Ronda Rousey made a surprise appearance for AEW earlier this month in Los Angeles in support of longtime friend and fellow horsewoman Marina Shafir. AEW is a direct competitor of WWE, which is housed alongside UFC under the TKO banner.
Rousey recently declared war on TKO for raining on her comeback parade.
“I’ve never been to an AEW pay-per-view, so I don’t really know what to expect so much, but I’m thinking like a less restrictive, more adult version of WWE, which sounds like a good time,” Rousey
said in footage from a backstage video blog (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “And it’s kind of a cool little bit of a f*ck you to the TKO Group, which is kind of funny because WWE is on Netflix, but I kind of figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission on this one. Like, I’m promoting your show, it’s fine. We didn’t advertise it. It’s not like we boosted the ratings of it, so it should be fine.”
It didn’t appear to be “fine” with the disapproving audience.
“I was brought into the arena in a very unique … I thought this was going to a much more chill, like, whatever kind of day, but they’re acting like it’s Royal Rumble super secret whatever,” Rousey added. “They had me jump into a wheelchair and threw a tarp over me and wheel me in here. I had to wear a tarp. I felt like, ‘Wow, I’m so glad I don’t have to do this all the time.’ Marina’s just been killing it lately and she’s put in so much work for so much time, I think people are finally starting to take notice. It’s so serendipitous that this all fell together so that I can share this big moment with her. It’s really cool.”
A wheelchair and tarp certainly beats a pillow full of beer farts.
Rousey is an important part of UFC history and one of the biggest MMA stars in history, nobody disputes that. Unfortunately for the Olympian, now 39, she hasn’t competed in nearly a decade and her last two fights ended in high-profile knockout losses. On top of that, she’s fighting Gina Carano, who turns 44 next month and last saw action in summer 2009.
As a result, the number crunchers at TKO were unwilling to meet her “Rowdy” demands.
That paved the way for her partnership with Jake Paul and MVP on Netflix. Not only did Rousey get the money she wanted, she also opened the door for UFC veterans like Francis Ngannou, Nate Diaz, and Junior dos Santos, among others, who will all benefit from the payouts and exposure.
Seems like something worth celebrating … but that’s not Rousey’s style, according to this longtime rival.
