Is Ronda Rousey Bound For WWE?
Speculation once again heats up as new hints emerge.
The rumor mill can't go more than a few months without churning out speculation that Ronda Rousey is on the verge of joining the WWE ranks. After her appearance at WrestleMania 31 - one of the event's most talked about segments - the self-confessed obsessive wrestling fan has been continuously linked to the company via little more than gossip and wishful thinking.
Following back-to-back brutal TKO defeats to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, the former UFC women's bantamweight champion has plummeted from her lofty status as MMA's biggest draw and most polarizing superstar. A once-burgeoning Hollywood career has stalled amidst criticism of her acting skills and the loss of her aura of invincibility.
She hasn't shown any intent to compete in the octagon again, although that's merely conjecture based on the fact that she's avoided addressing it with the media since her demoralizing beatdown at UFC 207. It's worth noting that UFC President Dana White has gone on record with the opinion that we've seen the last of her in the cage.
Now the wrestling world is once again buzzing with talk that 'Rowdy' Ronda is WWE-bound, and this time the fuel for the fire is Rousey following a bevy of official WWE-related Twitter accounts.
The Olympic bronze medalist isn't a frequent Twitter user and hasn't posted anything in over a month and a half, with her second-to-last tweet being one of the excellent NXT vignettes on Roderick Strong. Although she has over three million followers, the judoka only follows less than a thousand people in return, so there could actually be some significance to these mass connections.
Some of the accounts Ronda has followed are @WWE, @WWEUniverse, @BellaTwins, @NaomiWWE, @TheAJMendez, and @NatByNature, the latter of which recently praised the UFC star in a Sports Illustrated interview and expressed her desire to face her in the squared circle.
The McMahons and company have made no secret about their aspirations to again work with Rousey, with Stephanie calling Ronda and the WWE "a match made in heaven." The door is obviously open should she ever chose to walk through it, and as someone with a newfound penchant for being disfigured by punches and kicks, the worked environment of professional wrestling would seem to suit her much better at this point in her life.
Add in the fact that she's among the most dedicated of fanatics and there actually could be some fire stirring up all this smoke.
All that being said, these are still nothing more than rumors based on the shakiest of foundations. Take this for what it's worth until something more concrete materializes.
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Do you think we'll see Ronda Rousey in the WWE again? Drop your thoughts in the comments.