Ronda Rousey on Women’s Gauntlet Match, Nia Jax, Helping Asuka at TLC

Ronda Rousey held a recent fan Q&A session on her YouTube channel and some of the topics discussed included her thoughts on the Women’s Gauntlet match from last week’s RAW, her feud with Nia Jax, and why she helped Asuka at last weekend’s TLC event.

On the topic of the Women’s Gauntlet match on RAW, Ronda stated she thought the match was a very good idea by Stephanie McMahon and was not surprised at all that her best friend Natalya won.

“Me and Stephanie both have our history, but I think ultimately we have very similar goals. WWE Evolution was a good moment of mutual respect between us. I think that the eight women gauntlet was a good idea and it gave the women a really prominent role on the card that night. They really got to showcase what they can bring out there. I thought it was a really good decision and I’m not the least surprised that Nattie won. She’s really deserving of a title shot.”

On the topic of her feud with Nia Jax, Ronda stated she currently considers Jax to no longer be any threat to herself or her RAW Women’s Championship.

“I haven’t seen Nia since TLC. I know that she had a pretty rough day. [Laughs] I think she’s taking some time to heal. She had a title fight and it didn’t go that well, so she can take the time she wants. I consider the issue resolved. I don’t know if she does. Until she messes with me, I don’t have a problem with her anymore.”

While discussing more about Nia Jax, Ronda stated she considers Jax to be her favorite opponent to work with in the WWE.

“Nia is a unique opponent in that she’s much stronger than I am. But being that I come from Judo and it’s all about maximum efficiency and all about the minimum effort, neutral welfare, and being able to overcome size disadvantages and to use an opponent’s momentum against them. I think I’d create a really interesting match-up where all of that power that she has I can use against her and to my advantage. I can actually use all the power that she has to make myself capable of doing more things I wouldn’t be able to do with anybody else and that way I feel like Nia is a really great match-up for me. She makes me feel like I’m capable more with her than anybody else. There are certain things I can do with her that I wouldn’t be able to do with anybody else and so it’s always a great opportunity to get in the ring with her regardless of how I personally feel about her.”

On the topic of helping Asuka during the Smackdown Women’s Championship Triple Threat TLC match at last weekend’s TLC event, Ronda stated she holds a lot of respect towards Asuka and felt she deserved to be champion more than Becky Lynch and Charlotte did.

“I have a lot of respect for Asuka and I’ve always have. I didn’t really want to rain on her parade at the Royal Rumble. I just wanted to come out and congratulate her and bring more eyes to her incredible moment. She didn’t seem too thrilled about that. At TLC, both Charlotte and Becky are a bunch of cheaters, they had it coming to them. I don’t have to explain my actions to anybody. I was completely justified by my actions. Payback is a b—- and Askua deserves to be champion more than either of them. She’s never had to cheat. She never had to walk out of a match because she was losing. She’s just the best and now she’s the champ.”