Ronda Rousey shocked the world when she made her appearance at WWE’s Royal Rumble event last Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center. After soaking in the adulation of the Philadelphia crowd, Rousey made her way down to the ring, and eyed up the competition. Also in the squared circle were Raw Women’s Champion, Alexa Bliss, Smackdown Live Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair, and the very first winner of the female Rumble match, “The Empress of Tomorrow”, Asuka. The former UFC fighter made her intentions very clear; come WrestleMania, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey would be challenging for one of the lady’s Titles.
Since her appearance at WrestleMania 31, fans have been speculating as to when the former UFC fighter would take up an offer to join the sports entertainment company.
With her eyes set on besting the greatest performers in wrestling, Rousey has finally signed a contract to join the WWE roster. What’s more, she’s coming on board as a full-time member.
When will Rousey be able join WWE full-time?
According to the Chief Operating Officer of WWE, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, the inaugural UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion would be training full-time at the wrestling company’s Performance Center in Orlando, Florida once filming for her new movie “Mile 22” is under wraps. Rousey has been seen around the Performance Center on a couple of occasions which, at the time, had fans buzzing with anticipation for her in-ring debut, but it has been recently that Rousey’s schedule has allowed her to fully commit to sports entertainment.
Rousey and Triple H were seen at lunch together over a month ago, as reported by several wrestling dirtsheets. There is no solid confirmation on this, but it is presumed that the two parties met to finalize the arrangements of bringing Rousey into the fold.
It’s been noted that WWE has been very keen on hiring Ronda for a number of years.
Her legitimate fighting credentials add an air of authenticity to pro wrestling which has been a part of WWE’s M.O. for some time, following the signings of fellow UFC Champion, Brock Lesnar, and other female MMA stars such as Shayna Baszler and Sonya Deville. Her status as one of the biggest women's sports stars is also attracting a lot of attention from media outlets, keeping WWE in the spotlight as they approach the biggest night in wrestling, WrestleMania.
With her finally on the WWE payroll, Rousey will likely shoot straight to the top of the Women’s division. Only time will tell if she deserves to be there.