The reason behind Ronda Rousey’s WWE departure has been possibly revealed. The former UFC Champion left the Stamford-based promotion in 2023 after her SummerSlam match against Shayna Baszler.
She returned at the 2022 Royal Rumble for a second run with the company. During this tenure, she wrestled more frequently, as she won the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship twice and competed against a number of superstars.
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However, by mid-2023, Rousey had made plans to leave WWE and did so after losing to Baszler at SummerSlam. Her departure raised a few eyebrows, but former World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins wasn’t surprised.
During an interview with Club Shay Shay, Rollins said the Baddest Woman on the Planet had it easy during her first run, which saw her compete on a part-time schedule.
“At first it’s very easy, and I don’t mean this in a negative way, but everything’s curated for her. So everything’s choreographed, and you know she has one match every 6 months or something like that, and it gets well rehearsed, and that’s fun, and you get to do wrestling that way, and that can be really fun, and that can be addicting for people, but that’s not really what wrestling is,” he said.
The Visionary detailed the challenge of wrestling more frequently and the grind that comes with it. He said going from wrestling a few matches to competing regularly isn’t for everyone, and Ronda Rousey had other personal aspirations as well.
“So when you go the other way, that is a really hard thing to do and she had other aspirations, you know, she wanted to be a mom, and it’s really hard to be a mom and do our gig…That’s a really difficult thing to do, and if you’re not having fun and you don’t love it, it does not surprise me that she was like, ‘I need to get away from this,'”he added.
Ronda Rousey set for blockbuster MMA return
Ronda Rousey last competed in an MMA match in 2016 against Amanda Nunes. She lost the match via TKO in round one in the main event of UFC 207.
Since then, she has had stints in WWE and has tried her hand at other ventures. Now, she is set for a blockbuster return to MMA in May.
A few days ago, Ronda Rousey revealed that she will fight against Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The fight will be organized by Most Valuable Promotions and will stream live on Netflix.
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Edited by Sherjeel Malik
