Ronda Rousey Makes Surprise Return to Wrestling Outside of WWE, Teams With AEW Star
The former WWE star competed at Lucha VaVOOM on Thursday.
Ronda Rousey was thought to be done with professional wrestling. The former UFC fighter made her official WWE debut at WWE Royal Rumble 2018, signaling her intent to wrestle her first squared circle match at WWE WrestleMania 34 later that spring. Teaming with Kurt Angle to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Rousey wowed in her debut, with many praising the bout as the greatest debut match of all time. WWE WrestleMania 34 would prove to be the peak for Rousey, as fan sentiment towards her gradually soured. Rousey would pick up the WWE Raw Women's Championship later that summer and go on to headline WWE WrestleMania 35 but never saw the popularity levels she reached in her first couple of months.
Rousey's second WWE run began where her first started, at WWE Royal Rumble 2022. This time, Rousey would win the Women's Royal Rumble Match altogether and go on to become WWE SmackDown Women's Champion that summer. She held it until this past December before moving on to pursuing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships alongside longtime friend Shayna Baszler. While they would capture the duos gold, their reign was cut short seemingly due to Rousey's desire to wrap up her WWE run by August. After losing to Baszler at WWE SummerSlam, many believed Rousey would never wrestle again.
Ronda Rousey Returns to Wrestling
The Baddest Woman on the Planet is back.
Ronda Rousey made a surprise appearance at Lucha VaVOOM's latest event in Los Angeles. At the show, Rousey was seated ringside to cheer on her friend, AEW's Marina Shafir. As the show progressed, Rousey would end up leaving her seat and hitting the ring, joining Shafir for a tag match against Taya Valkyrie and Brian Kendrick.
This tag match lasted roughly five minutes and ended with Rousey submitting Kendrick with an ankle lock.
You can check out a highlight from Rousey's appearance below...
This was Rousey's first time competing in a pro wrestling match outside of WWE. Up until this point, Rousey's entire squared circle career occurred within WWE ropes.
There is no word on whether this appearance was a one-off for Rousey or if she plans on competing more in the future. It's worth noting that both Shafir and Valkyrie are currently signed to AEW, but its unclear as to if AEW would have interest in bringing Rousey in.
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