10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 31 Facts
5. The Rock Talked Dana White Into Letting Ronda Rousey Appear At WrestleMania
WWE got their SportsCenter highlight later in the WrestleMania 31 card, when then-UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey joined The Rock inside the ring. There, she popped the sold out Levi's Stadium crowd by flinging Triple H to the mat, and snatching Stephanie in a basic self-defense arm-crank. The segment came off very well, and fans have The Rock to thank for it.
UFC President Dana White has been openly resistant to allow his fighters to take part in certain endeavors, particularly wrestling (see Brock vs. Undertaker four years earlier), but "The Great One" had a hand in convincing White that this was the right thing to do. According to The Wrestling Observer, White relented and agreed to the appearance months earlier.
The Rock actually had hosted Saturday Night Live the night before 'Mania in New York, and Rousey was in the area. The two took a chartered flight during Sunday's early morning hours, arriving in the Bay Area by mid-morning, where they were quickly ushered to the stadium for rehearsal.