Maria Kanellis Gives Her Thoughts On Ronda Rousey Popping Up At ROH Taping

Maria Kanellis talks Ronda Rousey’s surprise appearance on a recent ROH taping.

The Baddest Woman on the Planet tagged with her good friend, Marina Shafir, at the ROH tapings that took place in California last weekend. Kanellis spoke about Rousey popping up during a recent interview with 720 WGN Radio, where she states that the former WWE champion’s interest in ROH shows that ROH women’s division is the place that wrestlers want to be.

I think it’s telling that Ronda Rousey had her match at Ring of Honor. I think Ring of Honor has always been the standard. It’s a standard bearer of what women’s wrestling can be, what wrestling in general can be. To have Ronda Rousey appear on a Ring of Honor show, it’s very telling of what the division is [and] where it can go.

Kanellis then names some other stars on the brand who she thinks could really excel, including Leyla Hirsch.

I’m working with Leyla Hirsch right now and she’s coming off of an injury and trying to get her mind right in order to compete in this very intense division, you have Athena who has been Champion forever. I think 20 years now she’s been champ and she doesn’t just compete, she competes aggressively and she expects those around her to computer aggressively and fiercely and that is what the traditions of Ring of Honor has always been, ‘Who is going to put on the best match?’,” she said. “We have our struggles in Ring of Honor. We are a subscription-based show we are a show that has a lot of underdogs, a lot of people trying to make it to the next plateau of their career, and I think that’s the heart and soul of Ring of Honor. For me, the first time I was in Ring of Honor, before I went to IMPACT Wrestling, before I went back to WWE, that is what truly changed my mind about what wrestling can be. It can be that mentality of, ‘We are just going to show people how talented we are by our work.’ That’s what we do at Ring of Honor. It doesn’t matter the adversity we face, we are going to prove it in the ring, backstage with our attitudes, and the way we fight for this company.

Rousey has worked several events (all in California) since her departure from WWE this past Summer. This includes matches with Lucha Va Voom, Wrestling REVOLVER, and now ROH. You can check out Kanellis’s interview here.

(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)