Ronda Rousey On Why She Left WWE, A Possible Return

In the WWE, one of the hardest things the stars go through is the constant traveling. With only a couple of days a week at home, the talent have limited time to heal or spend time with their loved ones.

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Ronda Rousey reflected on her personal WWE travel conflicts with MTV's Jackass stuntman, Steve-O, and why she decided to take time off from the WWE right after WrestleMania 35.

"Well, I did like full-time for a year (touring with the WWE)," Rousey stated. "I mean, not completely, completely, full-time, like, I did all of the TV (shows) and as many live shows as I could. I probably worked 200 days out of the year, last year. But, most people do way more. Most people have live shows throughout the week, and then they go and do TV, and then they get to go home for a day and a half, and then go and do it again.

"It was so much time away from my family that I couldn't do it sustainably. Me and Travis want to have babies and stuff. If I'm gone 200 days a year and taking sitdown powerbombs every night, I don't think that's very conducive to conception, so, we just wanted to take some time and make us a priority, because it's like what did we work for? You know, what did we try and make money for? So, we can live our lives how we want and when we want. Everybody in my family sacrificed their whole year for me to be gone and now it's time for the payoff for us to all be together. I don't know when I'm going to go back. I know I definitely want to, but, I don't think I'll be able to do it in that capacity again and put my family through that again."

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Rousey adds that prior to her departure, she made sure that the WWE RAW Women's Championship was still relevant to the fan by dropping the title to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35, who at the moment, is the longest-reigning champion of the title.

"What I learned in the WWE, was that if you're going to drop the title, you have to put the next person over on the way out," Rousey said. "You have to keep that momentum going and make that title mean something."

During Rousey's career in the UFC, there was a point where many fans considered her to be the greatest female fighter of all time. Rousey, however, believes that at this point in her life, she doesn't need to prove her worthiness of those great achievements anymore.

"There's not a day that goes by that people aren't telling me to fight," Rousey announced. "I have to try and think of it as would I rather be the greatest of all time, or have everybody think I'm the greatest of all time? It used to be so important to me to have both, but now, It's gotten to the point where like I don't want to sacrifice myself and my family to prove that to anymore or to a bunch of people who don't give an s–t about me. I know, and the people who love me know. It's no longer a priority in my life and all the people that tell me 'oh, come on, fight again, do this, do that,' they would never do that for me, so, I don't want to be giving myself to people who wouldn't do the same for me.

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"It's hard when everyone around you – the value they have for you is how you fight and how they see you is how you fight. The only thing they think you have to offer is how you fight. It was actually my husband that taught me that I'm so much more than just a fighter. I don't have to fight myself into the ground to prove I'm the greatest of all time, when I already know I am. So, letting go of that need to make sure nobody else doubts it was just part of growing up."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ronda Rousey's official YouTube page (GOAT Walk 2) with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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