Ronda Rousey appeared on “Ellen” recently and let it be known that her fight career is almost over. The 29-year-old’s historic UFC run almost instantly placed women’s MMA on the same footing as men’s, and now the WWE appears to be hoping she can do the same for women’s pro-wrestling.
When questioned regarding Rousey’s pending retirement from MMA, Stephanie McMahon could hardly contain her excitement at possibly bringing the megastar to the WWE.
Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania
Rousey has appeared on WWE programming twice before. Her first WWE appearance was SummerSlam 2014 at the Staples Centre in Rousey’s hometown of LA. Rousey was seated in the front row along with her “4 Horsewomen of MMA” teammates Jessamyn Duke, Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir. Rousey was asked backstage at the event if she would ever consider making the jump to pro-wrestling, to which she gave the guarded response “you never know”.
Her second appearance for the WWE was at WrestleMania 31 in San Francisco. This time Rousey was invited into the ring by the Rock, and ended up giving an armbar to Stephanie McMahon.
The WWE and UFC have reluctantly become accustomed to trading stars in recent years. Most notably, Brock Lesnar was granted permission by the WWE to fight at UFC 200. While limited details regarding the deal between the UFC and WWE have been released, it is believed that the UFC has agreed to loan the WWE a top star somewhere down the line.
