Felix Upton on November 23, 2023
Ronda Rousey caused a lot of fans to think she may be giving up pro wrestling when she left WWE. Then she proved that WWE isn’t the only company with a ring that she can wrestle in, because Rousey shocked fans once again as she wrestled a match for Tony Khan’s ROH.
Last Friday, reports surfaced that Ronda Rousey was present backstage at the AEW/ROH television tapings held at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. Later that same evening, The Baddest Woman on the Planet her in-ring debut for Ring of Honor, teaming up with her friend Marina Shafir to face Athena and Billie Starkz at the REVOLVER Unreal independent show on the previous Thursday night.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the prospect of Rousey signing with AEW. He said that the Baddest Woman on the Planet’s ROH debut was likely a one-off deal.
“So with Ronda, it’s a one-shot deal. Obviously, if Ronda wants to work more, they’ll use her anytime. She was doing a favor for Marina [Shafir], to help Marina, and you know, that’s that. It could change, but I do not expect — there’s a reason that Ronda wanted to finish. It’s a family reason.”
“These shows that she’s worked have all been in Los Angeles. They’ve all been to team with Marina, so it’s a night out of fun for her. It’s not like she’s on the road or anything like that. She didn’t leave WWE to go to AEW. Stranger things have happened, but certainly the idea when she left WWE was that she was done with wrestling and that she was moving on to the next stage of her life.”
Meltzer mentioned that following her debut match in ROH, Rousey was involved in some “belt stuff” with the current ROH Women’s World Champion, Athena, which led to speculation that she might return, possibly for ROH’s upcoming Final Battle pay-per-view scheduled for December 15. However, Meltzer clarified that, to the best of his knowledge, there was “no commitment” in place for a potential championship bout.
We previously reported that that Tony Khan had Ronda Rousey on ROH television to help boost Honor Club subscriptions. As of this writing, we are uncertain whether Rousey encouraged anyone to pay for the service.
What’s your take on Ronda Rousey making her debut for ROH? Let us know what you think about it in the comments section!
November 23, 2023 9:55 am
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