Alexa Bliss Reveals Locker Room Reaction to Ronda Rousey's Royal Rumble Debut

Ronda Rousey has been a WWE Superstar for nine months. By now, it's been well established that she's a lucrative addition to Vince McMahon's circus. But when she made her debut at the Royal Rumble, fans and WWE Superstars alike were hesitant to accept the UFC Hall of Famer's presence.

Rousey made her grand entrance just moments after Asuka won the first ever women's Royal Rumble. WWE was criticized by current and former women's wrestlers for sticking Rousey into Asuka's coronation. Names like Nia Jax, The Bellas and Alundra Blaze all rolled their eyes on Twitter at Rousey's timing, but Alexa Bliss just revealed there was no real animosity between the women's locker room and the freshly arrived Rousey.

In an interview with Bleacher Report, the Raw Women's Champion said that despite the snarky tweets, everyone appeared to be cool with Rousey.

"Everyone was very receptive. If anyone wasn't, it wasn't shown," said Bliss. "What we do is not easy. And if someone like Ronda Rousey wants to come and be a part of what we do, and that's her passion? That's awesome. We had the Mae Young Classic, we had the first women's Royal Rumble and we didn't have a woman like Ronda. Everyone wants to be inclusive in the Women's Evolution," she said.

Gripes about Rousey storming to the peak of the women's division do carry an ounce of validity. Names like Sasha Banks have seen their ceiling temporarily stunted by Rousey's arrival, however, the upside the former UFC Champion brings dwarfs whatever casualties that follow.

Not only to Rousey's name gratify across the world, she's been nothing short of fantastic since joining WWE. Without her charging forward, we'd have to think the idea of an all women's pay-per-view or the first female WrestleMania main event would still be on pause. But with Rousey, WWE has the proper champion to put on posters — thus Evolution, and rumors of Rousey/Flair closing WrestleMania 35.

Bliss seems the share the enthusiasm. From here, it looks like Rousey will be pinning Bliss at SummerSlam to earn WWE gold. While Bliss didn't admit that in her quotes, she does seem to understand that Rousey will become a pillar of WWE.

"You know, Ronda Rousey is coming to WWE at such a great time because we're a big family here, and we try to help everyone succeed," said Bliss. "She has passion for it, which is awesome, and she respects the business, which is awesome. Everyone has been helping her and walking her through everything. Because it's a very big challenge to come into this, go straight on the road and have your every move televised. I mean, her first match was at WrestleMania. Her second match was on Money in the Bank. They're all high-profile matches. She wants to learn. And at the end of the day, it takes two people to make a good match. It will be great to see how she is a year from now," she said.