Ronda Rousey says she was inspired by Kurt Angle and wanted to be an Olympic Gold Medalist just like the WWE Hall of Famer.
Ronda Rousey recently made an appearance on the podcast show, Wives Of Wrestling. On the show the wrestler spoke about the influence Kurt Angle made on her wrestling career. She said:
“Kurt was an influence on me before I even met him as an aspiring Olympian. I wanted to be an Olympic Gold medalist. The first American to win an Olympic Gold medal in Judo. I mean, Kurt was that hero that I had of, ‘oh, one day you could have people look up to you, and talk about you with that kind of reverence that people talk about Kurt with wrestling.
“In wrestling, people are all like, ‘oh, Kurt Angle, you know,’” she added. “So, I wanted to be the Kurt Angle of Judo. Then when I came into WWE and they partnered us up. It was like he was the only other person who has been in a similar situation like that. Coming from the outside, from other successes, starting your rookie year under a microscope, and the spotlight.”
Ronda Rousey revealed about the influence Kurt Angle had on her wrestling career
Ronda Rousey later spoke about the influence the Kurt Angle had on her wrestling career. She said that it was Kurt Angle who made her realize her true potential and integrated the belief in her that she could actually do this.
“Having him to guide me in the beginning, and not like roll his eyes at me, and all the kind of stuff that I would say or do or whatever. It’s just my inexperience and stuff like that. He was an awesome guide and a teacher. I just kind of felt like I was in good hands. And, that anything I aspire to is possible. Because Kurt has already done it. And if Kurt could do it, I could do it, kind of a thing. He’s not an alien. I could do it because he did, and maybe I could do more,” said the former Raw Women’s Champion.
‘I thought I might be able to be like a periphery-like helper character’
While Rousey has been playing her top game since she joined the wrestling company but the wrestler herself was unsure about it. Ronda said that during her initial days in wrestling she had never thought that she would be able to have a match. The wrestler further said that she would have been only a periphery-like helper character to Kurt Angle.
“When I first came into wrestling, I didn’t think that I’d even be able to have a match,” Ronda said. “It’s just so complicated. And I didn’t think I’d be able to have a singles run. I thought I might be able to be like a periphery-like helper character, like Kurt. And be able to be in a tag and stuff like that. After I worked with him, I was kind of like, ‘you know what, maybe I can actually do this and not just be somebody’s whatever.’”
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