The internet still cannot agree on the Ronda Rousey era
Pull up a chair and grab a drink that burns because we have to talk about Ronda Rousey again. Honestly, just seeing a headline about her training sessions with Stephanie McMahon and Dakota Kai back in 2018 is enough to restart the fiercest flame war in wrestling history. It has been over eight years since the lead-up to WrestleMania 34, yet fans are still out here acting like their Twitter accounts depend on defending or burying her time in the ring.
We have all seen the clips from that era. Dakota Kai recently shared some insight into the training process, proving that the preparation was intense even if the execution on live television sometimes felt like a fever dream. The die-hard supporters point to her undeniable aura. They argue that she brought eyes to the screen that hadn't watched since the Attitude Era ended. They swear that her 2018 run provided the only real spark in an otherwise stagnant mid-card period.
The skeptical crowd isn't buying the nostalgia
Of course, the other side of the aisle has zero chill. You have the purists who insist that real wrestling isn't something you pick up in a few grueling sessions with Stephanie McMahon, no matter how much you can judo throw someone into the mat. These fans remember the stiff strikes and the lack of polish that occasionally made main events feel like they were held together by duct tape and sheer panic.
Check the forums, and you will find people acting like her arrival was the death knell for actual technical wrestling. They point to the inevitable botches during tag matches as if they were personal insults. It is the same crowd that will never admit that the mainstream media attention she generated wasn't just helpful, but vital for expansion.
My take on the mess
Look, I lean toward the middle because I actually have eyes. Was she Bret Hart? Absolutely not. But expecting someone with her background to move like a Joshi legend within six months was always a massive reach. The real issue wasn't Rousey; it was the way the company shoved her into the spotlight without letting her find her own groove.
When you force a gear shift that hard, you are going to grind the transmission. That is exactly what happened during those 2018 programs. She was treated as a spectacle first and a wrestler second, which is a massive disservice to everyone, especially the veterans trying to make the spots work. You don't have to like the results, but you have to respect the grind required to walk into that ring at that level of scrutiny.
The most infuriating part is how we rewrite history to suit our current mood. Today, people are acting shocked that training was hard work, as if Stephanie McMahon wasn't known for being a drill sergeant in those development sessions. Dakota Kai was clearly just a pro trying to help a massive star navigate a world she didn't grow up in. That is not weakness; it is survival in a shark tank.
Ultimately, the reason we are still talking about this in 2026 is that Ronda Rousey actually cared. Whether she was good at it or not, she showed up. Compare that to the dozens of other celebrity crossovers who treated the ring like a glorified photo op. We are stuck in this debate because the talent was raw and the booking was inconsistent, creating a perfect storm for internet arguments that will never actually resolve.
Some of you need to put down the keyboard and go back to rewatching the actual matches. If you look at the 2018 highlights with a little less salt, you might realize it was entertaining in a chaotic, train-wreck-you-cannot-look-away-from sort of way. We got the spectacle we asked for, even if we were grumpy while waiting for the main event to start.
