"I think they're crushing it and I really did want to bring a spotlight to what they're doing and let them stand in it," Ronda Rousey says of the WWE Women Superstars

Ronda Rousey’s time on Total Divas has come to an end — but the star couldn’t be more grateful for the experience.

Rousey tells PEOPLE she’ll miss her costars as she wraps up her WWE career and the season 9 finale of the E! reality series.

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“I hadn’t had very good experiences with reality television in the past, so I was really apprehensive in the beginning, and I was really hesitant to be involved,” the 32-year-old says. “But you know, I gave everybody a chance and I’m so glad I did because I really feel like I’ve made some lifelong friendships because of it.”

Continues Rousey, “And I’m really appreciative that I got to be part of it, you know, just for the experience more than anything. That I got to really get to know all these girls and form all these close relationships and it’s one of those, you know, face to face that I’m glad that I took.”

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The filming experience, Rousey says, helped her learn how to “open up and trust people and forge these new relationships.”

“I feel like I’ve had reasons to stay pretty guarded and closed off for a while now, and to kind of have these women really welcome me with open arms and really surpass my expectations,” Rousey shares. “It is one of the most encouraging experiences I’ve ever been part of. They really got me to open up again on a level that I don’t think I ever would have without this show.”

Rousey made her WWE debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018, and was the Raw Women’s Champion. This April, Rousey announced she’d be leaving the WWE to focus on starting a family with her husband Travis Browne.

Rousey says she’s not closing the door on a return to the ring, telling PEOPLE, “I think I need to figure out a different way of doing it. To be able to not have to choose career over family or family over career and kind of find that happy medium.”

“Right now, I think my family needs my undivided attention,” she says. “I’m happy to give them that. But I’m trying to figure out a way or a system or somehow that I could give both my family and WWE the best of me and not be half ass in both.”

And, Rousey says, she’s in “no rush.”

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“The girls are doing amazing right now,” she adds of the WWE Women Superstars. “I really don’t think that I’m that necessary in what’s going on. I think they’re crushing it and I really did want to bring a spotlight to what they’re doing and let them stand in it. And I think it’s kind of better, they’re better off with me taking a step away right now, and kind of finding their stride without me.”

She continues, “And I would love to add to what they’re doing. I don’t want to ever be a hindrance or take away from what they’re doing or steal the spotlight from some up and coming girls that deserve it more than me.”

And Rousey tells PEOPLE she “loves” being able to just watch.