here and there. I think she’ll be involved in an angle every week and then we’ll see how good is she. If she really wants to do this, you know this as an athlete [speaking to Chael] and I know this as an athelete and as a performer, if she wants to be great at it she’s going to put in the time and it seems that….. you know, I don’t know her, you do, its seems that if she’s getting involved in this, she’d want to be great at it. You know what I mean? Be very, very good. Knowing how much stock to put in. I don’t know what kind of a contract she’s got. I don’t know if its millions of dollars or whatever it may be. But I think she’s going into this with the right reasons and the right intentions which would tell me that she wants to be the best at it"
If you are going to use any of the quotes above, please credit Chael Sonnen for the interview, with an H/T to Fightful.com for the transcriptions.
