WWE News: The Very Latest On UFC Star Ronda Rousey Heading To WWE SummerSlam In August
WWE has been a huge proponent of bringing in crossover stars from outside the company. They feel they only add to the excitement of the product and it of course gets the WWE more attention. Really, there is no problem with this in their eyes. So naturally, they would have an interest in bringing in athletes. WWE has had success with MMA talent in the past, as Ken Shamrock made a relatively big splash in the Attitude Era. However, it was not until the 2000s that women started to get MMA attention.
Strikeforce had a ladies division, and girls like Gina Carano ruled over the division with an iron fist. When Strikeforce was bought by Zuffa, parent company to MMA superpower UFC, it seemed like if there was an MMA war, it was just over between the two sides.
The one thing that made Strikeforce different was a female division, so Dana White felt it would be good to add one to the UFC and thus, the Female Bantamweight Division was born. Carano was gone, so clearly UFC had to find other stars to build in the division. It didn’t take them very long, as Olympic Bronze Medalist in Judo Ronda Rousey was seen as a top tier talent that was underrated by many, and she actually was undefeated at the time she came to UFC. Carano ruled over Strikeforce for a while as it’s star for the female division, despite great talent like Rousey being present. Rousey was given the opportunity to be the Bantamweight Champion and took it without any problem.
She has a 10-0 MMA record and makes everyone tap out to her armbar submission.
Rousey happens to be a huge WWE fan and has always wanted to be part of the WWE in some way, even if it were only for a small period of time like an appearance.
SummerSlam is WWE’s second biggest PPV of the year and has been for some time. WWE felt that it would be great to bring Ronda in for the event. Rumors came out that Rousey was headed to the event without question. There was even talk of the Four Horsewomen, Ronda’s MMA group, coming with her. However, Dana White, in his ever popular grinch-self, put the hammer down. He said that Ronda could not appear at the event nor could any contracted UFC Fighter as he simply did not want to have any on WWE programming.
The stupidity in all of this is that it would help UFC. Interestingly enough, for all the flak WWE gets, UFC has never once had a better rating than RAW… even on WWE’s low rating days. Hilariously, UFC could not even pull off major ratings on network TV, as their FOX ratings have been horrible. The promotion could do UFC some good, especially if Ronda makes people interested enough to see her.
UFC could use some positive promotion, as they have had to cancel their UFC 176 event. Ronda claimed she’d fight anyone on 24 hours notice, proving her badassary. The problem is that White doesn’t want to risk her getting hurt or anyone else that recently fought. This is why you may only see major stars fight two times a year, three max. Sometimes only once a year.
Regardless, whether or not White was keeping Rousey away from WWE for health reasons or simply because he doesn’t want to give any slight crossover help to WWE, fans are disappointed that the UFC starlet cannot appear on the event in any way.
Ronda has mentioned in the past that she might want to come to the WWE once her MMA time is done, which could be great. Whether or not she does is another story, and when that might be is potentially a long time from now.
[IMG Credits: Google]
