News broke on Thursday morning that Ronda Rousey would be leaving the WWE shortly after WrestleMania 35 in April, but new details have emerged indicating she won’t be gone from the company for good.
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Dave Meltzer broke the initial story in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“There was a decent amount of talk this past week internally, since we heard it from several people, that Rousey would finish up at WrestleMania,” Meltzer reported.
Pro Wrestling Sheet‘s Ryan Satin added more details to the situation, saying that Rousey was leaving so she could start a family with fellow MMA fighter Travis Browne.
“Sources tell us WWE agreed while signing Rousey that she could take time away if she wanted to start a family,” Satin wrote. “We’re told around Survivor Series she informed the company that it was likely she’d be taking that break after WrestleMania.”
But Rousey’s break from wrestling will likely be just that, a break. According to TMZ Sports, the contract Rousey signed with WWE back in January 2018 doesn’t expire until April 2021, which would give her enough time to come back and compete up through WrestleMania 37 if she wished.
“Ronda Rousey is under contract with WWE until April 10, 2021,” WWE told TMZ in a statement.
Rousey made her first WWE appearance in the closing moments of the 2018 Royal Rumble event, with the news breaking within the hour that she had signed a multi-year deal with the company. She made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 alongside Kurt Angle in a mixed-tag match against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and wound up getting the hang of being in the ring much faster than other famous athletes-turned-wrestlers. Also while many fans expected her to make sporadic appearances similar to Brock Lesnar, she wound up being a staple of Monday Night Raw each week while feuding with the likes of Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, the Riott Squad and (most recently) Sasha Banks. After having her first title match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view get thrown out due to interference, Rousey captured the Raw Women’s Championship by forcing Bliss to tap out to her armbar finisher.
Rousey has yet to record a singles loss since arriving in WWE, and only suffered her first tag team loss this past week on Raw when she and Natalya lost to Banks and Bayley. She is set to defend her title against Banks at the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
