Her tone’s softened as time has passed since she wrapped up her second run with WWE in 2023, but Ronda Rousey still doesn’t sound like someone who’s interested in a third go of it as a pro wrestler.
Even before she went on a hiatus post-WrestleMania 35, Rousey made it clear she hated life on the road as a full-time member of the WWE roster. When she first opened up about her entire time with the company
after essentially retiring following SummerSlam a couple years ago, Vince McMahon and his cronies were the main focus of Ronda’s ire.
In her latest interview where she all-but-rules out a comeback, Rousey again points to one particular issue with her booking at WWE (mostly with McMahon running creative): she really wanted to do the teased MMA Horsewomen vs. NXT Horsewomen feud. Ronda at least wanted to work more often with her teammates and friends Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke, but says she had to give the company an ultimatum to get that to happen.
Asked if pro wrestling was in her rearview on The Lapsed Fan podcast, the UFC Hall of Famer and three-time WWE Women’s champ replied:
“Pretty much, I’d say so.
“I got into WWE because I wanted to be able to wrestle with my girls, you know, the Four Horsewomen and be able to wrestle with my friends. And they kind of dangled that carrot for my whole run and never let it happen.
“And then the second run, they kept dangling it. And then by the end, I was like, I’m fucking leaving unless I can wrestle with Shayna. And that’s how I was able to do it at all.”
Baszler, Shafir, and Duke were all signed to WWE for a time, but only Shayna made it to the main roster. Marina is now with AEW, and Duke’s no longer in the business. Those two MMA Horsewomen were green, but it’s hard to imagine they couldn’t have coached them up for a few singles TV matches and a PPV multi-woman while everybody was signed.
Alas, WWE didn’t see money in it. That decision may have driven Rousey from the business. Whether that’s necessarily a bad thing is up to you.
