Ronda Rousey is ready to rumble – inside a WWE ring that is.
The UFC superstar officially signed a deal with the WWE on Sunday and even made a surprise debut at the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia.
Sunday’s show was the first ever women’s division Royal Rumble and Rousey appeared after wrestler, Asuka, won the match.
Rousey surprised her audience when she came out wearing a leather jacket with a ‘Hot Rod’ t-shirt in the same font as WWE legend ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper’s.
‘This is my life now. First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt,’ Rousey told ESPN of her decision to join WWE.
Ronda Rousey is ready to rumble – inside a WWE ring that is. The UFC superstar officially signed a deal with the WWE on Sunday and even made a surprise debut at the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia (pictured)
Sunday’s show was the first ever women’s division Royal Rumble and Rousey appeared after wrestler, Asuka, won the match. Rousey surprised her audience when she came out wearing a leather jacket with a ‘Hot Rod’ t-shirt in the same font as ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper’s
Rousey’s move to WWE has long been speculated after it was reported that she had been meeting with WWE executives about the possibility of leaving the octagon for a career in sports entertainment. She’s pictured during her match with Amanda Nunes in 2016
‘When I first met with Triple H, I told him, ‘There are other things I can do with my time that’ll make way more money, but I won’t enjoy nearly as much,’ she added.
She earned her nickname ‘Rowdy’ from Piper and dedicated her last UFC victory over Bethe Correia in August 2015, to the late wrestler, who had died the previous day.
According to ESPN, Piper’s son gave her the jacket beforehand. ESPN’s Shelburne has reported that Rousey has signed a full-time contract with WWE.
After Asuka’s Royal Rumble win, Rousey pointed at the sign that said ‘WrestleMania’. But she didn’t speak on the mic.
Rousey’s move to WWE has long been speculated after it was reported that she had been meeting with WWE executives about the possibility of leaving the octagon for a career in sports entertainment.
WWE fans have been clamoring for Rousey to make the move and speculation ran wild that she would make her debut Sunday at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Rousey has made cameo appearances on WWE programming the last few years and even trained at the company’s performance center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE executive Paul Levesque, better known as wrestling superstar Triple H, had met frequently with Rousey to discuss her interest in a deal.
‘We’ve had discussions and we’ve talked about a million different things,’ Levesque said before Rousey signed her deal with WWE.
‘She has loved the pro wrestling industry since she was a kid,’ Levesque said.
WWE fans have been clamoring for Rousey to make the move and speculation ran wild that she would make her debut Sunday at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Rousey is pictured during her match against Holly Holm in 2015
Rousey has not fought since she suffered a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016 (pictured)
Rousey adopted the ‘Rowdy’ nickname from WWE Hall of Famer ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper.
She notably stood side-by-side with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as they fought off the villainous Triple H and his wife and fellow executive, Stephanie McMahon, in a segment at WrestleMania in 2015.
Rousey also appeared at WWE’s Mae Young Classic. Rousey and fellow MMA fighters Marina Shafir, Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke were known as the Four Horsewomen – a tribute to the nefarious Ric Flair-led Four Horsemen stable of the 1980s and ’90s.
Baszler now wrestles for WWE, and the rest of the Horsewomen stable confronted WWE stars Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Bayley at the female wrestling tournament.
‘Name the time. Name the place,’ Rousey told the WWE stars in a tense standoff at the time.
Rousey could lead her Horsewomen against a WWE faction at WrestleMania on April 8.
‘I think with her main eventing in UFC, she obviously opened the door for us to be taken more serious as superstars,’ said Flair, daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair.
‘It’s one thing to show up one night. It’s another to be a WWE superstar. I’m on the road with all the other girls, all the men and women who are on the road 270 days a year. We bust our butts to be called WWE superstars.
‘She’ll have to put in the work if she wants to be a part of what we do,’ Flair added.
The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion may follow up her Sunday night appearance by showing up to Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live this week. Rousey is seen during her fight against Nunes in Las Vegas
UFC President Dana White said Rousey will never fight again for the company. Rousey is pictured training in Glendale, California
The best scenario for WWE would be Rousey being used sparingly and steamrolling every opponent, much like she did early in her MMA career to earn the reputation as the Baddest Woman on the Planet.
‘Ronda Rousey should go out there and just smash everybody. Ronda Rousey’s matches should look like her early UFC career where she was out there for a minute, 2 minutes, just submitting everybody,’ UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier said.
The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion may follow up her Sunday night appearance by showing up to Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live this week.
Over the weekend Rousey, who has been on perhaps permanent hiatus from mixed martial arts, was in South America filming the action thriller Mile 22 with Mark Wahlberg and John Malkovich.
She has not fought since she suffered a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016.
Rousey (12-2) lost two straight bouts in 13 months and took a break to extend her entertainment credits, including a stint as team coach in the reboot of Battle of the Network Stars.
UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Rousey will never fight again for the company.