Big-Name Ex-WWE Star Admits Comeback Is Unlikely
A former WWE Champion seemingly won’t be back.
At SummerSlam 2023, Ronda Rousey ended her second run with WWE after a defeat to long-time friend Shayna Baszler. Her departure came after a somewhat underwhelming spell with the company, which failed to live up to her first run through 2018 and into 2019.
Following her exit, it was reported that Ronda Rousey “despised” Vince McMahon by the time she left the company, later branding him a “f*cking sicko” in an interview. She also took aim at the company for its “casting couch culture” during McMahon’s tenure, slamming former Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.
The UFC legend went on to call WWE a “sh*tshow” while promoting her autobiography.
Rousey later wrestled three matches alongside her friend Marina Shafir, even popping up in Ring of Honor, before walking away from wrestling altogether.
Ronda Rousey Distances Herself From WWE Return
When asked by The Lapsed Fan podcast in a new interview whether her wrestling career was in the “rearview mirror,” Rousey admitted that it was. She reiterated that she left WWE after feeling the company had broken a series of promises about a storyline involving the MMA’s Four Horsewomen.
“Pretty much, I’d say so. I got into WWE because I wanted to be able to wrestle with my girls, you know, the Four Horsewomen, and be able to wrestle with my friends. And they kind of dangled that carrot for my whole run and never let it happen.
And then the second run, they kept dangling it. And then by the end, I was like, I’m f*cking leaving unless I can wrestle with Shayna [Baszler]. And that’s how I was able to do it at all.”
Rousey went on to describe her WWE career as a “sabatical,” where she learned a series of lessons to apply to the next chapter of her life.
“That’s what made me have to step away, because it got to the point where I’m just like, they’re never going to allow me to make it as good as it can be, and, like, meeting them halfway in this range of mediocrity is like crushing my soul. So I can’t continue to do that,” she said. “So I’m going to go f*cking be awesome and doing other things.
I’ll take everything that I learned from pro wrestling and apply it elsewhere into my other passions, you know, in comics and fight choreography and in film and screenwriting, and all of these things. If anything, it was like I was doing like a sabbatical. When you go off and you study something for years and come back and utilize what you learned, that was my wrestling sabbatical.
I will take everything that I learned from that and apply it to all the other spaces that are bringing me joy.”
Back in January, Ronda Rousey and husband Travis Browne welcomed their second child after previously claiming she wants a “whole basketball team of kids.” At the start of her pregnancy she also confirmed that she has no plans to return to MMA or the UFC.
Since leaving wrestling behind, Ronda Rousey has thrown herself into a new career as a writer, producing a script for a Netflix documentary on her life and career. Meanwhile, her debut graphic novel is set to be released in October 2025.
H/t to f4wonline