Tag: Ronda Rousey

Daily Update: Weekend fallout, Ronda Rousey, Mirai

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

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Sunday Update

— We have both of our weekend shows up, with the Friday show talking about all the news of the week and last night’s show talking about AEW All Out, WWE Wrestlepalooza and CMLL 92nd anniversary show. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night taking Raw.

— I guess the biggest thing coming out of All Out for Wednesday, besides that apparently the PPV did well and all of a sudden afternoon shows for AEW may be the better idea largely because it’s a lot better for a long show to be in the afternoon, plus it helps with European buys. Crown Jewel is only three weeks away in Perth, so Raw should start the build. We already know Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes, and whoever holds the Smackdown women’s title, will face Stephanie Vaquer in the two main events. We should get at least some ideas for the top matches at WrestleDream on Wednesday.  

— Outside of the two major shows, the matches we’ve heard the most about to watch for the weekend would be Mistico vs. MJF on Friday which was a classic if you love 1970s wrestling (or today’s wrestling for that matter but aside from using modern moves it  felt like the wrestling from another era), Máscara Dorada & Neon & Atlantis Jr. vs. Hechicero & Volador Jr. & Zandokan Jr. from Friday and I’ve been told you have to see Ultimo Guerrero vs. Blue Panther from tonight at Arena Mexico where Panther won the MLW National Openweight title. As best I can tell, Panther would be maybe the oldest singles world champion ever. One person told me that they  thought their 8/8 singles match had a better atmosphere but they went all out. The 8/8 match between them was something to see.

— Google trends showed roughly double the interest in Wrestlepalooza as All Out, which should be no surprise. In the searches for both shows the WWE show was 200,000 and AEW was 50,000. AJ Lee and Stephanie Vaquer made the individual search list while nothing from AEW broke out aside from the show itself.

— We should have an idea of how Wrestlepalooza did outside the U.S. on Tuesday when Netflix numbers come out. It will not likely crack the top ten because it didn’t air in the U.S., so we won’t have numbers, but we’ll be able to see how it did in comparison with Raw and Smackdown in the key countries. Hopefully we’ll have a good PPV estimate for All Out by Thursday. Tony Khan said it did very well. We’ll also see how starting at 7 p.m. affected Raw numbers as compared to 8 p.m..

— We’re looking for your thoughts on CMLL Anniversary 92, AEW All Out and Wrestlepalooza, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each of the three shows to [email protected]

— We’re also looking for dark match reports from Friday’s Smackdown tapings.

— We don’t have more details but Mirai announced she was leaving Marigold. Mirai was one of its funding members and biggest stars, as well as someone who helped train the newer wrestlers.  She said her last match would be 10/13 at Korakuen Hall.

— The hints are that Orange Cassidy will return as the mystery partner of Kyle O’Reilly & Hologram against the Don Callis Family on Wednesday, plus Tony Khan makes a major announcement. Most seem to think it’s women’s tag team titles and a tournament. I do know he made women’s tag title belts some time back and said injuries delayed starting the tournament.

— Raw in Evansville, IN, has 5,037 tickets out per Wrestletix.

— Ronda Rousey shows photos of her training MMA. Nobody at this point expects her to fight again but she said she’s enjoying her training.

— Defy results from Friday night in Settle: Killer Kross b Calvin Tankman, Nicole Matthews b Amira, Midnight Heat b Randy Myers & Matt Brannigan, Marina Shafir b Hyan to keep the women’s title, Evan Rivers won a four-way over El Phantasmo, Ethan HD and Miles Deville, Bryan Keith b Clark Connors to win the Defy title. The Righteous, Vincent & Dutch, were on the show but didn’t wrestle. Next shows are 10/24 in Portland, OR at the Wonder Ballroom and 11/21 back at Washington Hall in Seattle.

— Heavyweights Ante Delija and Waldo Cortes Acosta headline on the 11/1 UFC show.

— Conor McGregor said that he expects to face Michael Chandler on the White House show in June.  

— Rafael Fiziev is off the UFC show on 10/11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, due to an injury. Charles Oliviera, his scheduled opponent, wants to stay on the card.

— Mortos vs.Bandido headlined a show in Golden, CO, tonight.

Ronda Rousey comments on Marina Shafir ‘coming into her own’ in AEW

Posted on by Ian Carey

Ronda Rousey credits Jon Moxley for helping her friend Marina Shafir come into her own in AEW.

Shafir first aligned with Moxley at AEW All Out 2024 when the Blackpool Combat Club turned on Bryan Danielson. Since then, she’s been a prominent part of The Death Riders storylines.

During a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Rousey commented on Shafir’s last year in wrestling, saying she’s “coming into her own in that space and feeling really confident and just becoming like a real f—ing pro.”

“Going from being like, ‘How do I do an arm drag?’ To being part of five-star matches and stuff like that, it’s really great to see her just having so much joy with it and rising to the top level of the industry,” Rousey said.

Shafir was in the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing, which received a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

Rousey continued:

“I think so much has to do with Jon Moxley being the most incredible human being ever. He is just so supportive and so kind and so passionate.”

“He’s just so humble and I feel like so much of that success stems from his talent — and not just his talent, but his willingness and passion to give back and to bring up everybody with him and have his rising tide lift all of their boats. And I’m so grateful for him and the kind of friend that he’s been to Marina.”

She added that it’s wrestlers like Moxley, who give back to the industry, that keep the business moving forward.

“They’re the real lifeblood of the industry. And I hope that continues and that it’s encouraged, and that it’s not like some cutthroat, ‘me versus you’ kind of environment,” Rousey says.

“It’s the culture and the giving back to each other and the constant hands helping each other up — that is what makes it continue to be great. And will continue to make pro wrestling rise in cultural awareness.”

Shafir and Rousey teamed together on three occasions in late 2023 after Rousey’s second stint with WWE came to a close. They defeated Taya Valkyrie and Brian Kendrick at a Lucha Va Voom show in Los Angeles, went to a no-contest with Billie Starkz and Athena at a Revolver show in Glendale, and later defeated Starkz and Athena at a Ring of Honor taping.

The full interview with Ronda Rousey is available here.

Ronda Rousey: It’s ‘ridiculous’ that WWE had me facing Alexa Bliss

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ronda Rousey feels it’s “f*cking ridiculous” that WWE had her facing off against Alexa Bliss in the ring.

One of Rousey’s first-ever pro wrestling feuds was against Bliss, with Rousey defeating her to win the Raw Women’s Championship at SummerSlam 2018. It was the first title that Rousey won in her pro wrestling career.

During an appearance on The Lapsed Fan podcast, Rousey discussed how she was presented by WWE in her transition over from being a legitimate MMA fighter.

“The fact that they had me fighting Alexa Bliss at all was f*cking ridiculous,” Rousey said about facing the smaller Bliss. “And you want to know why they had me against Alexa Bliss? Because she had the most merch sales at the time, on that side. Like, what the f*ck? Like, that’s your decision making process?”

Rousey’s comments drew a reaction from AEW star MJF, who tweeted the following: “It’s almost like pro wrestling much like any professional sport functions as a business. F*cking crazy [mindblown emoji]”

While not responding to Rousey directly, Bliss sent out a tweet this afternoon that appears to be related to her comments:

Rousey last wrestled in 2023 and is now focused on pursuing writing as a career. In the Lapsed Fan interview, she said wrestling is “pretty much” in her rearview mirror at this point. She views her time in WWE as a sort of sabbatical where she learned things that can be applied to her current passions.

“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,” Rousey 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.”

Ronda Rousey says wrestling is ‘pretty much’ in her rearview mirror

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With nearly two years having passed since her last match, Ronda Rousey doesn’t sound like she’s planning for a pro wrestling return.

“Pretty much, I’d say so,” Rousey told The Lapsed Fan podcast when asked if wrestling is in her rearview mirror. “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 — a trailblazer and Hall of Famer in the UFC — made her WWE debut in 2018 and had two separate runs with the company before finishing up against Baszler at SummerSlam 2023. She did compete in three non-WWE matches shortly after that so she could work with her friend Marina Shafir.

At the start of 2025, Rousey welcomed her second daughter into the world with husband Travis Browne. Rousey has been pursuing writing as a career, including penning the script for an upcoming Netflix movie about her life. She also has a graphic novel — titled “Expecting the Unexpected” — set to be released this October.

Rousey told The Lapsed Fan that she views her WWE career as a sort of “sabbatical” where she learned things that she can apply to her current passions.

“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.”

Director chosen for upcoming Netflix Ronda Rousey biopic

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A movie about Ronda Rousey’s life is moving forward at Netflix with a director now attached to the project.

Deadline reported today that Augustine Frizzell will direct the biopic, which is based on Rousey’s two memoirs “My Fight/Your Fight” and “Our Fight.” The script for the movie was written by Rousey herself after spending time working as an intern in the story department for agency William Morris Endeavor (WME).

“When it came to finding a director, everyone involved wanted a woman to help tell Rousey’s story. After meeting several candidates, Frizzell came in and blew everyone away with her take for the film,” Deadline wrote. “A fan of Rousey long before she began directing TV episodes and feature films, sources say Frizzell had read both memoirs before she got the call to meet on it and knew right away this job needed to be hers. Not only is Frizzell a fan, but in her spare time she trains in Muay Thai and is well-versed in the world in which the former UFC champion came up.”

Frizzell’s past work includes directing the films “Never Goin’ Back” and “The Last Letter from Your Lover,” the latter of which was a Netflix movie. She’s also set to direct multiple episodes of the upcoming Netflix series “The Boroughs.”

Frizzell also directed the pilot episode of the popular HBO series “Euphoria.”

Rousey’s respective memoirs were released in 2015 and 2024 and documented her life growing up through her stardom in judo, UFC, and WWE. She has not fought in MMA since 2016 or wrestled since 2023, recently opening up about the help she’s getting for neurological issues she’s experienced as a result of concussions she suffered in her fighting career.

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In addition to writing the script for this movie, Rousey has penned a graphic novel called “Expecting the Unexpected” that will be published this October. There is no release date for the Netflix movie yet.

WOL: FUN FRIDAY, news and feedback!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about HERE ON FUN FRIDAY, although all the news is not necessarily fun, as we must talk about Vince McMahon and the death of Black Bart. But then we’ll try to make it fun, with your help in the form of calls and texts. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Ronda Rousey gives birth to second daughter

Posted on by Ethan Renner

UFC Hall of Famer and former three-time WWE Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and husband Travis Browne have welcomed the birth of their second child together.

In an Instagram post Thursday, Rousey announced the birth of the couple’s second daughter, Liko’ula Pa’uomahinakaipiha Browne. The Southern California residents made reference to the wildfires ravaging the area in the post’s caption:

“Our little girl came into this world during a windstorm into a city on fire, so grateful she made it safe and sound
Liko’ula Pā’ūomahinakaipiha Browne“

Rousey had two separate WWE runs sandwiched around the birth of her first daughter in 2021. She made a brief foray into the independent scene after leaving WWE in 2023, and wrestled on one Ring of Honor taping. Rousey was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018 after retiring from MMA in 2016.

Browne and Rousey have been together since 2015 and married since 2017. Browne is also a former UFC fighter. Browne has two children from a prior relationship in addition to the two daughters with Rousey.

Ronda Rousey: WWE pitched singles match vs. Becky Lynch at Evolution 2

Posted on by Ian Carey

Ronda Rousey says WWE pitched her the idea of a singles match between her and Becky Lynch at Evolution 2.

Rousey, who headlined WWE’s first all-female PLE in 2018, appeared on an episode of Ring the Belle recently to promote her upcoming graphic novel, Expected the Unexpected. During the discussion, she mentioned that WWE offered her a singles match with Lynch on a second all-female PLE that would have taken place six weeks after WrestleMania 35.

“They offered to bring (Evolution) back for a second time,” Rousey said. “They said ‘Ronda if you stay after WrestleMania, we’ll have another Evolution in 6 weeks and have you and Becky as a singles.'”

“I was like, I promised my family that – first, I was always saying I want to go from WrestleMania until Survivor Series, and then Triple H convinced me to stay from WrestleMania to WrestleMania and I promised my family, like, okay that’s it.”

“I have kids and a husband and a home and I’m gone for weeks on end. So, when they said that I was like, ‘No, I have already asked too much of my family.'”

“I promised you I would stay this long and I promised them I would only stay this long and I’m not going to keep moving the goalposts. And then I ended up shattering my knuckle anyway, so I wouldn’t have been able to do it regardless but yeah, they tried to dangle that carrot for me but I just couldn’t. Hopefully, they’ll bring it back and I don’t think that they need me for it. I think they are past that point and they just need to believe in the women because they can do it.”

Rousey defeated Nikki Bella to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Championship to headline WWE Evolution from the Nassau Coliseum on October 28, 2018. Other matches featured on the show included Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair, Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane, and Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai in the finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic.

“That event was incredible. It sold out the venue and I feel like there should be more, but no one is asking me,” Rousey continued.

The full 27-minute interview with Rousey is available below:

Ronda Rousey apologizes 11 years after sharing Sandy Hook conspiracy video

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Eleven years after sharing a conspiracy video about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Ronda Rousey has issued a public apology.

Rousey was supposed to take part in an Ask Me Anything on Reddit’s Squared Circle community this week, but it never happened after the Q&A session was flooded with questions asking if Rousey still believed the mass shooting was staged. Rousey shared the conspiracy video to Twitter in 2013, calling it “interesting” and must-watch.

In an apology late Thursday night, Rousey said reposting the video was the “single most regrettable decision” of her life. She’s wanted to apologize but — until now — always convinced herself that it wasn’t the right time.

“I can’t say how many times I’ve redrafted this apology over the last 11 years. How many times I’ve convinced myself it wasn’t the right time or that I’d be causing even more damage by giving it. But eleven years ago I made the single most regrettable decision of my life,” she wrote. “I watched a Sandy Hook conspiracy video and reposted it on twitter. I didn’t even believe it, but was so horrified at the truth that I was grasping for an alternative fiction to cling to instead. I quickly realized my mistake and took it down, but the damage was done. By some miracle it seemingly slipped under the media’s radar, I was never asked about it so I never spoke of it again, afraid that calling attention to it would have the opposite of the intended effect – it could increase the views of those conspiracy videos, and selfishly, inform even more people I was ignorant, self absorbed, and tone deaf enough to share one in the first place.”

Rousey said she wanted to include an apology in her “Our Fight” memoir that was released earlier this year, but her publisher begged her to take it out because they thought it would do more harm than good. Rousey believes she deserves any hate that has come her way and deserves to miss out on every opportunity in her career.

“But honestly I deserve to be hated, labeled, detested, resented and worse for it. I deserve to lose out on every opportunity, I should have been canceled, I would have deserved it. I still do. I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve endured and words cannot describe how thoroughly remorseful and ashamed I am of myself for contributing to it. I’ve regretted it every day of my life since and will continue to do so until the day I die,” Rousey wrote.

“And to anyone else that’s fallen down the black hole of bullsh*t. It doesn’t make you edgy, or an independent thinker, you’re not doing your due diligence entertaining every possibility by digesting these conspiracies. They will only make you feel powerless, afraid, miserable and isolated. You’re doing nothing but hurting others and yourself. Regardless of how many bridges you’ve burned over it, stop digging yourself a deeper hole, don’t get wrapped up in the sunk cost fallacy, no matter how long you’ve gone down the wrong road, you should still turn back.”

Twenty-six people — including 20 children — were killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012.

At the time she shared the video, Rousey was in the middle of her UFC career. She went on to become a star for WWE and is now focused on writing projects, including writing her first graphic novel and penning the screenplay for an upcoming Netflix film about her life. Rousey announced last month that she and husband Travis Browne are expecting their second child together.

Wrestling Observer Live: RAW, Bash in Berlin, All In and Dynamite, Bret and Ronda bury Vince

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including RAW from Monday night with the build to Bash in Berlin, ratings, Bret Hart and Ronda Rousey bury Vince McMahon, Dynamite and All In notes, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Ronda Rousey: Becky Lynch match didn’t happen due to ’80-year-old a–hole’ Vince McMahon

Posted on by Ian Carey

Ronda Rousey spoke about her second WWE run and her issues with Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinitias in a new interview with Chris Van Vliet.

Rousey, who is promoting her upcoming graphic novel “Expecting the Unexpected,” says that while she didn’t enjoy her second stint in WWE, she still loves pro wrestling. She also said she’s heard the company has made improvements since the Paul “Triple H” Levesque era began.

“I love pro wrestling. My experience in my last run wasn’t the best, it was the death throes of the Vince McMahon era and they just made it so needlessly stressful. I just wish I could just show up to the venue and already know what the match is and have it memorized,” Rousey said.

“I’ve heard it’s a lot better. But yeah, that wasn’t my experience before. My experience before was like if you showed up to Saturday Night Live and no one had written the show yet, like you hadn’t been filming it and practicing it all week. It was like, you just showed up and you had to negotiate what the script was going to be until the very last second. Even if we killed it and had such a great time while we were out there, it was just the needless anxiety of getting to the finish line just made it so not fun. So unfortunately, it’s kind of put a gross kind of a film on the incredible experience.”

“I hear from everybody that’s so much better now, and I’m happy for them. But it’s also, I got babies, I can’t be taking them on the road. I did it for a little bit with one, I can’t do that with two. It was hard on my husband for us not all to be there all the time. I just don’t think I can ask them to sacrifice that anymore.”

Rousey also spoke about her match with Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam 2023 and what led to it being booked.

“I think if we did the match at Bloodsport or something, people would have loved it. But I think the crowd, it wasn’t for them at all. It was all MMA easter eggs and all of these moments in MMA history that we’re big geeks for that, we were recreating and throwing homage to in the match and it was not inviting any audience participation or anything like that. But it was kind of like, I don’t know if you read my book, but it was a nice little f*ck you on the way out. You’re gonna sit here and watch this match that we wanted to do from the very beginning. I don’t care what you think, go get some f*cking popcorn. But yeah, we loved it. We had a great time. And from the very, very beginning, I always wanted to be able to wrestle with Shayna and be able to put her over and leave. Which they never would have let us do unless I threatened to leave right at the new year when they told me that I wouldn’t be able to fight Becky at WrestleMania, which was what I came back to do. And I was like, Fine, I’m gonna tag with Shayna, and she’s in turn on me, and then I’m gonna leave, or I’m gonna f*cking leave right now. That was the only reason we were able to do it, because they wouldn’t let us do any Four Horsewoman stuff. They wouldn’t let me and Shayna do anything together, because Vince was convinced that no one knew that me and Shayna were actually friends.”

When asked why a match vs. Becky Lynch at WrestleMania didn’t happen, Rousey responded: “Because Vince is an 80-year-old asshole.”

Asked if there was no love lost there, Rousey said, “No, Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Bruce Prichard they can all suck a dick.”

However, when asked about Levesque and Stephanie McMahon, Rousey said: “They are fantastic, love them.”

“I was talking to (Stephanie) about (kids). I was just excited about having a baby and we just started trying. Actually, no, we already had two miscarriages, and I was just going to start doing IVF. She took the necklace off of her neck, this necklace and it was a locket with pictures of her girls in it. She was like, this has my babies in it. I want you to put your babies in it. So I never took her babies out. I put my baby on top and I’m gonna have to add some more pictures.”

When asked if Rousey is done with wrestling, she responded:

“Full time yeah. I might come back and have some fun here and there. But I can’t be leaving home and being on the road like that.”

Rousey also addressed the finish to the main event of WrestleMania 35:

“I didn’t think my shoulders were flat on the ground, so I was trying to scoot to get my shoulders flat because it’s so f*cking loud I can’t hear anything. But that’s the difference between a match that got thrown together the night before and the debut match, which is a match that had been put together over weeks with tons of support and practice and opinions and everything like that. Why did we put a whole year into promoting and building this match, and then it’s just thrown together at the last second? We were still figuring it out when we were at the venue, and that’s what a lack of practice and rehearsal does.”

Rousey says she wanted to use the finish to the match at WrestleMania 35 to lead into a singles match with Lynch but it never happened.

“I wanted to use that. I wanted to use that as, okay, this is how we lead into the next one. We bring it up on the Tron and say, you never got me, this is bullsh*t. The referees are all in your pocket. And put that into the next, you know, the singles between me and Becky that everybody wanted that got taken away.” 

The full episode of Ronda Rousey on Insight with Chris Van Vliet is available below:







Former WWE & UFC star Ronda Rousey expecting second child

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At a San Diego Comic-Con panel on Thursday, Ronda Rousey made a significant life announcement.

Rousey revealed that she and husband Travis Browne are expecting their second child together. The panel, which was hosted by fellow former WWE star Dave Bautista, was to promote the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for Rousey’s first graphic novel.

In September 2021, Rousey and Browne welcomed the birth of their daughter La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne. Rousey is also a stepmom to Browne’s two sons from a previous marriage. She and Browne began dating when they were both UFC fighters. The couple has been married since 2017.

“Expecting the Unexpected,” Rousey’s graphic novel, draws inspiration from Rousey’s journey to becoming a mother. The main characters in the story are based on Rousey and Browne.

Now focused on building a writing career, Rousey is the scriptwriter for a film Netflix is developing about her life.

Rousey departed WWE in August 2023 and has not wrestled anywhere since last November. Though she’s been heavily critical of WWE’s old regime, Rousey has expressed optimism that things are getting better for the women’s division in the Paul “Triple H” Levesque era.

“There was a point after we had the main event of WrestleMania that I feel like WWE took several steps back, but now that Vince McMahon is gone and Triple H is at the helm, I feel we are taking steps forward again,” she told TV Insider. “I’m extremely encouraged by what is happening across the entire industry.”

Ronda Rousey feels WWE ‘took several steps back’ after WrestleMania 35 main event

Posted on by Ian Carey

Ronda Rousey feels WWE “took several steps back” after she, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch headlined WrestleMania 35.

Rousey has been critical of the company since leaving after SummerSlam 2023. While promoting her second memoir, Our Fight, earlier this year, Rousey called WWE ‘an absolute sh*tshow’ and blasted its lack of support for women’s wrestling.

During a recent interview with TV Insider, however, Rousey said that she is encouraged by what has happened since Triple H took over the reins.

“I saw a post from Nattie the other day that they had a card or half of the matches on the card were women. That was the last real hurdle for us to get to,” Rousey said. “To have equal representation in the programming time. I’m sure the matches themselves didn’t get the time the men got for the most part, but all these steps forward make it so much easier for those after us to continue to start where we left off rather than all the way to the back.”

“We can keep pushing farther and farther and help the next generations. There was a point after we had the main event of WrestleMania that I feel like WWE took several steps back, but now that Vince McMahon is gone and Triple H is at the helm, I feel we are taking steps forward again. I’m extremely encouraged by what is happening across the entire industry.”

Rousey also commented on the new WWE regime during a recent interview with CBS Sports. She stated that she always enjoyed working with Triple H and that the “only place you can go is up” now that McMahon is gone.

Rousey is currently promoting the launch of a Kickstarter for her graphic novel, Expecting the Unexpected. The fundraising campaign begins on Thursday, July 25. Rousey will be at the San Diego Comic-Con that day promoting the book. She will take part in a panel discussion at the event moderated by Batista.

Ronda Rousey on fighting MMA again: ‘If I could, I would’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Ronda Rousey says she would step back inside the octagon again if it wasn’t for her wanting to have a lot of kids.

During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Rousey commented on fans who still ask about her possible return to the UFC.

“I appreciate when people ask,” said Rousey, who hasn’t fought since December 30, 2016. “Maybe it means they still miss me.”

However, Rousey continued to say that her priorities are being a mother and working on her writing projects at the moment.

“If I could, I definitely would,” said Rousey regarding a return to the octagon. “If I want to have a whole basketball team full of kids, I can’t take any more detours. I’ve always wanted to be a mom with a lot of kids.”

Rousey published her second memoir, Our Fight, earlier this year. Currently, she is promoting the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for her graphic novel “Expecting the Unexpected.”

A description of the book reads:

“Her codename: ‘Mom.’ With a fake baby bump filled with guns, she’s built a reputation as one of the deadliest hit-women on the planet. But on the verge of her big break in the criminal underworld, Mom makes a fateful decision: sleeping with a potential target (who just so happens to be a top-ranked assassin himself). A few weeks later, Mom finds that her codename is about to become a whole lot more literal. What follows is a wild mashup of action, adventure, comedy, and romance as a newly pregnant Mom with a bounty on her head fights off wave after wave of assassins, falls in love with her baby daddy, and decides how to face her personal and professional predicament. EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED sets a new bar for the authenticity of fight scenes through a unique creative process developed by Rousey, Deodato, and AWA.”

Rousey opened up to Sports Illustrated regarding how dedicated she is to her writing at the moment, noting that she received an internship with WME.

“I’ve put every fiber of my being into this,” said Rousey. “It’s a real labor of love.”

“I wanted to learn to write a screenplay,” she continued. “That’s how my obsession began with screenwriting. I read every book about it I could, and then I got an internship at WME in the story department.”

Rousey continued to say developing the story in Expecting The Unexpected is what led to her starting her writing journey, something she now believes could be what she was always meant to do.

“Even though I sold a different screenplay to Nextflix, it was this first story that started it all. I loved it so much I couldn’t let it collect dust, and I thought comic publishers might be interested.”

“This story, for the longest time, I was the only one to believe in it,” said Rousey. “Now it’s starting to gain all these believers. It’s been so rewarding. I get so much satisfaction out of the whole process. I’m at the point where I’m thinking maybe this is what I was always meant to do.”

Ronda Rousey on new WWE regime: ‘Anyone’s better than Vince McMahon’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Vince McMahon gone from WWE, Ronda Rousey thinks the company can only improve.

Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports recently interviewed Rousey, asking her if she thinks the new WWE regime can make the company a better place for wrestlers than it was under McMahon. Rousey expressed that she enjoyed working for Paul “Triple H” Levesque and hopes the women’s division gets a more equal share of WWE television time with him in charge of creative.

“Well, I think anyone’s better than Vince McMahon. The only place you can go is up [laughs],” Rousey said. “I really enjoy Triple H and working with him. And honestly, I haven’t been watching, but I saw something from [Natalya] saying that they had a card recently that had just as many women on it as the men. And that’s just what I would really like to see, the women equally represented with not just matches on the card, but time on the show. I feel there’s no place they could go but up. And I’m really, really happy for all the women that are still there and thriving under the new regime.”

McMahon resigned from WWE and its parent company TKO Group Holdings this January following the lawsuit that was filed against him by former WWE employee Janel Grant. McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are listed as defendants in the suit. It accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.

The lawsuit has been put on pause for six months per a request from the Department of Justice as it conducts an investigation regarding McMahon.

Rousey has been gone from WWE since SummerSlam 2023. In past interviews, Rousey said she doubts that she’ll ever return and would only do so if things “drastically change” with how WWE is run.

Currently, Rousey is focusing on building her career as an author. She’s releasing her first graphic novel and working on the screenplay for a Netflix film about her life.