Social media personality and ex-adult film star Mia Khalifa spoke out earlier in the week about former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and her much-rumored move to the WWE. With Khalifa mincing no words in her criticism of both Rousey and professional wrestling in general, she found herself called out by numerous fans on social media, but also by a former WWE Superstar who likewise landed his share of verbal blows as he defended the business.
On Thursday’s episode of Complex’s YouTube show Out of Bounds , Khalifa and former NBA star Gilbert Arenas talked about a number of hot topics from the world of sports, including Ronda Rousey’s expected transition from mixed martial arts to professional wrestling. As quoted by Maxim , Khalifa predicted that Rousey’s career would flounder if she signs with the WWE, while adding that she has “no respect” for professional wrestling, the WWE included.
“This is where her career will go to die. I have no respect for the WWE, it’s not a real sport. It’s embarrassing.”
After Arenas suggested to Mia Khalifa that Ronda Rousey could be switching to professional wrestling as a calculated move to avoid extending her UFC losing streak, the former adult entertainer continued her onslaught, saying that it’s “embarrassing” for a respected MMA fighter to “go from real fights to wearing a sequin unitard [and] pretending to fight.”
What a clapback lol https://t.co/JvB4lwoBu5
— Beer Baron. (@blackmantroy) December 9, 2017
In the days since Mia Khalifa commented about Ronda Rousey and the WWE, wrestling fans have taken to social media to call Khalifa out, with many referencing her former occupation and commenting negatively about her abilities as a sports analyst. And while WWE’s current wrestlers have yet to make any public remarks about Khalifa’s anti-WWE rant, one of the company’s former talents, Shane “Hurricane” Helms, sent off a tweet that publications such as Wrestling News have described as “savage” or “brutal” in nature.
“I’m not gonna get upset that a Porn Star doesn’t respect Pro Wrestling. She’s entitled to her opinion. Our bodies take a pounding. and well… so does hers.”
By and large, fans were appreciative of Helms’ response to Mia Khalifa, but as LadBible noted, not everyone was happy about what the former WWE mid-carder had to say. One fan remarked that wrestling fans need to “grow up” and not resort to shaming Khalifa for her past career choices, while another said that Helms’ “slut-shaming” tweet was an example of why male wrestling fans have an “image problem.”
While Mia Khalifa’s critical stance on Ronda Rousey’s rumored WWE move has certainly earned the ire of the pro wrestling fandom, she is not the first social media personality to get flak in recent months for slamming professional wrestling as a “fake” sport. As noted by Still Real To Us , YouTube star Trisha Paytas posted a video rant in June, where she claimed to have been stood up by SmackDown Live wrestler Dolph Ziggler and repeatedly referred to WWE as “fake bulls**t.” She later claimed to have been verbally abused on social media by “gross” WWE fans who allegedly posted her personal details and made nasty comments in retaliation to her disdainful remarks about Ziggler and the WWE.
