The last time we saw you and Ronda interacting on WWE television was very,
very different.
When Ronda first showed up, you more or less took Ronda under your wing,
sort of showed her the ropes, got Ronda comfortable in the WWE environment.
Now that all seems to be out the window.
We've been following on social media.
Are you guys okay?
Are you still friends?
>> [LAUGH] That's a great question.
I mean, sorry, TJ is getting something in the kitchen.
That's a great question, [CROSSTALK] >> TJ you wanna say hello?
>> [LAUGH] >> Come on say hello, TJ.
[LAUGH] He's coming over to say hi.
>> The best guests bring surprise guests with him, [CROSSTALK]
>> Good morning, [CROSSTALK]
>> Hey, wassup, [CROSSTALK]
>> Come on.
>> [LAUGH] I got my buffer.
So yeah, I mean, Ronda and I, we were really close friends.
I actually trained with Ronda and
helped her before she ever even signed a WWE contract.
I remember getting off of overseas tour.
We were on an overseas tour and I flew straight from the tour and
met with her at a place called Santino's in California in Los Angeles.
And that was the start of our sort of private training sessions that we had
together.
And in those sessions that I had with Ronda,
I realized something really special about her.
That yes she's an Olympic athlete, yes she's a pioneer for women in MMA.
She literally put women's MMA on the map.
There might not be women in MMA without Ronda Rousey.
>> Sure.
>> So she did that.
But I realized in training with her that she's just so naturally gifted.
I could show her something once and she would pick it up.
It was like I knew that she just had a knack for it.
And you can feel that certain people and I think Ronda has been compared to
Kurt Angle a lot in the way that he just picked it up like that.
Everything came very, very easy for Ronda and for me.
For my own experience it was the complete opposite.
Things take a little longer for me to understand and to learn and to grasp and
of course I've been doing this since I was 18 years old.
But with Ronda, I think that because she picked it up so fast and
because she was so naturally good at it, there was an arrogance about her.
And she and I were great, we were great when she got signed.
I took her under my wing in WWE,
made sure that everybody in the locker room felt comfortable with her.
And I think the girls felt more comfortable with Ronda when they saw that
I endorsed Ronda.
When Nadia endorses someone because I've been trying to true in WWE and
I'm proud that.
I've been there for 15 years and I have experienced the girls, trust me.
So when they see that I trust Ronda, I like Ronda, I let Ronda in my world,
that kinda soften them up into liking Ronda.
So we were very, very close friends and
I think some of that changed a little bit when she came back.
Because I think Ronda is really arrogant.
And I think it's funny because she just last week on SmackDown dismissed me.
She said you didn't wanna have kids, you put wrestling.
First of all, actually maybe I don't wanna have kids.
Maybe that's not what I want in my life and
I don't think I should be shamed for that.
I've never, ever, ever wanted to be a mom.
It's just never been in my heart.
But don't dismiss every single thing that I've done in this industry.
I'm sorry Ronda that my love and
my passion is way greater than yours will ever be.
And because you're so naturally good at something, that makes you arrogant but
don't dismiss me for the love that you don't have for our industry.
That's really how I feel.
>> The way you explain that,
it's something that resonates not only with me but a lot of us in this business
who have dedicated our lives to sports entertainment.
To your point since you've been 18 years old this is all you've known,
all you've loved.
You've been an integral part of WWE Women's Division for many, many years now.
You've seen superstars come in you've seen superstars go.
To what do you credit your ability to maintain your position in WWE?
And how do you deal with the flavors of the month so to speak?
>> Wow, [LAUGH].
I mean, for me I believe in being consistent.
I believe in being reliable.
I believe in being there for the company.
I love what I do.
I've grown up around this my entire life.
My dad was fired by WWE like five times.
And it's not a sob story at all, it's just was the truth.
Growing up my dad couldn't hold down his job in WWE.
While my uncles, Brett and Owen and Davey, they were able to kinda sustain a longer
more successful career, my dad really, really struggled to keep his job.
Because he battled a lot of demons and I grew up with that.
My whole life I grew up with that instability of my dad doing great,
my dad losing his job.
My dad doing great, my dad losing his job.
So for me as an adult and getting into the industry,
I had this different perspective than every other girl or guy.
I greatly wanted to succeed in an industry that my parent, [LAUGH] struggled at.
I love the connection that my dad and I have together in the ring, but
we shared that bond.
But I know that my dad struggled to have success in this industry so
it gave me this different perspective that I had to succeed in it.
That I had to be perfect.
That I had to be there for everyone.
That I had to be good at everything.
That I had to leave no stone unturned.
That I had to make Vince McMahon happy at every single corner of my career.
So God, it makes me emotional talking about it but
I kinda became a company girl.
And that's actually something I've never really talked about before but it's true.
I became the company girl, the girl to do whatever you need.
Natty is the company girl.
And I have been that way for so long and it's definitely kept me in WWE for
15 years.
Talent, drive, passion, work ethic, being reliable, being consistent, but
in some ways it's actually hurt me too.
Because I've been the girl that's been afraid to take risks.
I've been the girl that's afraid of pissing anyone off backstage.
I want to please everyone, especially Vince McMahon.
But, [LAUGH] this feud with Ronda, it's maybe gotten a little real,
maybe that's the best thing for me.
Because Ronda underestimating me.
Ronda doubting me.
Ronda dismissing my passion, my love for this industry.
Ronda making fun of my face.
Ronda making fun of my sister.
Ronda making fun of the things that I do that aren't even related to pro-
wrestling.
It pissed me off and it made me go, you know what?
I don't really wanna be a company girl.
I wanna show everybody that I'm terrible at a million things.
But this one thing, this one thing that I do in WWE as a superstar, I'm really,
really good at this.
And it's time for me to just unleash.
It's time for me to stop trying to be perfect for everyone.
It's time for me to piss a few people off including Ronda Rousey.
And she can smile at me dismissively and act like I don't count and
act like I'm an enhancement talent and act like I'm not on her level as she put it.
Non-charismatic, not worthy of being in the ring with her,
not a main event player, boring, this, that and everything else.
But at the end of the day I am still standing and
she's really not wanting to judge that talent because there's quite a few
people that she knows that aren't still standing today.
I'm still standing in WWE.
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