OT: Ronda Rousey to WWE as full-time wrestler per ESPN

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Craziness just happened at the WWE Royal Rumble pay per view

Ronda Rousey came walking out at the end of the show and then ESPN posted this-

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/22244988/ronda-rousey-signs-wwe

Trailblazing UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has agreed to terms with WWE to perform for the company as a full-time professional wrestler.

Rousey made a surprise appearance at the WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view in Philadelphia on Sunday night. After the conclusion of the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match, Rousey emerged and shocked the crowd.

"This is my life now. First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt," Rousey told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne of her decision to join WWE. "When I first met with Triple H, I told him, 'There are other things I can do with my time that'll make way more money, but I won't enjoy nearly as much.'"

MGoFunkadelic

January 28th, 2018 at 11:34 PM ^

kind of a great money play for her.  she has good name recognition outside of UFC circles and a somewhat tarnished fight reputation in the UFC circles after losing to holms.  i'm sure her confidence is a bit shaken after that fight plus she won't have to get her face smashed in.  i don't watch wwe but it makes some sense.  

Larry Appleton

January 29th, 2018 at 12:15 AM ^

This reminds me of when Joaquin Phoenix had that pretend meltdown and said he was becoming a rapper. Except she’s not pretending.

RobM_24

January 29th, 2018 at 12:30 AM ^

Assuming Izzo is fired, also joins WWE, and fight in his KISS costume ... who do you like in a Rousey vs Izzo Battles of Sexes? Take into account, the ref will not be from the B1G Conference.

zh2oson

January 29th, 2018 at 1:09 AM ^

I don’t think this needs to be labeled OT. I’m sure Brian will cover this in-depth tomorrow in Unverified Voracity. Can’t wait to read his take then!!

Wolfman

January 29th, 2018 at 1:27 AM ^

turn to entertainment and not many of them are that good at it. 

i remember setting in Mexico watching Brock Lesnar get the dog shit whipped out of him by some bad ass Mexican dude. The Mexican bartender wouldn't even take the 35 pesos he won on the bet saying "I knew it wasn't going to be a match," and damn, he was right. Next time I saw Brock he was, of course, "the baddest man on the planet," doing his act for World Wrestling. Must knock the hell out of their confidence because both of these were  very dangerous people - still are when not in the octagon, but when they lose one when they think no one can touch them, it's just too demoralizing to handle. 

Ah well, something else to talk about for a day or so. 

JamieH

January 29th, 2018 at 2:02 AM ^

Has anyone in fight history ever fallen further from one loss than Rousey? I mean she has just completely fallen apart.

What is ridiculous about it is that EVERYONE in MMA loses at some point. For her to basically have a complete mental breakdown over a single loss and end up quitting the sport is practically comical.

Oh well, she'll still get her money. Who cares about her credibility as an athlete, right?

(Yes I know she lost twice, but she never seemed to recover from that first loss at all, and looked like a zombie who no longer wanted to fight in loss #2).

JamieH

January 29th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^

But I would argue it was the rape conviction that really hurt him most by taking 4 years of his prime away.  After losing to Douglas, he won his next 8 fights over 6 years, including a 4 year layoff in prison, before losing to Holyfield in '96. He also won two Heavyweight titles, WBA and WBC, in 1996. So it wasn't like he didn't so anything post Douglas. Rousey has just up and quit after losing once.

Steve in PA

January 29th, 2018 at 9:44 AM ^

She wasn't a MMA fighter, she was a judo champ in a new/very weak division. As more real MMA fighters came in she was toast. Holm has the same problem, she's a boxer. She made money. Dana/UFC made their money and got publicity from her as well. Vince is doing the same. I doubt she has the ability to do fake wrestling like the fans of that sport want to see.

JamieH

January 29th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^

the other fighters even commented on this, wondering why she had moved away from trying to use her judo skills in the fights. She clearly lacks skill when she moves to other areas. But there have been other MMA fighters who have been successful while using mostly one technique--they just had the ability to force the fight on their terms.

 

Basically it looks like she liked fighting until someone popped her in the mouth, and then she didn't like it anymore.

NFG

January 29th, 2018 at 5:41 AM ^

She took some very bad advice and went to a stand up boxing approach when she was at the peak of her MMA career. Psychology she’s lost it, so this is a good transition.

dragonchild

January 29th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^

but I doubt any strategy would've changed the outcome.  She did try to clinch but Holm had a very quick escape move and essentially forced Rousey to box.  If Rousey went lower she'd just have made it easier for Holm to pummel her head.

The problem with Rousey was that she was sloooow.  Nothing she tried worked, and Holm controlled the fight with ease.  Rousey's only 30 so I'd blame her trainer because Holm looked like greased lightning next to her.

I'm not surprised it basically ended her career.  Even as a figurehead, she had to have been in enough fights to know she'd been dominated beyond all hope of comeback.

Bo4President

January 29th, 2018 at 7:38 AM ^

Many would agree Ronda did a lot for women’s MMA. She did.

However, In my opinion she was a really bad champion for women’s MMA.

She was always very disrespectful to every opponent. I get she needs to sell fights. I never valued those kinda of people. Fight with your fist not your mouth.

Lastly, which is the cherry on top. As soon as she faced diversity and a loss. She went off the deep end and never won again.

She was a role model for many women.

I would of loved to see her shut her mouth as a champ and then come back from losses and get the belt back.

Never happened....shitty champ in my personal opinion.

bronxblue

January 29th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^

Makes a lot of sense for both.  She can extend her star, WWE gets a mainstream name, everyone wins.  They'll probably have her beat Charlotte Flair, which isn't optimal, but if she sticks around then it's less of a thing.

Perkis-Size Me

January 29th, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^

Almost forgot she existed.

Before Holly Holm came along Ronda Rousey was everywhere. Just absolutely untouchable. Then she took her first loss and her whole career just bottomed out. From what I recall reading, she really struggled with depression after that fight. She'd never lost before, and being undefeated was a huge part of her identity and who she was. Then she tried a comeback and got beat again, which undoubtedly made things worse for her self-confidence.

No one stays on top forever. 

BlueGoM

January 29th, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^

She beat up on a lot of women who weren't as athletic or skilled as she was.  First thing I noticed about Holm was that she was every bit as strong as Rousey and I think Rousey didn't know how to handle it.

Then she came back (looking fit as can be, FWIW) and lost to Amanda Nunes who was an even worse matchup (than Holm) for Rousey and it showed.

Anyway she could have a long career in WWE and parlay that into more movie and TV roles like many pro wrestlers do.  She'll be fine.

 

JFW

January 29th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^

economically, I guess. 

 

But I just can't help but think she still has some life and competitiveness left in the ring if she can train to better defend against punchers. Her ground/grappling game is amazing, and she's not old.