Ronda Rousey: I Kept This A Secret My Entire Career! WWE Is A Mess!

People don't know about this. (camera clicking) I had to keep it a secret. (instrumental music plays) Uh, it's really, really difficult. Presenting Rowdy Ronda Rousey.

Ronda, you were voted the best female athlete of all time. What was it that made you the person that sits in front of me today?

So, when I was a kid, it was tough. My dad, he ended up taking his life when I was eight. And in school, I got picked on a lot. I actually dropped out when I was 16 and moved away from home to train full time. But a lot of the coaches thought that being abusive to the athletes is what gave them the best results. My first coach dislocated my jaw. People don't know about this, but I would get concussions all the time, and every time you get a concussion, it's easier to get another one. So, by the time I got into MMA, I had to be able to finish the person off immediately. It was those experiences that made me the world champion at...

And you stacked up a bunch of records, including the fastest ever win-

Oh no! What a kick! Oh! ... fastest submission, fastest title defense- She's home!

But then that loss to Holly Holm.

And just like that! Yeah. My whole world turned upside down and I had to disappear for a while.

And, um, you decided to move on to the WWE. (camera clicking) You don't have nice things to say about it.

Vince McMahon just created a fundamentally sick environment, and I think he still is running the company to this day.

Why? Before this episode starts, I have a small favor to ask from you. Two months ago, 74% of people that watch this channel didn't subscribe. We're now down to 69%. My goal is 50%. So if you've ever liked any of the videos we've posted, if you like this channel, can you do me a quick favor and hit the subscribe button? It helps this channel more than you know. And the bigger the channel gets, as you've seen, the bigger the guests get. Thank you, and enjoy this episode. (instrumental music plays) Ronda, when I interview people, I often ask them to tell me the most sort of pertinent first event in their story that went on to shape who they are. And with you, from reading through your story, it's quite clear that the first potentially significant event happened as you were being born.

Yeah, I, uh, I was born with the, um, umbilical cord around my neck, and, uh, I was, like, a zero on the Apgar scale, which is like the health of a baby when they're born. I was blue, they thought I was dead. Um, had to... It took a while to revive me. And, um, I had, uh, some damage from that, um, some neurological damage which expressed itself as a motor speech disorder called apraxia, which is basically, I would have words formed in my head and try to say it, but there was a kinda disconnect between my brain and my mouth, and it would come out differently than how I said it. So, um, I ended up having to do many years of speech therapy to be able to get over it. And sometimes I, uh, I struggle a little bit, but, uh, um, I've, I've, you know, dealt with it well enough where people don't notice. But, uh, you know, doing things like pro wrestling promos and stuff, where everybody, like, will, uh, scrutinize you for, like, saying a single syllable or pre-, you know, p- p- not producing every single... not pronouncing every single word per- perfectly. Like if I just stuttered like I did just now or mispronounced something like I did just now in a wrestling promo, I would be, like, hung over it. And so, um, you know, there's little things like that that still express themselves to this day, but mostly it's not noticeable now.