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What's the story?
WWE Superstar and former UFC fighter Ronda Rousey recently opened up in an interview with the Los Angeles Times about a number of topics, including the notion that she jumped ahead in line directly to the top in WWE, without spending time in developmental.
In case you didn’t know…
After much speculation, Rousey made her much-awaited WWE debut at the Royal Rumble PPV back in January.
On the occasion of her contract signing at the Elimination Chamber PPV, The Rowdy One began a feud with The Authority - Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
At WrestleMania, in her first match, she took on the power couple with tag team partner Kurt Angle. In a surprising turn of events, the match turned out to the arguably the match of the night, with Rousey and Angle coming out on top.
The heart of the matter
Unlike most other wrestlers in WWE, Rousey did not go through the developmental brand NXT before entering the main roster.
Her amazing drawing power from her time in UFC made sure that Rousey was already a well-known name throughout the world, and saw her being pushed directly into the main event scene.
This caused the former UFC Bantamweight Champion to face some criticism for allegedly 'cutting the line'. This is what Rousey had to say about the issue:
"I expected that I was being perceived as an outsider and rejected from the beginning. There is a certain way that people expect you to come up in the industry and I have had a very unorthodox path to where I am, and some people think of that as cutting in line."
She also went on to defend not going through the grind by saying that she didn't have that many miles left on her body to do so.
"Unfortunately, I don't have the miles on the body to go through the long and arduous path, I just hit the ground running, learning on a big stage instead of the … smaller shows."
What's next?
Last week, Rousey came to Natalya's aid as she was being attacked by Mickie James. After a cheap shot by James, Rousey went ahead and locked her in an armbar.
The Arm Collector will take on Mickie James in Paris when WWE tours Europe next month.
Author's take
Whatever criticism Rousey faced almost disappeared after her stellar performance at WrestleMania. It is clear she has put in the hours required to transition from MMA to pro wrestling and it showed in her match.
