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Ronda Rousey The Next WWE Women’s Champion? It Could Happen Sooner Than You Think

By Aric Mitchell

From the archive: published Jun 8, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

Ronda Rousey has always been a huge fan of professional wrestling. It’s why she named her group of fighting friends the Four Horsewomen upon arriving in the UFC.

It’s also why she successfully petitioned “Rowdy” Roddy Piper for use of his nickname as MMA superstardom took hold.

Unfortunately for the inaugural UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, things turned south in November of last year when Holly Holm dominated her at UFC 193 in a second round knockout.

Since then, there has been extensive speculation as to whether Ronda Rousey would return to her sport at all.

Following a successful appearance at WrestleMania 31 and a new working relationship between WWE and UFC that includes Brock Lesnar fighting at UFC 200, it’s looking like it isn’t a matter of if Ronda will return to the wrestling promotion but when.

The New York Post recently ran a piece remarking that Vince McMahon hopes to feature Ronda Rousey in a bout at WrestleMania 33 next year and that Brock’s appearance at UFC 200 could be the olive branch needed for UFC President Dana White to give the go-ahead.

At first, it seemed improbable that White would be open to the idea of loaning out Rousey again, but a lot has happened since she suffered her first defeat.

For starters, she signed a three-picture development deal with the Lifetime Movie Network. She also has the remake of Roadhouse on the horizon.

She’s hosted Saturday Night Live, revealed her suicidal thoughts in a revealing Ellen interview, and demonstrated a general lack of interest in fighting again.

In fact, it has gotten to the point where White himself, one of her biggest supporters, is starting to doubt her return as revealed in an interview earlier this year when he confessed to not knowing when Ronda Rousey would return. (Hat tip, MMA Junkie.)

The preponderance of evidence bringing the MMA return of Ronda Rousey into question has many believing that her appearance at WrestleMania 33 is not only inevitable but that it will entail more than a simple one-off appearance.

With that said, here are the reasons the McMahons could be grooming Ronda as a future WWE Women’s Champion.

1. Ronda Rousey actually wants to do it.

For the Win reported in October 2015 that Ronda was actually eyeing a future career in WWE, not just a guest spot.

What was stopping her at that point was the fact she was still unbeaten.

“What I would love to do,” Rousey revealed, “… [is] retire from MMA as one of the greatest of all time.” Then, she said, “I would love to have the chance to be the boxing world champion, and I would love to have the chance to be a jiu-jitsu world champion.”

Wait for it.

“I’d love to have the chance to be the Divas world champion and just be the best of everything at one point.”

Since that time, the title was rechristened the WWE Women’s Championship. The current titleholder, Charlotte, even issued a challenge upon hearing Ronda’s interest.

2. Ronda doesn’t really want to resume her MMA career.

The loss to Holm was so devastating that the few appearances Rousey has made since then have centered more on how she’s doing than what her intent is as far as mixed martial arts is concerned.

While WWE is no less athletic than UFC, it is a different beast in that your opponents aren’t really trying to cave in your face.

Making a shift to the WWE at this point would strengthen the bond between WWE and UFC while offering a burned out Ronda Rousey the chance to ply her trade in a more appropriate market.

It would also help boost the brand identity of the women’s division and allow her to do what she did for MMA at the WWE level.

So what should you expect from Ronda Rousey?

Over the next few months, look for Ronda to continue focusing her attentions to what is going on outside the octagon.

This will inevitably lead to a dialogue with Dana White about her future in the company. With the channels of communication between UFC and WWE clearly opened, there is a way to transition Rousey to WWE while still offering the MMA promotion something in return.

It’s likely, given the respect Ronda and Dana share, that if she levels with him on where she is mentally as far as fighting is concerned, that he will give a more involved WWE and Ronda Rousey working relationship his blessing moving forward.

From there, WWE could build a historic title run for Charlotte leading to her dropping the belt to Rousey next April.

But what do you think, readers?

Will Ronda Rousey take the women’s title off Charlotte at WrestleMania 33? Sound off in the comments section below.

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