Ronda Rousey Addresses Her UFC Losses, WWE Looking To Pair Her With The Rock At WrestleMania

The big news coming out of Sunday night’s WWE Royal Rumble was not the fact that Shinsuke Nakamura won the men’s rumble or that Asuka won the first-ever women’s rumble, it was that former UFC champion Ronda Rousey did “the inevitable” and officially signed with WWE and will be doing “something” at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.

Shortly after making an appearance at the Royal Rumble, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that the current plan for Ronda Rousey’s WWE debut at WrestleMania 34 appears to be a tag team match against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, potentially with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Rousey’s partner.

Rousey and The Rock have already made one appearance together, at WrestleMania 31, when the two of them had a confrontation with McMahon and Triple H, so apparently this could be some continuation of that storyline.

Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, especially since The Rock hasn’t wrestled a full match since the 2013 WrestleMania because of his acting schedule and the risk of injury.

In the meantime, as we wait to find out, Rousey is definitely all in on the wrestling business, but told ESPN that despite what people think she hasn’t officially retired from MMA.

“That’s what everybody else seems to say,” Rousey said when asked about being retired. “I mean, I never retired from judo. If that’s what you guys want to think, all I know is that I really want to devote 100 percent of my time to wrestling right now and whatever people want to call that, they can call it.”

Rousey also addressed, sort of, her two stunning losses at the hands (and feet) of Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.

As many noticed, the jacket Rousey was wearing during her appearance at the Royal Rumble was the one worn by WWE legend Rowdy Roddy Piper who passed away on July 31, 2015. Piper’s son actually flew to the Rumble to give her the leather jacket to wear on Sunday night.

Rousey has long stated that Piper was one of her idols growing up and even took her nickname “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey from him after seeking and receiving permission from the Hall of Famer.

It will be interesting, if nothing else, to see how Rousey fares in the world of professional wrestling on Sunday, April 8th.