Shayna Baszler Says Vince McMahon Told Her Not To Do Conventional Pro Wrestling Moves

As a trailblazer for women's mixed martial arts and a close friend of Ronda Rousey, it was only natural that Shayna Baszler's pro wrestling style would be built around her mixed martial arts background. As someone who first got into professional wrestling at 35 years of age, it also made sense that she stick to a pared-down skill set consisting of moves she could easily translate from MMA to wrestling. And according to a new interview with Baszler published by "Ring The Belle" on their YouTube channel over the weekend, that opinion wasn't just conventional wisdom; it was also held by Baszler's boss when she first got to WWE's main roster, Vince McMahon.

"He said, 'You have something everybody else doesn't do; I don't want you to do any pro wrestling.'" Baszler explained, referring to conventional entertainment-style wrestling moves that wouldn't be seen anywhere near a real fight. "Which was kind of confusing, because then, [after] the next match, he was like "What was THAT?!?' It was a little bit of a transition understanding [him]. I think the communication style I was used to was different [when I was] coming up, so it took a little bit [of time to adjust]."

Baszler has largely been off WWE programming of late while Rousey, her tag team partner, has been injured. He last televised appearance saw her and Rousey win a Fatal Four-Way tag team match on Night Two of WrestleMania 39 in April, where they defeated the teams of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, Natalya and Shotzi and the most recent WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.